Dawson, OK, MP 418.7 (Tulsa) - Cut Of Runaway Cars Train Wreck - Friday, 12/14/2013

Discussion in 'General' started by tmfrisco, Dec 14, 2013.

  1. tmfrisco

    tmfrisco Member Frisco.org Supporter

    I am sure that the massive train wreck at Dawson in Tulsa is aware to many of you, but I am surprised that no one has posted about it, yet. So, here goes with as much as I know.

    On Friday at about 1:00 am a west bound freight train was hit by a large portion of a train parked at Trenton St. Some one had closed the angle cock and pulled the pin on a train of autos that had stopped to change crews at Trenton.

    When the relieving crew pulled ahead, the rear portion of the train rolled east, ran through the power switch at East Tulsa, and hit the following mixed freight at Dawson. When the crew on the mixed freight saw the signal at Dawson drop red in their face, they knew something was wrong.

    They were able to jump before the collision therefor probably saving their lives. If they had been west of the field signal at Dawson, they would have had no warning until the cars were close enough to be seen. They must have been able to see the fred on the approaching cars because the act of the signal dropping red could have been nothing more than a test.

    Under these circumstances the engineer is only required to stop in accordance with good train handling practices. The lead unit was possibly totally destroyed as it was rammed into the auto rack it hit while sitting on debris from this car or possibly another one.

    If you want to see pictures of this wreck, go to the Tulsa World site for several different pictures. If I can figure out how to get then over to this site, I will.


    Terry
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 20, 2023
  2. frisco1522

    frisco1522 Staff Member Staff Member

    Had to have been someone familiar enough to close the angle cocks and pull the pin. Disgruntled employee or just a jerk?
     
  3. r c h

    r c h Ft Worth - Tulsa Engineer

    I found out about this as I got picked up when I yarded my train yesterday coming in from Madill.

    Everything I heard is consistent with what you're saying, Terry. The limo driver said the crew of the following train plugged it when the signal dropped on them. I heard that when they saw the fred that's when they got off and out of the way. I also heard about sabotage/vandalism as the cause even as early into the incident as it was when I got to the yard yesterday morning.

    On the Creek Subdivision we had some signals dropping the past few days because of the weather and the ice, so it would be easy to just assume that the signal dropping was just more of the same. Good job to the crew for being alert and getting out of harm's way.

    I went out to the scene after tying up and it was pretty messed up. It's a bit of a reality check to get off a train after a 12 hour run staring through fog, fighting slipping wheels on an underpowered train and whistling off crossings during morning rush hour only to see a train that didn't make it. Again, my hat's off to the crew for taking the safe course and getting out of harm's way. I'm not sure the collision was survivable had they stayed on board.

    I don't believe a green signal dropping to red is a scenario used for an operations test, since the engineer wouldn't be required to stop short of the signal. We have to be tested on stop scenarios once a year (banner, dark signal, etc.) to maintain our engineer certification, but since the signal was clear when it dropped this wouldn't work as an operations test.

    I hope whoever caused this collision is found and is punished.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 20, 2023
  4. William Jackson

    William Jackson Bill Jackson

    Your opinion, is someone bottled the air and pulled the pin? It would take someone who knew a little for that.

    Bill Jackson
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 20, 2023
  5. gjslsffan

    gjslsffan Staff Member Staff Member

    Always glad to hear no one was hurt with this kind of thing, could have easily been the other way. Good job to the crew for being alert and taking care of bidness.

    With all the Locomotive cameras, yard shove/observation cameras, street intersection cameras and so forth, lets hope the perpetrator(s) are on video, caught, and this brought to conclusion soon.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 20, 2023
  6. April

    April Member

    BNSF posted several cellphone pics from the cab of a (outbound?) train of two people walking along the tracks just before the cars broke loose. The pics were taken after dark so they are pretty fuzzy so doubtful they are useful to identify any specific person.

    Also the area is fairly close to downtown and there are always people walking near the tracks so they could be innocent.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 16, 2013
  7. r c h

    r c h Ft Worth - Tulsa Engineer

    I'm surprised the grade crossing event camera hasn't been used to produce some better photos of the suspects. I can't be the only person a little creeped out by the guy wearing the tan coat. It looks like it could be a Carhartt coat, similar to the one I and many other BNSF employees have.

    In this area there's a road that follows the tracks for a good little bit, so there's really no reason anyone would need to walk along the tracks, especially considering the snow and ice buildup on the ties at the time of the derailment. The wreck site isn't that close to downtown that these people are likely to be walking home from the entertainment district. This area is probably better described as light industrial, bordering on lower income residential.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 20, 2023
  8. April

    April Member

    You're correct (guess I didn't look close enough at the blurry pics). After re-reading the thread I see they were stopped at the Trenton Avenue crossing. That is way east of downtown.

    Is it normal procedure for crews to take pics of trespassers? I ask because the local news reported these were cellphone pics. I thought the more modern locomotives out there have cameras installed.

    April
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 17, 2013
  9. r c h

    r c h Ft Worth - Tulsa Engineer

    Pretty much all road locomotives have the cameras installed, but they break from time to time. In that case, the locomotive would be considered "not lead qualified" and couldn't be on the head end of a train. The camera could break enroute and the crew wouldn't have any knowledge of that fact. At any given time I think it's safe to assume the camera is working, but there's no telling if it truly is or not.

    GCOR 2.21 provides for employees to take a photo of "a safety hazard or a violation of a rail safety law, regulation, order or standard..." There are of course certain stipulations and conditions under which a camera may be used, but if the train was stopped and both crew members were on board, they were probably okay to do so. In my experience, it's not common to snap photos of safety violations but I wouldn't have hesitated to do just as this crew did and take photos of these people.

    The vehicle train was the one stopped at Trenton and the rear 28 cars rolled away eastward into the following train, so the collision was pretty far east of downtown. I can't remember the cross streets, but I want to say it was near Yale Avenue.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 20, 2023

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