Ever See A Train Spin Out?

[NismoZ]

It doesn't work. Was turning at 2X the cornering speed!? Engineer SAID he was going to derail?! WTF!? WAAY more deadly than the Costa Concordia sinking. Might as well have been an example of "workplace violence."? Spain. Death toll nearing '55 Le Mans number...80+

[Napoleon]

Video someone took who was at a meeting nearby when it happened:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edY6fHtvlAk&feature=youtu.be

[Elmo T]

Hard to imagine how you accidentally go that fast. :saywhat:

Scene video is :( . Unbelievably difficult for those responders - both technically and emotionally.

[Gnam]

:(

I almost don't want to know what caused the wreck. Knowing is just going to add to the tragedy.
Negligence, system failure, malice, unlucky accident... whatever the cause the price for this lesson seems way to high. Especially on a mode of transport that is supposed to be inherently safe.

[Napoleon]

I can't find a link for where I read this but supposedly the speed limit is 50mph there and 2 differant calculations based on landmarks in the video put him up over 100.

Per the NY Times this is an English translation of something running in a Spanish paper re the driver's Facebook page.


The Facebook profile of Garzón was deleted in the early hours of the morning. However, as soon as his identity became known, journalists and members of the public began to peruse it for information. Among Garzón’s posts on the social networking site was a photo, uploaded on March 8, 2012 by Garzón, featuring a speedometer with the needle at 200km/h.

Underneath the photo, some of Garzón’s contacts had left comments. “Dude, you’re going full speed, braaaaake” read one of the posts, to which Garzón answered: “I’m right on the limit, I can’t go any faster or they’ll give me fine.”

[NismoZ]

There is a head-on video from a stationary camera, on the outside of that curve, that must have CERTAINLY been wiped out in the accident. That one car scissored up and OVER the "catch" fence (which looked to be constructed of I-beams and plexiglass)...perhaps 20 ft. (?) above track level. Insane stuff! Saw it on morning news but not since.

[dando]

Firefighters out on strike came in to rescue the passengers. :thumbup: :thumbup:

-Kevin

[cameraman]

It seems the train was cruising along at 119 mph and for some reason the engineer had questions about the route and was on the phone with a railroad controller & looking at a map/route description when he came up on the curve. He got on the brakes seconds before the derailment and the train had slowed to 95 mph (still 40 mph too fast) when it went off the rails.

Any railroad is going to have speed restriction signals/signage when approaching a curve like that. So he is looking down at the map/route paperwork and he misses the signals??? Wow, just wow.:shakehead:

[KLang]

I wondered if there weren't some kind of automated warnings that the train was going too fast, apparently there were:


Investigators say the driver of a Spanish train that crashed, killing 79 people, received three warnings to reduce speed in the two minutes before the train hurtled off the tracks.

Link (http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/spanish-train-driver-explain-crashed-19841395)

Two minutes doesn't seem like enough warning to slow the train's speed.

[Elmo T]

Two minutes doesn't seem like enough warning to slow the train's speed.

Not a massive freight train - I'd think they get stopped fairly quickly.

And two minutes with no response is a longggg time. :saywhat: