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Post by whitmanlam on Sept 16, 2008 23:11:39 GMT -8
The train engineer and conductor are supposed to stay in contact and relay messages to each other. According to the news reports (And this is all preliminary until the NTSB finishes the investigation) there was a period of about 1 minute where engineer and conductor were silent.
Also, the engineer of the UP freight train did apply brakes 5 seconds before the crash, but the Metrolink train kept moving at constant speed of 42 mph. The Metrolink train went through several stop signals, not just one, before the crash.
I doubt anyone can be that distracted by text messaging. And investigators have not found a cell phone anywhere near the body of the deceased Metrolink engineer.
Metrolink was not equipped with the latest safety mechanisms. Computer activated automatic brakes could have stopped the train at the last stop signal. Other rail lines are equipped with this technology, such as in the Northeast Amtrak Corridor.
The news media is really promoting this idea that Metrolink did not want to spend money on the automatic brakes.
We have one of the largest metropolitan transportation systems in the world. Why shouldn't we have modern safety technology ??
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Post by spokker on Sept 16, 2008 23:22:38 GMT -8
We have one of the largest metropolitan transportation systems in the world. Why shouldn't we have modern safety technology ?? Everyone drives in L.A. |
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 16, 2008 23:46:52 GMT -8
Now, I would like to come to the defense of Robert Sanchez, Metrolink engineer. He might have not got a chance to brake on that blind curve because he might have been looking behind from his cab, trying to figure out what he ran over a few seconds ago that rattled his locomotive, which was actually nothing but the switch he broke. The collision was only a few seconds after this switch.
I smell cover-up on the side of Metrolink. It's all so fishy that the spokeswoman came so fast in blaming the engineer and then she resigned dramatically. This could just be a play to convince us that the Metrolink is doing their best. I seriously suspect that the last two signals were both off. That's why the engineer never called off on them with the conductor. Also, remember that Metrolink initially claimed that an alarm was tripped off in their center and they called the conductor to prevent a possible collision. NTSB later said that this was not true. Everything showed up fine on their screen until the conductor called them after the collision. Something is fishy in the air.
We may never find out the truth about this accident with all these possible cover-ups. NTSB tests are only postmortem tests and can never be trusted to reveal for sure whether the signals were perfectly functioning. But the main culprit was the lack of positive train-control system, which the Feds haven't been able to enforce but only until this tragic accident.
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Post by Justin Walker on Sept 17, 2008 0:03:55 GMT -8
The Metrolink train went through several stop signals, not just one, before the crash. No. Just one. The media may have written otherwise but just one red signal was passed (assuming it was correctly displaying red). |
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Post by wad on Sept 17, 2008 3:59:40 GMT -8
I smell cover-up on the side of Metrolink. ... Something is fishy in the air. If there is anything fishy or resembling a cover-up, it will get aired in the public. The discovery phase of the lawsuits will reveal a lot, as will the NTSB report. I doubt Metrolink has an "in case of emergency" cover-up kit for instances like these. |
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 17, 2008 8:16:11 GMT -8
Private life of Mr. SanchezMetrolink 111 engineer led solitary life marred by tragedy
Lilian Barber
Robert M. Sanchez was described as upbeat and passionate about trains and Italian greyhounds.
Those who knew him say he had a passion for trains and Italian greyhounds. But his companion killed himself in 2003 and he had run-ins with the law.
By David Kelly and Sam Quinones, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
September 17, 2008Those who knew Robert M. Sanchez say he was a relentlessly upbeat man with a passion for trains and Italian greyhounds. At the same time, the Metrolink engineer led a solitary life in recent years and was intensely private, sharing little about a past that included tragedy and run-ins with the law. Sanchez died Friday at the helm of a Metrolink train after apparently failing to stop at a signal near Chatsworth and colliding with an oncoming Union Pacific train. The crash, the worst in modern California history, killed 24 others and injured 135.  