Well we are dumb as mud.

 

Not dumb, just old...

Sounds like something old people say...

 

 

The older I get I realize just how smart my parents were.

The older I get I realize just how smart my parents were.

 

:thumb:

Sounds like something old people say...

 

You are our age!...I think you are anyway.:sssh:

You are our age!...I think you are anyway.:sssh:

 

I was trying to change my vote after LRCW's post...:lol:

I was trying to change my vote after LRCW's post...:lol:

 

 

:laugh::laugh::laugh: Were you trying to throw off my test?

:laugh::laugh::laugh: Were you trying to throw off my test?

 

I actually thought the same thing you did. Scary, I know.

 

Could it have caused him to crash, absolutely. Did it, not sure...

That's when the text was sent. We have no idea how long it took him to type it or if he was reading messages before then. A freight train would take quite a bit of time to stop, but a commuter train could stop much, much faster. The guy blew through a yellow light and a red light, so he was either distracted or suicidal.

 

I thought about that after I sent the original message! :thumb:

The older I get I realize just how smart my parents were.

 

Me too! But now my children are saying that to me or us now.

Lets go HERE to discuss it and not get this thread off track.

No pun intended?

No pun intended?

 

Of course not.

Could it make him crash? Easily

Was it the leading cause? Most likely

Will we ever know for sure? Probably not

As a qualified locomotive engineer, I would never send text messages while I was running a commuter train. In the few seconds that he was looking down at his phone, he very well could have missed the signal that would have told him that there was traffic ahead. Granted, as stated, commuter trains are able to stop pretty quickly, but if the engineer is moving at Maximum Authorized Speed and doesn't realize that he needs to stop, then it doesn't matter how long it take for the train to stop.

 

If I am remembering correctly, the trains collided in a curve. If in fact the engineer did miss his previous signal due to texting, by the time he saw the train ahead, he didn't even have time to react.

 

In response to other distractions, reading is a no-no. According to rules and regulations, you are not even supposed to have any type of reading material other than work related paperwork out while on duty.

 

Talking to other crew members is not really an issue. If this commuter train was like most of the one's around here, there wouldn't even be anyone on the locomotive for him to talk to. On coal or manifest trains, the conductor rides in the cab of the locomotive with the engineer. On commuter trains, they can usually be found in the passenger cars, and the only way that the crew members have to talk to each other is by radio.

 

All this being said, I hope that some type of good comes out of this tragedy. We may never know what caused the engineer to miss his signal.

Musketeer, are train stops used on any of the American rail lines?

Musketeer, are train stops used on any of the American rail lines?

 

I am not sure what you mean by train stops.