California Accicent

[Woodie]

California Accident

Just heard on the news of the accident in California. 265 injured and a couple of deaths. A Metrolink passenger train and a frieght train on the same track or something. Just scant details so far they said. Anyone with further knowledge?

 

[60103]

Woodie:
I just looked at a couple of newspapers and they have confictiong information.
There are one, two or three dead.
The freight rear-ended the commuter train or 'it looks like a head-on collision'.
All agree that it was Placentia, CA and the commuter was headed for San Juan Capistrano.

Commuter train seems to have been 3 cars of which 2 derailed.

More confusing details when they are available.

 

[Gregg Mahlkov]

It was a "cornfield meet" Metrolink trains run in a push-pull mode with a control cab at one end and the locomotive at the other. The locomotive evidently was pushing. Looks like a BNSF Dispatcher has "a lotta 'splainin' to do!"

 

[60103]

From the Metrolink website: www.metrolinktrains.com
At approximately 8:10 a.m. today, Metrolink train #809 (the 7:29 a.m. Inland Empire - Orange County Line departure from Riverside to San Juan Capistrano) was struck by a BNSF freight train in the City of Placentia. The incident occurred near the intersection of Richfield Avenue and Orangethorpe Avenue. Our train was in cab car lead configuration. At this time we have reports of injuries both to passengers and train crew members. The latest statistics are 265 injured with 25 transported to local hospitals. Forty-five additional injured are waiting transport. There is one confirmed fatality, reportedly from a heart attack. Emergency medical crews and the local fire department have responded to the site and are triaging the injured. Our media spokesperson, Sharon Gavin is on her way to the scene and will be responding to media inquiries. We understand that the NTSB is taking jurisdiction of the investigation and will be making all responses to media inquiries. We will continue to post updates as more information becomes available.
Afternoon trains will run up to Orange then busses will run to Riverside from Orange.

 

[Tyson Rayles]

Well at least it's not as bad is the Amtrak one in Florida last week (7 dead).

 

[YakkoWarner]

local news reports that the Metrolink stopped and reversed before the collision. Eye-witnesses report the mile-long BNSF freight was breaking as much as half a mile before the point of impact. So they all knew it was comming. One passenger car of the metrolink is bent at about a 15deg. angle only one car is completely de-railed and a second is partialy derailed. Local news also reports one confirmed death and possibly two more but no confirmation.

Looking at the pictures on the TV it looks to me like the collision was at no more than 15MPH but that is my opinion from looking at the photos.

 

[YakkoWarner]

here is a helicopter shot of the scene

 

[YakkoWarner]

and another...

 

[YakkoWarner]

here is one almost directly from above.

 

[YakkoWarner]

One person died at the scene and another died later, said Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino. A miscount caused an erroneous report of a third death, he said.

Of the injured, 25 victims required immediate care, the rest had minor or non life-threatening injuries, Orange County Fire Authority spokeswoman Kymbra Fleming said.

from the kabc website at http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/news/042302_nw_metrolink_train_ax.html

kcbs http://cbs2.com/topstories/StoryFolder/story_1272858642_html

knbc
http://www.nbc4.tv/news/1413755/detail.html

ktla
http://ktla.trb.com/news/local/ktla-042302traincrash.story