Investigators on Tuesday said they had ruled out train and track failure in the accident, and are close to ruling out signal failure. They said they are now focusing on Sanchez and the long days engineers must work, which include lengthy breaks during non-peak hours. "Split schedules are something that are a great concern to us," said Kitty Higgins, a National Transportation Safety Board member. She said the agency also would look into a news report that Sanchez was involved in a fatal crash with a pedestrian earlier this month. In the years before his death, Sanchez led a nomadic life, with public records showing addresses in Oregon, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, Nebraska and California. In 2000, he and Daniel Charles Burton, a waiter, bought a home in Crestline. Burton moved to California from West Haven, Conn., his family said, seeking better weather and the freedom to be gay. No one in Burton's family knows how the two men met, but Burton and Sanchez ended up living together in Studio City before moving to the San Bernardino Mountains. On Feb. 14, 2003, Burton hanged himself in the garage of their home. "Rob, Happy Valentine's Day," read a note Burton left behind that his sister Carolann Peschell kept. "I love you. Please take care of yourself and Ignatia. I love you both very much. Daniel." Ignatia was the greyhound the men owned. The coroner's report showed that Burton tested positive for HIV. According to the report, Sanchez told investigators that he and Burton had been arguing before the suicide, and Sanchez told Burton that they should break up. Even before the suicide, Sanchez was having problems. In 2002, he was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting a video game component from Costco, said Wilson Wong, his former attorney. Initially charged with a felony, Sanchez pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge, paid a fine and served 90 days in jail on weekends, Wong said. "When the incident happened, he was going through some personal issues -- he didn't tell me what they were," Wong said. "He said that's the reason he wasn't able to make good judgments. He said a lot of things were going on that caused him to make stupid mistakes." Sanchez had three minor traffic citations between 2001 and 2005, including speeding and failure to wear a seat belt. He also had a federal tax lien filed against him in 1991 for $6,054 and a Riverside County tax lien for $1,205 filed in 2006, records show. Both were resolved. After Burton's death, Sanchez rarely returned to Crestline. He bought a house in Menifee, near Temecula. At the same time he became increasingly interested in Italian greyhounds. That's when he met Lilian Barber. "He bought an Italian greyhound as a pet and wanted to breed her," said Barber, 77, of Murrieta, who has written four books on the small, sleek breed. "He called me and asked if I knew anyone in the area who had a male, so I invited him down to talk about the breed." The two began a friendship in which Sanchez, 44, would take Barber to lunch almost every week, sometimes spending the entire day with her. "He loved his job but always worried that he didn't have enough seniority and feared they would take his route away," Barber said. The NTSB said Tuesday that Sanchez was hired by Union Pacific in 1996. In 1998, he went to work for Amtrak, then he was hired by a contractor to work for Metrolink in 2005. Sanchez would take Barber to lunch at Thai, Brazilian and other ethnic restaurants. He'd come over and help her husband with yardwork. And he always promised to take them up to Crestline. "He talked a lot about Daniel and said they had bought the house together," Barber said, adding that he never mentioned that Daniel had died. "He loved animals and used to talk about being a kid and being involved with 4-H." He would come for lunch and stay past dinner. Still, he was reluctant to talk about much besides dogs and trains. "I did wonder about him," Barber said. "Why would this man in his 40s want to hang around a lady in her 70s?" Sanchez accompanied Barber to dog shows, including one in San Francisco to which he wore a tuxedo. "That was unusual," she said. Barber said that she has diabetes and that Sanchez told her he took diabetes medication as well. She said she couldn't imagine Sanchez doing anything irresponsible while driving the train, and wondered whether perhaps he "may have had a diabetic shock." In 2006, Sanchez moved into a modest, two-story home in La Crescenta along with his four greyhounds. A neighbor there, Oliver Amelsberg, 83, described Sanchez as polite but guarded, someone who liked talking about trains over the backyard fence but didn't reveal much about himself. And, like Barber, he also found Sanchez "different" but likable. "He was a good man," he said. "He acted and talked like a responsible person." Amelsberg said Sanchez once told him that he knew some teenagers enamored with trains that he'd occasionally wave to on his route. "He only said that once, but I thought about it when they mentioned they were sending messages" over cellphones, Amelsberg said. Investigators are looking into reports that Sanchez may have been text messaging a group of teenage rail enthusiasts just before the accident, and the NTSB said Tuesday that it had subpoenaed cellphone records to examine the engineer's text messages. As Sanchez settled into his La Crescenta house, his visits to Barber began drying up. "He called me before Christmas and said, 'I am on my way down, let's go to lunch,' but I told him I didn't have time to get ready and he got kind of short with me and hung up," she recalled. "It didn't seem very important at the time, but now it does because it would have been the last time I saw him." Barber reflected a moment. "He was so alive and always so up," she said. "I never met anyone so up. That's why it's so difficult to imagine that Rob is dead." david.kelly@latimes.com
sam.quinones@latimes.com
Times staff writers Scott Glover and Robert J. Lopez contributed to this report.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 17, 2008 9:09:45 GMT -8
It was confirmed that Robert Sanchez was the engineer of the train during the suicide that happened two weeks ago on the Ventura Line. A terminally ill person stepped in front of the train and smiled at the engineer just before he got killed. Mr. Sanchez, on a leave following the suicide incident, had returned to work only a couple of days before the Chatsworth collision.
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Post by jejozwik on Sept 17, 2008 9:38:40 GMT -8
It was confirmed that Robert Sanchez was the engineer of the train during the suicide that happened two weeks ago on the Ventura Line. A terminally ill person stepped in front of the train and smiled at the engineer just before he got killed. Mr. Sanchez, on a leave following the suicide incident, had returned to work only a couple of days before the Chatsworth collision. i was afraid of that... |
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Post by spokker on Sept 17, 2008 10:56:49 GMT -8
It was confirmed that Robert Sanchez was the engineer of the train during the suicide that happened two weeks ago on the Ventura Line. A terminally ill person stepped in front of the train and smiled at the engineer just before he got killed. Mr. Sanchez, on a leave following the suicide incident, had returned to work only a couple of days before the Chatsworth collision. Are you saying that seeing the man commit suicide might have put Sanchez over the edge and he deliberately smashed the train into a freight a few days later in order to kill himself? |
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 17, 2008 11:47:25 GMT -8
It was confirmed that Robert Sanchez was the engineer of the train during the suicide that happened two weeks ago on the Ventura Line. A terminally ill person stepped in front of the train and smiled at the engineer just before he got killed. Mr. Sanchez, on a leave following the suicide incident, had returned to work only a couple of days before the Chatsworth collision. Are you saying that seeing the man commit suicide might have put Sanchez over the edge and he deliberately smashed the train into a freight a few days later in order to kill himself? No, I am not saying that. |
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 17, 2008 11:59:43 GMT -8
Here is a great dash-cam video of the cab ride heading north toward the Chatsworth Station. Pay attention to the signals on the way:
And here is the cab ride through the collision site, starting about a mile north of the Chatsworth Station just south of the CP Topanga signal and switch and heading north, going on the blind curve through the accident site, and going through the tunnel. The visibility on the curve is really low. The collision happened next to the grassy area on the right in the middle of the curve. This could arguably be the most scenic section of all the Metrolink lines. Again, pay attention to the signals on the way:
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Post by jejozwik on Sept 17, 2008 12:55:39 GMT -8
right at the point when the blue box appears to screen right. 0:27 thats pritty much the impact site
visibility is not that bad. im almost positive you could see clear to the end of the bend if the frame did not cut it off. though this has no reference for another train coming at camera going 25mph
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Post by Justin Walker on Sept 17, 2008 16:59:27 GMT -8
I cannot imagine the feeling one would feel riding past CP Topanga into that neat, pretty curve like they had countless times before only to find the worst imaginable thing on the tracks in front of you.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 17, 2008 18:23:32 GMT -8
After seeing in the YouTube video that CP Topanga is lighted green (top left of the three lights on the signal) when entrance to the single-track section is authorized and knowing that Robert Sanchez never called out the yellow signal just before the Chatsworth Station and the green or red signal, or a dark signal, at CP Topanga, I am now inclined to say that this was a suicide; although, I hate to draw conclusions. He knew the route extremely well to ignore either signal.
On the other hand, see what I highlighted toward the end of this latest LA Times article. The Bush administration has strongly opposed to the positive-train control system. They don't care if the trains crash or the stock market crashes. This single-minded administration cares about nothing but the oil companies, big corporations, and mega rich. It's not hard to understand that they don't want the railroads to be modernized because this would hurt the oil companies and some big corporations. McCain is said to be even worse, determined to kill Amtrak, light-rail, and other sorts of rail.
Villaraigosa replaces 2 on Metrolink board
The MTA's Richard Katz will be a voting member; a deputy mayor will be an alternate. Also, the NTSB is seeking eyewitness accounts from the conductor and brakeman.
By Phil Willon, Robert J. Lopez and Dan Weikel, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
6:40 PM PDT, September 17, 2008
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today replaced one voting member and one alternate member of the Metrolink board of directors, saying he wanted to ensure that safety and agency transparency become a top priority in the wake of the Metrolink collision that killed 25 people and injured 135 in Chatsworth last week.
The move was not a rebuke of the board members who were replaced, but was intended to send a clear message to the 11-member Metrolink board that it was a mistake to "assume a defensive posture" in its response to the tragedy, said a source familiar with the mayor's decision who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
He was referring to actions taken against Metrolink's chief spokeswoman, Denise Tyrrell. She resigned Monday after being criticized by her superiors, who said she had spoken prematurely when she told the media that the crash was caused by a Metrolink engineer's mistake.
Villaraigosa has the authority to make the changes because he also serves as chairman of board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, one of the agencies that appoints Metrolink board members to oversee the five-county commuter rail line.
"The mayor believes that the public deserves answers and the agency needs changes, and he's taking the leadership to get it done," said the mayor's spokesman, Matt Szabo. "The operational safety of Metrolink must be the paramount concern."
Effective immediately, Villaraigosa appointed MTA board member Richard Katz, a longtime transportation advisor to the mayor, as a voting member of the Metrolink board and Deputy Mayor Jaime de la Vega as an alternate. They replace current board member Anthony J. Bejarano and alternate Francine Oschin.
As the crash investigation continued today, federal officials said they planned to interview the conductor and brakeman of the freight train that was rammed head-on by a Metrolink train in Chatsworth.
The interviews are expected to be conducted as authorities continue to probe Friday's catastrophic collision, said Wayne Workman, the National Transportation Safety Board investigator in charge of the inquiry.
The engineer of the Union Pacific freight train was badly injured, and investigators have not been able to interview him, said Kitty Higgins of the NTSB.
Investigators are hoping the crew members can provide key eyewitness accounts of the crash.
On Tuesday, investigators conducted two reenactments at the crash site and pored over records captured by data recorders on the trains. The information will help determine why the Metrolink engineer failed to yield to two signals warning him to stop and allow the freight train to move off the main track and onto a siding.
Instead the Metrolink engineer raced north along the tracks, at one point hitting 54 mph before slamming into the oncoming freight train.
Workman said in an interview that federal investigators who flew in from Washington the day after the accident would remain in Los Angeles at least through the end of the week.
"There is no pressure to conclude this," he said. "I can stay as long as I feel it is necessary."
As the investigation continued, friends and relatives of passengers killed in the accident prepared to formally say goodbye to their loved ones. The first memorial service is scheduled tonight in Simi Valley for Howard Pompel, 69, a married father of three who was on his way home from work when the trains collided.
Before the service, his son Chris spoke lovingly about his father.
"I want him to be remembered as an outgoing, warm, loving, giving, generous man," said Pompel, 33, a personal assistant for a furniture and design company. "He would always stop what he was doing for someone else. He would do anything he could to make others happy and smile."
Pompel said his father lived in Moorpark. When Chris Pompel was growing up, his father, who was then an insurance agent, worked from home.
"He was always around, always there to help out in any way he could," Pompel recalled.
A service will be held Thursday for Los Angeles Police Department Officer Spree Desha, 35, at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown. Desha, a resident of Simi Valley, was also heading home from work.
Many of the injured and relatives of those killed began contacting lawyers about potential damage claims. In California, victims of transit accidents must file their actions within six months of the accident date to be eligible for consideration of compensation from the responsible agency.
In the wake of the deadly head-on collision, political momentum to make automated safety systems mandatory began to mount this week, with local lawmakers and California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer calling for quick action.
"This accident happened because of a resistance in the railroad community in America to utilize existing technology to produce a fail-safe control of trains," Feinstein said on the Senate floor. "The railroads have resisted, saying these systems are too expensive. Well, how expensive is the loss of human life?"
The Bush administration, in a statement last year, strongly opposed mandatory positive train controls, saying the technology "has not yet been proven." Some experts disagree, however.
Feinstein introduced legislation Tuesday, co-sponsored by fellow Democrat Boxer, that would force railroad companies to install the systems by 2012 in high-risk areas where freight and passenger trains share the same track and in all other areas by 2014, Feinstein spokesman Scott Gerber said.
Feinstein and Boxer hope to pass the measure before Congress recesses at the end of next week. The system would marry a Global Positioning System with digital communications that would track the location and speed of trains, automatically halting them if signals were ignored. The Federal Railroad Administration estimates that a system for the majority of the nation's 140,000 miles of track would cost more than $2.3 billion, but some safety experts believe that figure is too high.
In response to the earlier bills, the rail industry had raised questions of costs and proposed that companies develop systems on their own timeline. David Solow, Metrolink's chief executive officer, urged a Senate subcommittee in July 2007 to provide "flexibility in the type of [train control] systems used and their implementation," saying his agency remained "very concerned about the interoperability" for rail systems such as those in Los Angeles, where freight and commuter lines share tracks.
Solow could not be reached Wednesday.
Officials investigating the Chatsworth crash said they had ruled out mechanical, track and train problems. The three signals that should have warned the Metrolink engineer to stop appear to have been working and visible before Friday's collision.
"We can say with confidence that the signal system was working," Higgins said.
One light was flashing yellow, which meant the engineer was supposed to slow down. The other light was solid yellow, a warning that there was a red light after the Chatsworth station, Higgins said.
"That indicates that you stop," she said. The engineer never hit the brakes, she added.
robert.lopez@latimes.com
dan.weikel@latimes.com
phil.willon@latimes.com
Times staff writers Ann M. Simmons and Carol J. Williams contributed to this report.
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Post by Justin Walker on Sept 17, 2008 21:26:46 GMT -8
Does anyone know if this Senate bill is a funding bill or just an unfunded mandate? The latter wouldn't really help anything at all.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 18, 2008 9:06:10 GMT -8
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Post by jejozwik on Sept 18, 2008 9:57:46 GMT -8
im down with the two crew members per side of the train
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Post by kingsfan on Sept 18, 2008 11:03:55 GMT -8
Gokhan,
You started out providing some great information, but now you are starting to look like the Captain of the Cain. Take your medicine and stick with the facts, please.
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Post by spokker on Sept 18, 2008 11:59:36 GMT -8
Gokhan, You started out providing some great information, but now you are starting to look like the Captain of the Cain. Take your medicine and stick with the facts, please. The facts may never point to any sort of reliable conclusion about this accident. In the end, what you think caused it will pretty much be influence by what you think of Metrolink, the engineer, railfans, or any number of other factors. |
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 18, 2008 12:04:57 GMT -8
Gokhan, You started out providing some great information, but now you are starting to look like the Captain of the Cain. Take your medicine and stick with the facts, please. Mr. Hockey, I don't even know who Captain Cain is (McCain?), but I am sticking with the facts. But this is a discussion board on which people express their opinion as well, in case you are not aware. OK? |
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Post by spokker on Sept 18, 2008 12:29:33 GMT -8
I know that Metro doesn't allow you to be standing on a platform without a ticket, but does Metrolink have that same policy? I've never seen any signs that forbid people without a ticket from loitering at the stations I've been to.
Southern California's regional rail network is a not a life-sized model train set for railfans. Anyone loitering at a Metrolink station without a ticket should be asked to leave. Metrolink is supposed to be a professional operation designed to get people where they need to go. As a rider I don't want railfans loitering at stations in order to snap photos of trains and bother railroad workers.
Oh hey kingsfan, if you think Gokhan is bad, KFI is reporting that Robert Sanchez may have murdered his partner in 2003.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 18, 2008 13:42:38 GMT -8
Very interesting perspective from a railroad worker in New York. He is referring to the YouTube video I posted on the previous page. He is saying that Metrolink might have violated a critical safety rule if a D.I.B. sign is not installed after the station. He believes that the texting caused the accident and it's not a suicide.
