Amtrak train derails onto I-5 near Lacey

originally posted by: nwtrucker

originally posted by: intrptr

Ouch. 80 mph, train cars tumbled off the train trestle onto a crowded freeway, during rush hour.

80 MPH??

State law mandates a maximum of 50 MPH for all trains in Washington St.

Speed limits are at grade crossings in unincorporated areas.

(UTC) in Washington state generally has the authority to set speed limits at all grade crossings in unincorporated areas and in all cities, except those where populations are greater than 100,000 (such as Seattle, Tacoma, or Vancouver, WA). However, federal regulations preempt the state and cities from setting speed limits except where unique local safety conditions exist. As a result, the UTC can set speed limits only where such conditions warrant a deviation from Federal Railroad Administration track safety standards.

WSDOT

originally posted by: Martin75
a reply to: xuenchen

Did I hear correctly that this is a new line and this was the first run? Did they not do a trial run with an empty train?

This is awful! My thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved.

This is not a new line nor a new train. It was the first time Cascade used the interstate 5 route.

A notice on the Washington State Department of Transportation's website before the crash said that Monday was the first day for Amtrak's Cascades train to use the route along I-5.

Should have said it's right off the Old Pacific Coast Highway. Has gates but easy enough

47° 4'17.42"N 122°41'39.84"W

You could drive a vehicle right onto the tracks

a reply to: xuenchen
Would it be too soon to politicize this incident?

President Donald Trump said in a tweet that the accident "shows more than ever why our soon to be submitted infrastructure plan must be approved quickly."

CNBC
Infrastructure plan coming? I can't wait.

The Donald isn't completely callus.

The president tweeted a second time, a few minutes later, saying his "thoughts and prayers" are with those in DuPont. He thanked the first responders to the accident.

originally posted by: Devino

originally posted by: Martin75
a reply to: xuenchen

Did I hear correctly that this is a new line and this was the first run? Did they not do a trial run with an empty train?

This is awful! My thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved.

This is not a new line nor a new train. It was the first time Cascade used the interstate 5 route.

A notice on the Washington State Department of Transportation's website before the crash said that Monday was the first day for Amtrak's Cascades train to use the route along I-5.

Thank you for the clarification. That makes more sense.

So has a train ever driven this route that fast? Surely they did test runs.

originally posted by: UKTruth

originally posted by: jhn7537
I saw some stories on Twitter about Antifa pouring cement on the tracks....I'm looking into deeper. I hope its not true...

Got t be careful about this - speculation I think. I heard that there was twitter activity that called for this beforer it happened... but I can't find the posts...

Not to mention that I could see several groups that would be happy to create this kind of incident, not just ANTIFA. If someone did this, let's make sure we hang the bell around the right neck.

originally posted by: Martin75

Thank you for the clarification. That makes more sense.

So has a train ever driven this route that fast? Surely they did test runs.

I don't know. They do maintain the tracks regularly and I don't think that this is the first time a train went through there at 80MPH. I have been down that interstate many times and have seen freight/container trains using those tracks yet I can't imagine they would go 80MPH.

a reply to: Devino

I was reading this morning that the passenger trains were routed this way in an attempt to take pressure off the travel season. No word on if this was a temporary routing or not.

originally posted by: Devino
This is not a new line nor a new train. It was the first time Cascade used the interstate 5 route.

A notice on the Washington State Department of Transportation's website before the crash said that Monday was the first day for Amtrak's Cascades train to use the route along I-5.

That's for passenger service, it had done the run already as given in the video by a channel reporter who was on the VIP run. I think he mentioned passing over that bridge at a reasonable speed with nothing untoward.

originally posted by: smurfy

originally posted by: Devino
This is not a new line nor a new train. It was the first time Cascade used the interstate 5 route.

A notice on the Washington State Department of Transportation's website before the crash said that Monday was the first day for Amtrak's Cascades train to use the route along I-5.

That's for passenger service, it had done the run already as given in the video by a channel reporter who was on the VIP run. I think he mentioned passing over that bridge at a reasonable speed with nothing untoward.

