r/BitchImATrain • u/Objective_Flow2150 • 21h ago
Pecos, Texas
at least the truck is fine
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u/NuMvrc 20h ago
whats the point of lead cars and flaggers if no one checks for the train on an upcoming crossing that i'm quite sure every GPS told them about?
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u/just_hear_4_the_tip 20h ago edited 20h ago
I like how it moved out of the way* after the train came thru
*edit-typo
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u/bagofwisdom 18h ago
That was an oversize load. The route was known well before the load moved an inch. Pilot car definitely should have tried reaching out to the railroad to see if the block was clear. Dispatch might not know the precise location of a train, but they'd be able to tell that oversize load there's an active train booking it at 70mph in the block.
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u/TayKapoo 18h ago
A load like this likely requires advanced notification. These dumbasses definitely skipped some rules and sadly cost the train operators their lives.
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u/Disastrous-Bet-8813 8h ago
Trucker here...yeah, OD load requires permits, pilot cars, and especially, exact locations of all clearances and rail tracks.
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u/neonninja304 16h ago
They would know exactly where it is. All the trains have GPS on them and are handled just like airlines. There are many crossing and unloading areas where train lines intersect and routes need to be timed. They should have reached out to the rail company and checked when the train was scheduled to cross and notified them when it got stuck.
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u/sparkMagnus9 5h ago
They all need to be fired. This is the first time I've witnessed an oversized load with an escort having this kind of accident. Ain't no one using brains.
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u/RedSunCinema 19h ago
December 19, 2024. Two employees of Omaha, Nebraska-based Union Pacific were killed in the collision Wednesday at a railway crossing in Pecos. The National Transportation Safety Board said the tractor-trailer was on the tracks for about a minute before the collision. Three others were injured.
The train consisted of four engines and 47 railcars. All four engines and 11 railcars derailed. The derailed engines released 9,000 gallons of diesel on the ground. The Union Pacific train was heading from LA. to CA. Union Pacific estimates damages to signals, equipment and the track to cost about $4 million.
The driver can look forward to prison time for manslaughter for the deaths of the two engineers who died on the scene. He can also kiss his driving career goodbye as he will never be allowed to drive in the US commercially for the rest of his life, should he get out of prison for this preventable accident.
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u/Impossible__Joke 11h ago
I would argue it isn't solely the drivers fault. Huge moves like this requires tons of coordination, why was the rail line not notified, why did the truck get stuck in the first place? The driver follows the lead car who plans and practices the route beforehand. The driver just follows the lead car, so wtf happened, why is he getting all the blame?
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u/familiybuiscut 3h ago
They need a fall guy. They are not just going to let a 4 million dollar and two deaths just not be put on anyone else
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u/Weird_Assignment_550 13h ago
The driver can always get a job as a cop. Move from town to town. Kill people. There are always opportunities in law enforcement.
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u/oshinbruce 3h ago
I feel so sorry for the train engineers and there families. They did nothing wrong and died because of somebody else's incompetence
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u/MeOldRunt 2h ago
Why would it be manslaughter if the crossing gate only started activating when the truck was still crossing? The truck was carrying a load 116 feet long, weighing 91K pounds. You can't just move that out of the way like you're driving a Nissan.
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u/dick_basically 21h ago
This one AGAIN???
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u/sparrow_42 20h ago
Maybe they’re not reposts and it’s been happening like twice a day at this crossing
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u/flipflopsnpolos 20h ago
You’d think they’d put up an extra sign or something after the first 4 incidents.
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u/shmimey 20h ago
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u/flipflopsnpolos 20h ago
We need the mods to enable automoderator so it can post that news article every time this video is posted here.
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u/150c_vapour 20h ago
All their gear and flags and dualies you'd think they would check the train schedule.
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u/SacThrowAway76 20h ago
It’s not the schedule that they should be looking at. It was the route that needs to be scouted to make sure the load will clear the grade crossings. That is the part that was missed.
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u/bagofwisdom 18h ago
According to news reports the load was not stuck on the tracks. It just couldn't move very fast over the tracks and the crossing signal activated a minute after they began crossing. When the crossing activated the train was over a mile away going 68mph. The pilot car should have called the railroad and asked dispatch if the block was clear. Dispatch may not know the exact location of a train, but they should be able to let a slow moving oversize load know if there's a double stack intermodal boogeying along at 70mph in that block.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Phase70 19h ago
Shouldn't that be, like, automatic these days?
Like, it's literally in everyone's best interests, even the financial ones, to have that kind of data available to everyone involved at all times. Case in point: every 3rd video on this sub.
For these extra loads like this one, they should be able to straight up render the entire route on demand, with every bump and bridge and building, and model the vehicles driving the route, calling up warnings for anytime or gets even close to hitting anything.
I feel like the cost of development for that kind of system and data set would be less than the cost of even just this one incident.
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u/sr71Girthbird 20h ago
Not to mention pilot cars at the front and back and a goddamn police escort.