Gokhan,
At the beginning of the video, there's the 2 headed home signal
governing movements into the 2 track section with the siding. then
there's the signals on both the mainline and the siding governing
opposing moves. A mile up the line, there's the signal on a freight lead
coming in from the left (west?) governing movements onto the siding
track. Then there's the 3 aspect automatic block signal right next to
the billboard at the grade crossing and immediately afterward,
Chatsworth station. I see a car marker "1" to demarcate 1 coach length
past the platform in the push mode, as well as an "X" for where to
line-up a locomotive in the pull mode to properly platform the train.
Unfortunately, the video ends there and the resolution does not allow me
to see of there is a D.I.B. reminder/warning sign (Black Capitalized
Block Lettering on a yellow background) just beyond the station to
remind the engineer that he must operate under the aspect of the
automatic block signal he just passed as he approached Chatsworth.
Bottom line:
If there was No "DIB" sign located beyond the Chatsworth station
platform, it's a violation of FRA rules by the UPRR. It created a trap
for the Metrolink engineer by failing to remind him that he must operate
under the aspect of the signal he passed coming into Chatsworth. He
apparently failed to communicate that aspect to his conductor and hear
an acknowledgment from him/her as was done in this video by an Amtrak
crew. The conductor should have sought a response from him while
stopped at the station. However, he may have been getting into position
in the coach he was aboard to operate the doors and had a mental lapse,
not noticing the lack of a signal call-out from the head end. However
this happened, it was still inexcusable to forget something like that.
Not communicating the aspect of the home signal he ran past (all red)
was the second failure, however, by then, the engineer may have already
realized his error and was now in total panic mode seeing the UP freight
coming at him on single track beyond. At 50+ mph, 5 seconds visibility
will give you a travel distance of about 400 ft before impact (60 mph is
88 ft/sec). I don't know why ( and maybe no one ever will know why) he
never dumped his brakes into emergency when he saw the "all-red" home
signal as I've heard thus far on the articles I've seen. I can only
assume that he just froze-up in horror and hope that it wasn't a
deliberate, suicidal move.
His texting, even while stopped at Chatsworth was a contributory factor
as it distracted him from remembering that the automatic block signal he
passed just before Chatsworth was certainly displaying yellow or
"approach", limiting him to 30 mph and requiring him to be prepared to
stop at the next signal, preventing this tragedy.
MNR has specific rules forbidding the use of any personal celllular
phones or other non-railroad communicating devices while on duty as a
crewmember of the train. Engineers operating a train are not even
allowed to take a train order (Form M) if the train is in motion. They
must bring the train to a full stop before even beginning to write the
"Form M" read over the radio from the RTC and must satisfactorily
complete the full read-back and both acknowledge it's receipt before
proceeding.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 18, 2008 15:43:05 GMT -8
Additional comments by the same railroad worker from NY, after he watching the second video on the previous page:
BTW, I finally was able to open up th esecond video. I'm stil missing
the stretch of track as you pull out of Chatsworth so I do not know
about any DIB signs being present or missing. However, the line of
sight to the home signal governing movement into single track appears to
be on a straightaway. I don't understand how Sanchez could have missed
seeing it as he approached it. Strange . . .
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Post by wad on Sept 19, 2008 4:02:20 GMT -8
Mr. Hockey, I don't even know who Captain Cain is (McCain?) He was probably referring to "The Caine Mutiny."The antagonist was Capt. Queeg. |
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Post by kingsfan on Sept 19, 2008 6:48:18 GMT -8
I'm not only referring to the "suicide" suspicions, but Gokan's propensity to interlace his personal political opinions in every post and not distinguish fact from fiction.
Look, if our common goal is to bring public transit to So Cal, then we can't be seen as a mouth piece for the DNC. The truth is public transit has been damaged more badly by some of our most "liberal" politicians (id: Zev, Gloria and Henry) then George Bush. To continue to offend a substantial portion of the public whose support we need to achieve our goals is foolish and counterproductive.
Gokan does have the right to give his opinions (many of which I personally agree with) and his posts on the tragedy have been great; I just saying he would be doing himself and the Transit Coalition a favor if they would be a bit more reasoned and less combative with his personal political views.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 19, 2008 9:01:30 GMT -8
Agreed that political references can be offensive. I also agree that Ms. Molina, a former DNC vice-chair, has been a major obstacle for new transit projects recently.
As for the accident, I don't know the cause, which could be among many possibilities, including suicide, sleep deprivation, text messaging, some fault with the system, health problems, etc. I will try to keep up-to-date if something important comes up. Meanwhile, today's article on the railfans:Teen rail enthusiasts grieve for Metrolink engineer on the Internet
This undated photo released Wednesday, courtesy of Lillian Barber, shows Metrolink engineer Robert Sanchez, holding one of Barber's greyhounds. Sanchez, 46, died in the commuter locomotive that slammed head-on into a freight last week, killing 24 passengers and injuring nearly 140.
A group of youths -- some believed to have been text messaging the engineer on the day of the crash -- have shied away from the media. But their pain is visible in online videos and message boards.
