But officer, the light was yellow!
Remember the Metra train that derailed recently, killing two people? Remember how it was going 69 in a 10 m.p.h. switching zone? Well, engineer Michael Smith and his clear consience spoke to reporters yesterday.
He was not using a cell phone nor was he reading the newspaper, he said. Passing through 53rd Street, he accelerated north and could see the 48th Street signal about 17 seconds in advance of it. Again, it signaled that he would not switch tracks, he said.
About 20 yards in advance of the crossover, he noticed the tracks were aligned for a switch, not to proceed straight. By the time he moved his hand from the throttle to the brake, he was in the 10 m.p.h. crossover, he said. Knowing what was going to happen, Smith braced himself in the control cab.
"It was a rocky ride," Smith said. "I will say that fear did not set in until after the train stopped."
Whoops!
I'm sure we all feel better knowing that he wasn't reading the paper, however.
Post Author:
rj3 | 11:35 AM |
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A note for any readers not familiar with signalling rules: if the crossover was in fact lined and pulled on for a diverging route, the distant signal would indicate approach (yellow or yellow over red) or approach diverging (yellow over yellow) depending on the rule book in effect, and the home signal would display a medium clear (red over green.) Investigation thus far reveals that the signals had been set an hour before the train approached, and a radio report this morning has the engineer on a suicide watch after he attempted to take his own life. Something more is going on here?