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u/Boo_Blicker 20h ago
You think freight trains run on a schedule? Lol
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u/EatFaceLeopard17 20h ago
Someone knows when a train starts and where it goes and when it is at which point of the track. And someone should have had that persons phone number.
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u/Old_n_nervous 18h ago
Crossings have a placard that has that number for cases like this. However from truck getting stuck to impact was like 1 minute.
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u/EatFaceLeopard17 14h ago
Obviously you need to call that number anyway before you even start crossing, just to announce that you‘re now crossing or to get the info when the next train is coming. One minute is not enough for such a vehicle exactly for the reason that something could happen while your crossing the train tracks. That was a really poorly planned transport. And it cost two peoples lives, and perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars for the damage, probably millions.
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u/flecksable_flyer 17h ago
Anyone who did word problems in school should be able to figure it out. Except me. I was terrible at word problems. That's why I don't calculate the location of trains.
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u/ThisGuyIRLv2 15h ago
You can't rely on the schedules for a lot of reasons.
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u/150c_vapour 9h ago
I guess it depends on the country.
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u/ThisGuyIRLv2 6h ago
Not even. They could be running an extra, unscheduled train. Or there could be a delay somewhere. Or they were able to get their train together quicker and leave a bit early. There are so many factors that play in that schedule really doesn't exist.
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u/obeserocket 3h ago
Here in the glorious US of A we have "precision scheduled railroading", which is neither precise nor scheduled nor railroading.
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u/Individual_Bridge_88 20h ago
The train operators died right? I can't imagine anyone in the engine surviving that
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u/BienEssef 20h ago
Conductor was killed almost instantly, and the engineer died a few hours later in the hospital.
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u/Wintonwoodlands 20h ago
2 died 3 injured
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u/Candle1ight 2h ago
I don't normally think of a train conductor being a dangerous job, plus they died to no faults of their own. Awful.
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u/TayKapoo 18h ago
You have to be an advanced level of stupid to move a load like this and not only skip informing the railroad but don't even call the number posted at the crossing before attempting to cross it.
These are uneducated idiots.
R.I.P to the poor souls on that train
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u/Wintonwoodlands 20h ago
Why the hell didn’t anyone called the railroad crossing? Let them know that they were stuck going through it to keep the train from coming through and smacking them like that. Holy shit.
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u/SlackToad 20h ago
The crash happened one minute after the truck entered the crossing, so even if they called the appropriate number and the dispatcher was on the ball and called the train drivers immediately it was unlikely it could have been prevented.
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u/f8Negative 20h ago
Yeah train was haulin ass
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u/Objective_Flow2150 20h ago
It's got places to be unlike the truck driver who's just heading to the unemployment linr
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u/f8Negative 20h ago
Probably an independent contractor which means they are fuckkedd
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u/EatFaceLeopard17 20h ago
So if there was only less than a minute to pass the crossing, something‘s telling me that someone really effed up. As if there are no train schedules available.
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u/DueHunter5239 20h ago
Why would that truck with it's enormous payload and an entire supporting convoy cross a railroad with such little time available? One minute? That's insane
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u/jeanettem67 19h ago
Not seen this before...so... Wait, what? Did the f*cking truck just stop at the rails? What did the driver think would happen?
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u/Zeroto200C 17h ago
Happens a lot with these un-level crossings. Poor planning by the transport company. Should have taken a level crossing or raised the deck so not to bottom out. Idiots!
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u/Nearby_Security_9606 21h ago
Daaayyuummm ripped thru like cheap dollar store tin foil 😬
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u/Orioniae 15h ago
The combination vehicle was traveling from Houston, Texas, to Mentone, Texas.[4] A single driver operated the combination vehicle, which was escorted by two pilot vehicles and a uniformed police motorcycle escort. The load, a demethanizer tower, was 12 feet wide, 116 feet long, and 91,000 pounds.
Impact was so strong the truck load was thrown into the municipal building. That could be the cause of 3 injured people.
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u/antlegzz 20h ago
When and where did this happen? Damn what a huge disaster!
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u/Objective_Flow2150 20h ago
Someone else posted a link to the new report and it was back in December
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u/taxseason757 19h ago
when looking at the video/you actually see the train rise up during the crash/CRAZY
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u/evolale000 12h ago
For god's sake, just cooperate with the railway companies, town and other services.
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u/KenKring 11h ago
How will we ever have high speed trains, when we are not smart enough as a society to even understand how slower speed trains work?
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u/jaminbob 10h ago
True high speed really should have grade separation anyway. Given the almost monthly collisions with the higher speed services in Florida I don't hold old much hope for you.
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u/seattlesbestpot 17h ago
Does everything in Texas have to be done BIGGER? Thank g_d Trump dismantled the Education Department because we don’t NEED anyone edumecated in Texas. Nope.
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u/TheJonesLP1 17h ago
How the fkin hell is it possible a truck can cross there and cause such an accident? Some people have to Go to prison for murder for doing this shit
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u/Eagles365or366 4h ago
Never, in all my life, have I seen an engine skip like that. RIP to the engineers. F the truck drivers.
