MTA Train Derailment

[Steve Frazier]

I don't know if this made national news, but it's big news here in NY, yesterday morning a Metro North train on the Hudson Line derailed, killing 4 passengers and injuring 80 some more. The train originated in Poughkeepsie where the station shares the same parking lot as my place of employment. Reports are the train was traveling 82mph on a 30mph curve in the Bronx when it left the tracks, 4 cars went on their sides and at least one rolled several times. They have yet to determine why the train was traveling that fast. I found a video of the MTA crews setting the derailed cars back on the tracks you might find interesting: http://bronx.news12.com/multimedia/chopper-12-over-cleanup-morning-after-train-derailment-1.6524736

 

[The Peej]

Great video. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Scrub Puller]

Yair . . . Steve Frazier. Oh yes, big news over here in Australia, a tragedy for all involved.

It always amazes me how the crews get the trains rolling again so quickly after a major derailment.

Cheers.

 

[willie59]

The latest report is that the train met that 30 mph curve in the track at appx 82 mph. Being curious, I checked out the track on google maps to view the route. Heading south, the train went through bends at Crugers, after that the track is nearly straight following the banks of the Hudson River, just slight bends in the track for appx 40 miles, until it hits the turn at Spuyten Duyvil. Hitting that curve at 82 mph, I'm surprised the entire train didn't end up in the Harlem River.

 

[Steve Frazier]

I had only ridden the train once at 4 years old when my Grandpa took me to the World's Fair in Queens. Steam engines were still running then. I didn't ride it again until several times this past year from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central for business in NYC. I've been fascinated by the number of abandoned structures along the route, buildings, bridges, docks and such and I know where this turn is. There's an old steel bridge where another line jogs off that caught my attention passing through that area. I had worked through the night before watching the trains come in and out of the station, passenger trains from the Metro North and Amtrak plus freight trains. I thought to myself how difficult it must be to coordinate all these trains on the same tracks and how amazing it is that it's done without incident. When I heard of the wreck I almost felt a sense of guilt that my thoughts the night before had jinxed them.

Today they reported that 98% of the train service would be restored by tomorrow morning.