Yes, I believe Cascade is an Amtrak passenger train, not freight.

Here's some tweets about Antifa and the speculation around them pouring cement on the tracks..

Shortly after the Amtrak derailment, an #Antifa allied group deleted their webpage on which they bragged about obstructing train tracks with concrete in Olympia.

Twitter

Additional tweet

Twitter

a reply to: xuenchen

High speed.. Like Japan?

a reply to: jhn7537

Antifa likes the liberal northwest.

originally posted by: carewemust
a reply to: jhn7537

Antifa likes the liberal northwest.

It could be ANTIFA related, but it could also be eco-terror related, but it could also be disaffected locals, but it could also be completely accidental, but it could even by ISIS/Islamic terror related. There are a bunch of different possibilities.

originally posted by: Devino

originally posted by: Martin75

Thank you for the clarification. That makes more sense.

So has a train ever driven this route that fast? Surely they did test runs.

I don't know. They do maintain the tracks regularly and I don't think that this is the first time a train went through there at 80MPH. I have been down that interstate many times and have seen freight/container trains using those tracks yet I can't imagine they would go 80MPH.

Yes they did test runs. It was the first day of the new 181 million line that Lakewood sued over concern.

For our locals tuning in/looking for more info: Southbound I-5 will be closed for the rest of of the day.

Alternate routes to avoid I-5 train derailment crash near Lacey.
PLEASE SHARE with your friends who drive in the area.
• Exit I-5 at HWY 7 in Tacoma • Exit HWY 512 in Lakewood or Yelm • Exit Hwy 7 to HWY 507 is an option, but there's major backup

Kiro FB

Again your best alternate around the closure of SB I-5 in Dupont: EXIT I-5 AT HWY 16 THROUGH GIG HARBOR TO PORT ORCHARD, EXIT TO HWY 3, HEAD SOUTH TO SHELTON, EXIT HWY 101 TO OLYMPIA TO I-5

More with video

a reply to: jhn7537

If they did it to stop fracking equipment then they are complete idiots as that new track was solely for the use of Amtrak trains so the BNSF Freight lines that they were using along the Puget Sound could have less congestion. If they thought that forcing the passenger trains to stay on the freight tracks was going to slow down the fracking freight, they are also wrong, all it may end up doing is increasing the maximum allowable train length as the freight division will still need to move all of the freight they have been contracting to transport. This will just mean longer waits at the crossing grades for all of us here in the Puget Sound area that need to cross these tracks. I personally drive over them about 10 times a week.

New train and the graffiti artists already messing up the paint job.
Hope that wasn't a Duke Ellington reference..

a passenger described the experience,

www.washingtonpost.com...

“All of a sudden, we felt this rocking and creaking noise, and then all of a sudden it felt like we were heading down a hill, and the next thing that we know we’re being slammed into the front of our seats and the windows are breaking,” Chris Karnes, a passenger

this tells me the train did not collide with a vehicle, as some here are speculating,
from what the witness says it sounds like something made the train derail somewhat smoothly, like something wrong with the track,

a reply to: Cauliflower


That picture is the lead engine sitting on the expressway. It hit something major before getting there just look at the front of it.

Strange unless it did a 360 and ended upright?? Naah

Mayor warned about new Amtrak line before derailment

The mayor of a city near the scene of Monday’s deadly train crash in Washington state warned earlier this month that the start of high-speed service was bound to end in disaster.

During a Dec. 4 meeting of the Lakewood City Council, Mayor Don Anderson blasted plans by the Washington State Department of Transportation to let Amtrak trains travel through the city at up to 79 mph without first installing overpasses or other means of keeping motor vehicles and pedestrians away from the tracks.

“Come back when there is that accident, and try to justify not putting in those safety enhancements, or you can go back now and advocate for the money to do it, because this project was never needed and endangers our citizens,” Anderson said, according to video posted online by KOMO Radio.

Hmmm... what should we make of that?