By Scott Gold and Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
September 19, 2008The tribute reads like something that might be written for a rock star who died too soon: "We will never forget you. Let your warm-hearted soul RIP." Those words, however, part of a YouTube video tribute, were written to a train engineer. They were written to Robert M. Sanchez, who was at the helm of the Metrolink train that slammed into an oncoming freight train in Chatsworth, killing 25 people, one week ago. And they were written by his fans, which is not as unusual as it sounds. Earlier this week, investigators announced that Sanchez's cellphone records showed he had been text-messaging while on duty the day of the crash. A group of local teens -- railroad enthusiasts, some of whom considered Sanchez something of a mentor -- are believed to have been on the other end of some of those messages. In the days since the crash, the teens have gone largely into hiding, shielded mostly by their parents from a wave of media attention and public interest. In private, it is clear that they are crushed. "It's just devastating," said Mark Speer, 53, a film editor who lives in Chatsworth and whose son, also named Mark, was part of the group of teen train enthusiasts. The boys comprised a circle of friends who described themselves as dedicated "railfans" -- rail enthusiasts who often scoured the streets and hills to find choice spots for filming videos of passing trains, which they posted on the Internet, and who often participated in model railroad clubs. Several were aspiring engineers, and they often rode the Metrolink out of Chatsworth -- the station that Metrolink 111 left before it crashed -- just for fun. They had developed extensive knowledge of the rails, including schedules and characteristics of certain trains. Recently, they got to know Sanchez, who apparently swapped information with some of the teens, communicating by text messages. Rail officials say it's common for enthusiasts, particularly teenagers, to strike up friendships with engineers. Most of these railfans were earnest, smart kids, still in middle school and high school, who, according to their Internet postings, liked Xbox and water polo, Kobe and Kanye. Today, they are connected by three things: an abiding love of trains; a sense that they are misunderstood and maligned by "railhaters" who mock their hobby; and anguish over the death of Sanchez and his passengers. They splashed into the public's consciousness after the crash, when some of them went to the site and spoke with a television news reporter. One of the teens showed the reporter his cellphone, still containing short messages from Sanchez. "It was an innocent thing to memorialize" Sanchez, said Speer -- a way to show the public that Sanchez was a good man and a dedicated professional who managed to find the time to interact with the public while doing his job. By the time the story reached the airwaves it had become something very different and very stark: that Sanchez was sending text messages while on the job. The teens -- who believe that factors other than text-messaging contributed to the crash -- feel blindsided and burned by the TV report and the ensuing public response, Speer said. The worst of it came on Internet sites, where people anonymously attacked the teenagers -- even suggesting that they had played a role in the tragedy. "It's just too much," one of the teens, who gave his name only as Brian, said in an e-mail Thursday night. Although they are saying virtually nothing in public, on the Internet -- where the teens' fascination with trains began, where some of them found each other and bonded in the first place -- their anguish is seeping out. There appear to be 10 or 15 teen railfans who have posted a variety of responses to the train crash on the Internet. Some are friends in what they call "the real world" -- on the streets of Chatsworth or in the San Bernardino Mountains, where they meet to take photographs and videos of trains. Some are friends only in cyberspace. Shortly after the crash, several posted a tribute to Sanchez on YouTube. They included two 14-year-old boys who have since been asked for their phone records by the National Transportation Safety Board because they are believed to have been text-messaging Sanchez on the day of the crash. The boys and their families are cooperating with the investigation. (The younger Speer never sent or received messages from Sanchez.) The tribute video includes fuzzy pictures the teens took of Sanchez at the helm of a Metrolink train and reveals their extensive knowledge about trains -- noting, among other things, that the video was taken several days before the crash but includes the actual set of cars used that day, including Locomotive No. 855. "You take care Rob," the text of the tribute says. "Godspeed. And God bless you." Since then, additional reaction to the train crash has sprung up -- in online chats between the teens and in additional postings to YouTube and MySpace pages. One teen, an Internet-only acquaintance of the local boys, used Microsoft Train Simulator, a popular computer railroad program known in the railfan community as "MSTS," to recreate the accident. "This video is for education purposes," reads a disclaimer at the beginning of the video posted on YouTube. "If you take this offensively please close the video now." The simulation, set to the tune of the Journey song "Open Arms," begins with the Metrolink 111 departing Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and is so detailed you can see the rust on the ceiling of the platform. It ends with a long shot of the train rounding the curve above the Chatsworth station and cuts off at the moment of impact. A block of text then scrolls over a black screen: "We will love all those who died. Pray for the injured. And remember what happened that day to learn." Another teen, who goes by the YouTube handle "AmcalAJ," filmed himself sitting on the floor of his bedroom, then posted the footage as part of a video he called "Never Forget." Looking into a camera, he spoke directly to the teens who swapped text messages with Sanchez, offering them his condolences. "I'm just really devastated," he said. "It's really hard to lose a friend." scott.gold@latimes.com
molly.hennessy-fiske@ latimes.com
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Post by spokker on Sept 19, 2008 12:24:12 GMT -8
I'm not only referring to the "suicide" suspicions, but Gokan's propensity to interlace his personal political opinions in every post and not distinguish fact from fiction. I don't know if you noticed but this is a discussion board. I'm not a journalist and if I'm talking about something on the Internet I'm giving my opinion whether you like it or not. So is Gokhan. So is everyone else. So are you. That's what makes the Internet great. If you want just the articles Gokhan is posting do a Google search for "metrolink" and click on "news". It's not that hard. Bart Reed ultimately has the final say over what gets said here, and if he only wants comments in line with the Transit Coalition agenda or whatever, he's more than welcome to tell me or anyone else to get lost. He pays the bills. I don't pay dues to any Transit Coalition and I'm not a member of that organization. I'm here to say my peace because there are only so many places to even talk about mass transit in Southern California, and if those comments appear to hurt the cause of transit advocacy in your opinion, so be it. But I don't think any of the comments here have or should "continue to offend a substantial portion of the public whose support we need to achieve our goals is foolish and counterproductive." Bottom line: Gokhan has been doing a terrific job bringing us the news mixed with his own commentary on this crash. To put it more simply, get off his ass already. |
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Post by kingsfan on Sept 19, 2008 14:36:16 GMT -8
I think Gokhan saw my point.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 19, 2008 16:01:47 GMT -8
In-depth AP report on Mr. Sanchez's background:
Sep 17, 10:27 PM EDT
Train engineer faced challenges in final years
By GREG RISLING
Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- In the years leading up to his death in the locomotive of a commuter train, engineer Robert Sanchez's life was marked by personal tragedy, jail time, and concerns about his health and job security.
