“The Amtrak crash at Chase, Md., which killed 25 people and injured about 200, may have had a similar cause. In the Amtrak case, a Conrail engineer “ran through a stop sign” and wound up on the track in front of a speeding north-bound passenger train, the Colonial.
More than a decade ago, all Conrail locomotives had a “dead man switch.” If the engineer failed to obey a wayside signal (to stop, for instance) the engine would stop, immediately.
Obviously, this commuter train did not have a dead man switch. The engineer failed to obey the signals. The train did not stop automatically. Why didn’t it have that switch? In the Amtrak case, it was union opposition to such switches.”
Billybob, I generally respect your postings, but have to respond to this because most of your facts are wrong.
In the Chase wreck, the Conrail engine move was running east, same direction as passenger train #94. The leading Conrail engine had cab signals, but did not have them hooked in with the air to result in a penalty if the engineman failed to acknowledge a downward change in the cab signal. That was the _normal_ arrangement on Conrail locomotives in 1987 (I worked for them prior to that date, and afterwards, although I was working for Amtrak on the day of the crash).
The cab signal “whistles” on some engines could be ear-splitting and overpowering, and did not automatically “cut out” when locomotives were running in a trailing position. Often, brakemen riding in the second cab would “tape them over” to reduce the noise they made, since they couldn’t be completely shut off.
It happened that the lead unit on the Conrail lite move on _this_ particular day DID have the cab signal whistle taped over.
By the way, the cab signal whistle had NOTHING to do with the “deadman feature” of the locomotive, which was a foot pedal the engineman had to keep depressed. Take your foot off, and within 6 seconds, you’d get a “penalty application”, applying the brakes and stopping the train.
The crew of the lite engines that morning was at fault for using drugs and not paying attention to what was going on in front of them. They missed the “Approach” signal prior to the Stop Signal at Gunpow interlocking, and then probably saw the Stop Signal - but too late. I believe the engineman “dumped” the locomotives (put the brakes into emergency), but lite locomotives have the highest weight-to-brake ratio of anything on the rails and DO NOT stop quickly. The result was that they passed the signal, ran through the switch to the track #94 was approaching on, and came to a stop - IN FRONT OF THE ONCOMING TRAIN, which was running at 125+ mph. The passenger train engineman saw events transpiring in front of him, and dumped HIS train, but again, 12 passenger cars and two locomotives moving at 100+mph take some distance to stop, even in emergency. We saw the results.
After the wreck, the cab signals were interconnected to the air brakes so that failure to acknowledge a cab signal change would result in a penalty application. Also, the grating “air whistles” were changed to “electronic warblers” that automatically cut out on trailing cabs.
I guarantee you that the locomotive on the Metrolink train has safety apparatus that is FAR more sophisticated than that of engines (both freight and passenger) at the time of the Chase wreck. The old-fashioned “deadman pedal” has now been replaced by electronic “alertors” that monitor the movement of controls, and require acknowledgement if nothing is detected within a specific time interval (often based on how fast the locomotive is moving).
To say that the the “Amtrak unions” are “opposed” to such switches is ridiculous. I happen to BE an “Amtrak union member” (though I don’t much care for union politics), and a federally-certified locomotive engineman, and very very few of them would intentionally defeat or workaround a safety system desigined to save their own lives. After all, if a train is wrecked, who gets there first?
You are correct, of course, in stating that the engineman “failed to obey the signals”. This wreck illustrates how quickly things can go wrong if one isn’t paying attention up there to the things that NEED to be paid attention to.
There’s an old song that goes:
Life is like a mountain railroad
With an engineer that’s brave
We must make the run successful
From the cradle to the grave
Watch the hills, the curves, the tunnels
Never falter, never fail
Keep your hand upon the throttle
And your eye upon the rail
True back when it was written.
Still true today...
- John
The Interlocking was the point where four tracks narrowed to two, to cross the Gunpowder River. With the north-bound freight engine dead on the switch, the Colonial was doomed when it came around the final turn. The Colonial had gotten the high ball, for full speed at 90 MPH, from the distant signal, 2 miles from the River.
As with most disasters, it was not a single failure at a single time. But it is clear that the removal of the dead man's switch from the freight engines, about 11 years prior to the crash, which ALLOWED the disaster to occur. And the rail unions insisted on that elimination.
Congressman Billybob
Tenth in the ten-part series, "The Owner's Manual (Part 10) -- The Remaining Amendments"