Does anybody know the location of the “dead man” switch/button on these trains? If he collapsed, could he have fallen on that switch, keeping it engaged and preventing the train from coming to an automatic halt?
Can you shed any light on #6?
Don’t know for sure about the newer engines, but on older engines, it is a pedal that requires measurable force to depress. I believe that some of the european engines use a hand grip with a similar provision.
I doubt that the deadman switch played into this. It’s more likely that he was just not paying attention, and that the curve of the track kept the trains out of each other’s view until it was beyond the point of prevention. Trains take a long time to slow.
DEADMAN FOOT VALVE: A device, which will initiate a penalty brake application on a locomotive after a short time delay, if foot pedal is released on locomotive and brake cylinder pressure is not at least 25 psi.
It appears that the frame of the lead passenger car did not absorb any impact. Anti-climbers are used on all tanker cars after the wreck in Mississauga in the 80's, when propane cars climbed each other and exploded. The anti-climber extends the vertical reach of the coupler knuckle by about a foot each way. If a car leaves the rail, travelling lower or higher, the coupler remains engaged. My grandfather was on the board that implemented this device.