His HIV-positive companion had committed suicide, he was concerned about his diabetes and he feared a brush with the law that could end the career he loved.
The National Transportation Safety Board is looking at Sanchez's background after determining human error - and not mechanical or equipment failure - was likely to blame for the collision Friday between Metrolink 111 a Union Pacific freight train that killed 25 people, including Sanchez, and injured 135 others.
The NTSB is examining the training, efficiency, personnel and medical records of Sanchez to determine why he blew through a red signal and failed to hit the brakes on Metrolink 111.
"We're not just limiting ourselves to the schedule he worked that day," National Transportation Safety Board member Kitty Higgins said. "We walk it back to see whether there was anything else that might be of significance in looking at the whole picture."
In addition to examining what Sanchez did moments before the collision - including text messages sent from his cell phone while on duty that day - investigators plan to look at his background and what he was doing in the days before the accident.
NTSB experts will look at his work, sleep, rest and eating patterns in the three days leading up to the crash, said Ronald Schleede, a former NTSB investigator who once headed a division specializing in human performance in transportation accidents.
That could lead to a deeper investigation and interviews with the engineer's peers and families and look at various records.
"It's not an easy thing to do; you can't put yourself in someone else's head, you can't really put yourself there and think what this person was thinking or see what this person was seeing," he said. "You can only deduce a little bit."
Friends said Sanchez was a friendly man, who was private and quiet unless he was talking about the two things he loved: trains and dogs.
"He was very outgoing when it came to socializing in the environment we all knew him in, which was the dogs," said Michelle Paulin, a professional dog handler who used to take Sanchez's Italian greyhounds to shows.
But he had his share of problems, starting with his guilty plea to misdemeanor grand theft in 2002 for stealing video game consoles from a store.
"One of his biggest concerns was how is this going to impact his career," defense attorney Wilson Wong said of his client's guilty plea. "He thought: 'Could this cause my career to come to an end?'"
Months later, on Feb. 14, 2003, Sanchez's partner, Daniel Burton, hanged himself in the garage of the home they shared in Crestline, a community in the San Bernardino Mountains about 80 miles east of Los Angeles.
Burton's sister, Carolann Peschell, said she suspected foul play and never believed her 39-year-old brother, who was HIV-positive, would have killed himself. He had found a job at a gourmet restaurant and sounded well when she spoke to him two weeks before his death.
"He was doing fine; he was happy, no signs of depression," Peschell said. "We didn't feel my brother was capable of doing this to himself."
Peschell, who described Sanchez as "very odd, very strange," said her suspicions were ruled out by San Bernardino County sheriff's investigators.
A coroner's report said the two men had argued the night before Burton's body was found; Sanchez had told Burton they should break up.
Peschell kept her brother's purported suicide note, which read: "Rob, Happy Valentine's Day. I love you. Please take care of yourself and Ignatia. I love you both very much." Ignatia was their dog.
Neighbors said Sanchez was a recluse, saying little to them during the last year of his life. But friend and fellow dog breeder Lilian Barber remembered Sanchez as well liked but lonely.
"He was always relentlessly upbeat. He always had a smile on his face," Barber, 77, of Murrieta, said Wednesday.
The two became friends in 2004 after she met Sanchez through a dog breeder referral service and he was trying to breed Ignatia. They attended a dog show together in San Francisco, then started going out to lunch together almost once a week.
"The problem with going to lunch with Rob was he would come back and talk to me and my husband for the rest of the day," Barber said. "He was pretty lonely."
Sanchez used to have a train route through San Diego County and moved to Menifee, in southeastern Riverside County, to be closer to work, Barber said. When he transferred to the Ventura County route, he moved to La Crescenta, a section of Los Angeles.
Attempts to reach Sanchez's family have been unsuccessful. Barber, who last spoke with Sanchez eight months ago, said Sanchez told her he grew up in a farming community in Nevada and was involved with the 4-H Club as a child.
In their last conversation, Sanchez told Barber that he was on his way to meet her and wanted to go to lunch, she said. When she replied that she was too busy, he said "that's fine" and abruptly hung up.