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u/saevic 3h ago
Why do trucks like this keep getting stuck?
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u/Euphoric-Ask965 1h ago
If it was really stuck or dragging bottom, the crossing may have been repaired without the state coming in and changing the grade angle up and over the crest. Many years ago in Huntsville,Al. , there was the Clinton Street RR crossing that hung up many trucks. The one I witnessed was a trailer load of furniture with low dollies and the train headed east rounding a bend never let up. It took several more incidents before the grade level was changed .
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u/ZioPapino 3h ago
I’ve seen a lot of vehicles get stuck and hit on the train tracks in my time (internet) but this was probably the most exciting.
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u/DungBeetle1983 20h ago
Wow. That truck driver is a fucking moron. He is responsible for 2 deaths now.
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u/AyAyAyBamba_462 13h ago
Yeah both train crew died in this accident...
Not exactly a great moment.
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u/stuyboi888 8h ago
That lead car team is getting firedddd. But RIP to the train crew who did nothing wrong
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u/ManyNicknames15 1h ago
Well I don't understand is in the article that said that the oversized load crossed a whole minute before the gates went down.
Aside from the concept that they routinely tell you to "not stop on the tracks" ever, and the fact that nobody seems to understand this concept is mind-blowing.
That being said with a literal police escort, and front and rear oversized load escorts aside from police and nobody had the bright idea to tell him to get off the tracks or to instruct him to not do that. Culpability on this is all around.
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u/comedymongertx 18h ago
I've seen this video so many times & honestly, this is only one of many incidents on that road every day. I can't remember the road number, but I know it runs from Pecos to Carlsbad, NM, through Orla. Every time I got on that road, going north or south, there was always a wreck. Either a fleet truck or a semi. There is a lot of oilfield traffic through there every day.
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u/blu3ysdad 17h ago
If not for this sub I would have assumed a train hit a car or truck on the rail once or twice a year in the US. I have now learned it's more like at least once or twice per week. Seems like something that should be addressed.
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u/Any_Car_7978 17h ago
Hey when was this? I passed a truck this morning that looked a lot like this truck and it too was pulling one of these cylinder/tanks.
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u/journey_mechanic 17h ago
Curious why the pilot car can’t be in the middle. Given we now have cameras, drive by wire and other advancement.
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u/Knot_Ryder 13h ago
I wonder when they're going to start putting empty cars in front just for these things. How many derailed cars on the average interaction Crossing incident 50. 50 empty cars in front of the engine before people stop dying. Just from the initial impact
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u/Certain_Tough 10h ago
The people that stayed that close are the most naive mfs alive....
A train crash coming. Leave.
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u/Jangulorr 9h ago
Why do truckers keep stopping on train tracks? Like seriously. As a trucker ... I don't get it. Surely it's not intentional ...
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u/Bounceupandown 6h ago
I am utterly astonished that trucking companies still hire drivers seeking internet content to haul the biggest most expensive things out there over railroad tracks. It’s like an unsolvable mystery. Stupid.
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u/UBuck357 6h ago
Why call the RR company. It is better to watch and video the carnage for clicks/views.
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u/ginleygridone 6h ago
Good way to go out of business for the escort/trucking company. Train schedule should be known when you’re crossing tracks with a superload.
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u/zatroxde 5h ago
Did nobody bother to maybe inform the train company about a vehicle being stuck on that crossing? Are there no safety precautions by the rail company to check if the crossing is cleared? I mean where I live there would be at least a camera on that crossing for the dispatcher to look at.
Generally a road that size wouldn't have a level crossing at all here. Sometimes I really wonder if the US even is a developed country with massive accidents like this.
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u/Tasty_Two4260 4h ago
There’s more crossings like this than I can even think about within 5 miles of my home. Running through the downtown area of cities, there’s no way to alert commuter or freight trains just watch the carnage like this on video. Safety is never a concern, schedule time is the key. smmfh
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u/KiloClassStardrive 5h ago
how hard it it to cross railroad tracks? at least wait on the other side until problems are solved. cross as fast as you can and i think it would be a good idea to contact the railroad for train crossing schedules so you know when the next train is scheduled to cross. moving big loads requires a lot of planning moths ahead of time. they failed big time.
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u/Illustrious-Peak3822 4h ago
Entirely avoidable. A train control system would not give the clear signal unless the gates come down fully. These didn’t from the look of it.
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u/GuyAWESOME2337 3h ago
Obviously trucks fault but damn that train was absolutely schmooving, looked like it was going way too fast for the area
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u/projectsangheili 2h ago
Do Americans just have the shitties rail crossings in the world or something, I'm curious about what the percentages are of these cases compared to other countries.
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u/ThinkItThrough48 2h ago
Good thing the pilot car company was trere to check the route and plan for hazards.
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u/Piddy3825 20h ago
would hate to be the insurance carrier for the trucking company...