The Sandersville collision 3 years later

you [Music] it's not often where two trains would share the same such of tracks but tracks usually split into two or more so two trains can pass each other in opposite directions or even race next to each other but it depends on everyone following the rules and making sure both engine crews and dispatchers are paying full attention and know what they're doing but sometimes it takes one small mistake to cause a massive catastrophe on August 7th 2015 in Sandersville Georgia an estranged e23 a local from the battle Lumber Company in waggly Georgia was heading back to channel Georgia from doing morning work the train was led by SD 40 - to 1637 the crew was given a track authority from the NS Savannah dispatcher to proceed toward 1000 yard meanwhile intermodal train number two away from in Midnight of Atlanta - Dillard yard in Savannah was sitting at the art of channel on the main line near mile post s1 33.0 with - 9 4 t CW 97 96 leading es 44 AC 81 32 trailing and a full double stack load of intermodal containers the train soon got a track Authority to work between mile post s1 33.0 East to milepost 78.8 CP Mellon on the main line and to not depart until the arrival of G 23 however they thought that G 23 was way off and that because they were a higher priority intermodal train but they could take off beasts without waiting for the G 23 so they could clear up on the tunnel passing trackside they passed the Georgia Highway 242 crossing and that detector at milepost s13 and five which registered 208 heading 49 miles per hour east one the NS local G 23 was running west toward tunnel after passing through the town of David's bro Georgia and the defect detector at milepost s 1 to 2 point 3 and then crossed the sunhill grands road and then started around the curve that leads to the highway 242 crossing the same exact crossing that to ol8 was about to cross they saw the NS 208 headlights and immediately threw their train into emergency braking before bailing out the crew of 208 did the same thing [Music] the two trains had all combined speed of over 50 miles an hour because 97 96 was going faster heavier and had an anti climber device on the front it slung the SD 40 - - sideways and off the track destroying her cab and body 97 96 then turned up on her side because of the sharp curve and in doing so ripped off its front hatch door and broke free of its trucks and traction motor wheel assemblies the top-heavy engine compartment hood slid off and broke the mounts that hold the engine in place when that happened the big 4,400 horsepower at 7 FDL - 16 prime mover along with the alternator generator fell out that also severed the red fuel lines that feed the motor from the five thousand gallon fuel tank and began leaking the red farm diesel fuel 80 132 survived the wreck but with minor damage all four crew members of both trains survived but suffered various injuries - had trauma injuries while one ended up on life support locals Novik nearby were stunned one lived by the area for 15 years and said he'd seen derailments but nothing compared to this since Ennis has known have a pretty decent safety record everyone was scratching on their heads wondering what the heck happened investigation revealed that the cause was a dispatcher giving a track warrant for the stack train to meet two locals adding the words do not depart until but there was later confusion by the crew the stack train has left after the first local fast then crashed into the Second World War the engineer was also on the phone at the same time his conductor is receiving the track warrant dispatcher the greater safety on dark territory the dispatcher should have only given the track point for the stack train Anita the first opposing little hook and then request a call British Authority and then the dispatcher with an issue of the track one for the second local reporter and authority to continue the eastward but the dispatcher was trying to save his time by including two trains in the same read order who left it open for the crew to miss the fact that there were two trains in a meet or not one the crew should have also read and reviewed the orders together and fully studied them when there's less to study there is less room for error the engineer should have also never been on the phone while either texting or calling someone on the job according to NS safety protocol cellphones must be locked in crew members bags the entire time on duty so so this wasn't just dispatcher error but crew error as well although NS can't fully agree on the dispatcher being at fault in the end 1637 and 97 96 were damaged beyond repair and scrapped while 81 32 was later repaired in New York and returned to service it's been over three years since this crash and whether PTC could have prevented this is up for debate well we can only hope that dispatch procedures can be modified to prevent easy shortcuts never cease such an accident ever again [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Thunderbolt 1000 Siren Productions

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Id: EHBgSVdlXLw

Length: 7min 1sec (421 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 07 2018