"I never realized I probably knew him better than anybody else other than his family. I don't think I knew him that well at all," Barber said. "I've missed him for the last year, to tell you the truth, because I was so used to seeing him regularly."
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Associated Press writers Daisy Nguyen, Thomas Watkins, John Mone and Amy Taxin contributed to this report.
© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 19, 2008 16:07:45 GMT -8
Prof. Meshkati calls grade crossings "killing fields" as if there isn't enough paranioa about trains already. People should consider building rail in SoCal instead of criticizing it. If we build more rail, there will be more motivation to modernize the existing rail.
Sep 17, 11:23 PM EDT
Deadly crash raises safety doubts about SoCal rail
By MICHAEL R. BLOOD
Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A head-on collision that left 25 people dead has brought new scrutiny to the safety of Southern California's regional rail service - a system that has logged more fatalities than any similarly sized system in the nation in recent years.
The catastrophic collision of a Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific freight train last week also prompted calls for national safety reforms.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants a review of state and federal rail oversight, and Congress is considering compelling railroads to install satellite-linked technology that can detect runaway trains and put on the brakes - an idea that has languished for years.
Two statistics put Metrolink at a disadvantage relative to other commuter-rail systems when it comes to safety: It has far more street-level crossings than similarly sized railroads, and must share tracks with freight trains more frequently than any of its peers.
"Southern California has the most high-risk track in America," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. "How can you put commuter trains on the same track as freight trains - going in opposite directions - with nothing more than a signal that can be missed, and has been missed, to avert disaster?"
Records and official reports show at least 74 people have died in Metrolink accidents since 1998, not including the 25 killed Friday along a horseshoe-shaped stretch of track in suburban Chatsworth.
Many of the accidents involved trespassing by cars or pedestrians who sidestepped warning signals or took shortcuts across tracks. Some were suicides.
In 2005, 11 people died and about 180 were injured when a man who later claimed he was suicidal parked his sport utility vehicle on the tracks in Glendale. The driver was convicted of murder.
In 2002, a freight train plowed head-on into a Metrolink train in Orange County, killing two passengers and injuring more than 200. In 2003, a Metrolink train smashed into a truck at a railroad crossing in Burbank, killing two people and injuring 32 others.
A 2006 federal study of commuter rail said accidents dropped nationwide between 1996 and 2005, despite a surge in passengers. Fatalities, it said, remained relatively stable, averaging 78 a year.
The Federal Transit Administration study, which examined records from January 2001 to July 2006, found that the accident rate on Metrolink was about average for commuter rail when passenger miles traveled were considered.
However, the rate was significantly higher than two of three other similarly sized railroads - the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority and Caltrain in Northern California.
Federal investigators are eyeing human error as a possible cause of the latest Metrolink collision after determining the commuter train failed to stop at a red signal light that was operating properly.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday night that an examination of the Metrolink engineer's cell phone records showed that he sent text messages while on duty the day of the collision - a violation of Metrolink policy but not illegal. However, the board did not say when the engineer sent the messages or whether it thinks text messaging played a role in the collision.
"Friday's derailment is only the latest in a series of accidents that have highlighted the need for updated safety regulations," said Edward Wytkind, president of the AFL-CIO's transportation trades department.
With rail traffic crowding tracks nationwide, "the stakes could not be higher," he said.
Metrolink fatalities vary widely year to year, making conclusions about trends difficult. But the numbers in recent years are increasing.
In the five-year period between 2000 and 2004, there were 29 fatalities. Between 2005 and this year, there were 37 fatalities, according to records, not including the 25 deaths in last week's crash.
Among similar transit systems, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority had 10 fatalities from 2005 through this year, Massachusetts Bay Transit had 30 and Caltrain recorded 29.
While the number of Metrolink fatalities stands out in recent years in comparison to those rail systems, some say bad luck is at least partly to blame.
"If you look at the statistics, it's been a fairly small number of incidents that's resulted in an inordinate number of fatalities," Metrolink spokesman Francisco Oaxaca said. "The loss of even one life is too much."
Metrolink trains snake through Los Angeles and neighboring counties, carrying 50,000 people a day through more than 400 street-level crossings.
University of Southern California engineering professor Najmedin Meshkati has called those crossings "killing fields." In an opinion piece he co-authored in Wednesday's Los Angeles Times, he called on Schwarzenegger to empanel a group to study rail safety.
"The current regulatory, oversight and operational structure for ensuring rail safety in California is not working," he wrote. Whatever the cost of change, "it would be worth it when you consider the high economic cost of settling lawsuits and making repairs, and the intangible enormity of so many people killed or maimed."
Tim Smith, state chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union, said signal maintenance is a recurring concern, and safety would be improved if passenger and freight trains ran on separate tracks.
But Metrolink is "not doing anything any better or any worse than any other commuter railroad," Smith added.
Even after last week's deadly crash, some commuters said they consider the line the safest way to navigate the car-choked Los Angeles area.
Asadour Terterian, a 47-year-old state transportation department engineer, said he was anxious about the train but fears the notorious freeways even more.
"I drove one time and got into an accident," Terterian said.
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Associated Press writer John Rogers contributed to this report.
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