- 77 people taken to local hospitals. 83 people were on board.

- There are multiple fatalities, but no official count


Math is hard?

Godspeed to the victims, condolences to the families, prayers out to the injured.

Prayers out for the injured, killed and their families

Social Media has conspiracy spins cranked up.

Oh I’m just being antagonist. The news article I C&P’d said what it said. I took that as 83 people were on the train and 77 of them were taken to local area hospitals (presumably alive) and they didn’t know how many people were deceased.

Ed Troyer PCSO PAO said there were no fatalities from auto traffic.

Engineer math - maximum speed for entire rail route 79mph, this one corner 40mph, my speed 81.5mph. What could go wrong?

This pisses me off. I’ve ridden that train several times back and forth to Klammath Falls, OR., and took my son for his first modern train ride on this train down to Centrailia.

I would be pissed if (and will be pissed) if this Engineer disregarded his parameters for safe operation to showcase the awesomeness of his train. If and when it comes out the Engineer had never operated the train on this new track and was unaware of this turn then I hope the families sue the shit out of SpAmTrack.

No one wanted this and everyone said High-Speed rail in the PNW was unnecessary and not feasible.

Will this be “First” and last, I doubt it but ridership is already at huge subsidized losses. There is an Orange bus “Bolt” from Seattle to Portland costs less and takes less or the same time.

I’m not surprised by this, they should be so lucky to have crashed right on the Interstate so rescuers and EMS could get to them. There are many places where a train crash would not have access for miles. Just saying...it’s not Europe.

Clickty Clack
 

2 1/2 miles over the speed limit is not problem. If 2-1/2 MPH make or breaks that main track then there are other issues going on. Someone said earlier a truck was on the track, it could have been on a crossing and the gates came down and the truck didn't clear. Its very unlikely that a track inspector was out there because he would have had main track protection from the dispatcher not allowing a train to enter the limits he was occupying. So it was probably a truck at a crossing or it was track caused i.e. a broken rail or wide gauge (Rails are spaced farther apart than the allowed tolerance).

As for saving the ten minutes. It adds up and sometimes the delays can go up from ten minutes because lets say a freight train breaks down or the crew runs out of operating hours in their tour of duty then Amtrak can be delayed even further. I've seen Amtrak between San Antonio and Houston take 5-6 sometimes 7 hours instead of the 3 because a coal train broke in two and there was no way around. Amtrak and the Class 1 railroads don't get along but have to because of federal law.

Looking at the extensive graffiti on the bridge it's clear the tracks are not secure...reading now the train hit something on the tracks, the train itself has graffiti on it, new cars? With all those SJWs and free ranging anarchists I'd prefer any high speed rail I was on be secured. Tragic.

Al-Qaeda Newsletter
 

In on of their recent publishings whatever you wanna call it they showed how to make a rebar reinforced concrete derail to put on the tracks to derail freight and passenger trains. The threat is real

So the good news is that they revived three of the six dead, the bad news is that three people remained dead. (Worse news is that they counted those three people twice.)

In other news there were more ticketed passengers and a technician was added to the crew for a total of 86 people onboard the train when it crashed. Of that 72 people were taken to area hospitals. Odds are people in the cars and truck hit on I-5 were also taken to hospitals but we don’t have those numbers.

It’s been reported that the curve speed was posted as 30-mph which is 51-mph slower than the train is reportedly traveling before the lead locomotive headed straight off the track.

P.S. If anyone is offended by my dark humor my apologies, I’m wired that way.

Texas Shooter -

This was pure ineptitude on a grand scale by AmTrak. No object or stalled vehicle on a crossing or the tracks. The closest road crossing is the entrance to the Fort Lewis Golf Course. Not very busy this time of year this time of morning, and far enough away to have not been a factor.

There may be many reasons they have spent nearly $200 million over the past ten years to convert this old rail line into passenger services but the S-Curve over Interstate 5 has been there since the late 50’s or 60’s. Like I said, I lived a couple miles south of this bridge and drove under it daily for about three years. Lived in the JBLM area for the last 27+ years.

The politics behind this is the leading cause of this tragedy. Whatever the NTSB comes up with to blame for the cause of this, they will not blame the leadership of Sound Transit, Amtrak or BNSF. They will blame the Engineer and probably, rightfully so. Whether he (or she) got behind schedule and they wanted to show that this new and never before used route was an improvement over the old route will or should be part of the investigation. Save ten-minutes here, ten-minutes there is great but like you said Amtrak rents these tracks the cargo train companies own the track and in the PNW - coal, oil, wood products and new automobiles from Asia have priority over the 35-50 people riding the train between Seattle and Portland. As in Philadelphia this will be operator error he the Engineer screwed up big time.

For those unfamiliar. This train goes back and forth without changing front to back. In this instance the engine (locomotive) was pushing 13 cars down the track. The lead looking engine is actually not an engine but a generator and luggage car. I don’t know if that has any effect on a train to be pushed or pulled but that too will be examined.

I love trains but I wouldn’t cry if this route went the way of the Do Do Bird. Why they spent and continue to spend money to support it baffles my mind. There can be only one reason and that supports the corruption of Sound Transit and the liberal democracy of Washington State.

Sound Transit is a leading cause for why I live in Texas now! It’s corrupt to the core and the fleecing of Washingtonians. Again, this tragic accident is a symptom of the ideology that has destroyed the State.

Obviously, JMO but I’ve watched it happen. If not this crash the next one along this route. Some areas of this rail line are miles from roads, passes through forests and follows the Puget Sound and Columbia River. It also passes through more than a dozen cities and towns at grade level where logging trucks and other big rigs carrying gravel, cargo and oil crisscross the network all the way down to Portland and beyond. The line is not straight, cannot be straight; there are too many natural and man made obstacles in the way.

How very “first century” of you.:rolleyes:

Yeah, we should build a wall with guard towers every mile or so, call it Hadrian's “Rail” Wall. Maybe we could apply the Wall to our unsecure highways too, they kill 30k plus a year.

(Hang on, I’ve got a roll of tinfoil around here somewhere.)

A little over the top, I can see that. The dedicated passenger rail lines I think of are generally secured or elevated, perhaps it's the third rail aspect? With trains maybe animals on the tracks?