Major AmTrak wreck

So are you saying that this Engineer felt compelled to bring that train up to 106 miles per hour in a curve designed for 50 mph tops... in order to escape stones?

No, but if it startled him he might have accelerated and/ or stopped suddenly. Heard one report the emergency brakes were suddenly on.

There was speeding involved no doubt but you don't think these trains and engineers haven't speeded before without incident.
 

Do trains have a black box(es)?

Yes That is where the NTA got the speed. http://www.bustle.com/articles/8299...to-tell-investigators-these-important-metrics

Train-Event-Recorder.jpg
 
I will continue to reserve judgement, little bits and pieces are coming in, so it's still too early for anything conclusive as far as I'm concerned. At the moment, they're reporting the train for some unknown reason spead up just before the turn as if possible malfunction and though the conductor should have had certain warnings and indicators as some lines do, this train didn't have the equipment to notify the engineer of the speed error. Still, why this all happened is a mystery and though the man at the trains helm at the time is slowly starting to answer questions, he too was banged up, so expecting him to automatically give answers right on the scene, there may be good reasons for the precautions to not do so, considering all involved and how words can be twisted when in such a state.

Really difficult to say this or that is what happened for sure when, upon further investigation, nothing is as it first appears, as is often the case when we jump to judgement. He may or may not be cause and effect, still too early to call.
 
Was Amtrak train hit by a rock? Conductor thinks so.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_AMTRAK_CRASH?SITE=SCGRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/15/us/philadelphia-amtrak-train-derailment/index.html

The only reason I give this credence is that there were two other public transportation vehicles hit by rocks this week in Philadelphia alone. Doesn't explain or justify how the engineer might have reacted by speeding up because there are reports of sudden acceleration. Also if this was well prior to the crash could damage have been done to any control systems. Or could vandals or worse have sabotaged tracks. There have been a lot of derailments this year and it's not just "old" infrastructure.
 
What the heck? How convenient?

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/am...esnt-remember-train-crash-lawyer-says-n358661

[FONT=proxima_nova_rgregular]Bostian spoke with National Transportation Safety Board investigators Friday, and was described by an NTSB board member as "extremely cooperative." Bostian told investigators he doesn't remember anything after ringing the bell at the north Philadelphia station before the crash, NTSB member Robert Sumwalt said.[/FONT]
 
What the heck? How convenient?

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/am...esnt-remember-train-crash-lawyer-says-n358661

[FONT=proxima_nova_rgregular]Bostian spoke with National Transportation Safety Board investigators Friday, and was described by an NTSB board member as "extremely cooperative." Bostian told investigators he doesn't remember anything after ringing the bell at the north Philadelphia station before the crash, NTSB member Robert Sumwalt said.[/FONT]

Yup, the engineer doesn't remember anything but yet remembers to take down his facebook picture hours after the crash.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/latest-amtrak-crash-engineer-changed-153105324.html
 
This guy "remembered" enough to know that he better Hide behind a lawyer Real Quick.

He probably would've taken down his entire page but I guess that was too complicated after a crash and concussion. My guess once his name got out it would look too suspicious to take the entire page down so he probably was just worried about keeping press away.
 
The NTSB does a very good job of investigating accidents. They have proven themselves time and time again to be the world leader in this category. Even foreign countries have used them in times of being unable to determine a cause in aviation accidents. We, in the pilots' unions, definitely have supported them as being the best at what they do. There will be no cover-up and we will all know just what the cause was after their investigation is over, which could take more time than we believe that it should, but they are very thorough and always make sure that they have their i's dotted and their t's crossed.

Having said that, they will now probably make a liar out of me. Isn't that the way it normally works?
 
Reports of another Amtrak traveling the same route being hit by an object the same night the 188 crashed.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...a-trains-shot-minutes-crash-killed-eight.html

So if the 188 was hit, another Amtrak train was hit, a regional train hit and a school bus hit with flying objects within a day or two I would say Philadelphia has some very dangerous vandals/pranksters(that word is too kind). This is CRIMINAL mischief in it's purest form.

That being said why didn't the engineer stop to file a police report or call Amtrak security at least to check where the object came from. But to speed up out of fear?
 
Let's not hang the conductor or anyone else unti we know what happened. Armchair detectives are often wrong.

True, I'm sure many of the Engineer's actions after the fact, right or wrong, have been led by advisors from his union people along with his lawyer. I do recall hearing of a case or two where it wasn't the the engineer's fault and the people wanted to pin it on the person at the controls to save face for the company; that's one more reason, I'm waiting for all the investigative work to be in before forming any real opinion.
 
True, I'm sure many of the Engineer's actions after the fact, right or wrong, have been led by advisors from his union people along with his lawyer. I do recall hearing of a case or two where it wasn't the the engineer's fault and the people wanted to pin it on the person at the controls to save face for the company; that's one more reason, I'm waiting for all the investigative work to be in before forming any real opinion.

I think what we'll see is the perfect storm of negative events, infrastructure, training and equipment. Yes most want one answer. There was too much going on here. There are always the could'ves should'ves in hind sight.

My big thing here is that I'm starting to read stories of trains being hit on a regular basis by "objects". In a day and age of terrorism what was a prank, experiment or mischief should now be considered terrorism. And precautions like patrolling likely spots where object migth be thrown from or a gun fired need to be emphasized.
 


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