The RRs have always had many alcoholics and drug users, but most of the workers were connected, by family and friends.
In the past when the guy driving the train was incapacitated; it was 'hey Stosh, get up front and give your uncle a hand.'
Today the connections are mostly gone. It is every man for himself. Stosh is drunk, get to the rear.
Rule #1: You shouldn’t drive a passenger train 75 mph if you are asleep or on drugs.
Once is happenstance,
Twice is a coincidence,
And three times is a conspiracy...
Amtrak needs to investigate the problems, publish those, and outline what they are going to do to fix them.
This one’s not Amtrak’s fault, AFAIK. Now if the engineer ran a stop signal, that’s another matter entirely.
CSX did have two trains on the same track at the same time. NTSB team probably there as I type, will sort it all through.
I’m seeing on rail enthusiast message boards much complaining about how the late Hunter Harrison & his “precision railroading” have seriously messed up the railroad.
While the ID of the engineer in the recent derailment in Washington is a closely-guarded secret, the ID of the second person, a conductor, in the cab is now known. It’s a black guy named Garrick Freeman. This has only come to light because he’s filed a lawsuit vs. Amtrak.
“Except in the Northeast Corridor, AMTRAK trains operate on tracks owned by private railways, which make their money from freight. The divided responsibility may have some relation to the problems being experienced.”
False
The State of Michigan now owns the track from somewhere near Detroit to Kalamazoo, except for Battle Creek. Amtrak owns from Kalamazoo down to Indiana.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_Line
AMTRAK = SELL IT
Hasn’t made a profit from day one runs on government money.
AMTRAK needs to stand down, and not just for a couple of days.
5.56mm