BOB2 Wrote:
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> The ML engineer blew through an absolute red, and
> a mainline switch lined against him, after passing
> flashing and solid yellow approaching block
> signals, while running a passenger train, and
> didn't take any actions that would indicate he
> even noticed? Barring something dramatic in the
> engineering analysis, pathology, or a finding that
> the reported distracting activities did not fit
> the time frame, this increasingly apparent
> explanation, may also, unfortunately, well be the
> most plausible.

What I find troubling is that the Metrolink engineer operated his train exactly as if he were operating on green signals, including making a throttle reduction to decrease his speed for the 40 MPH curve. Even if he had "forgotten" he was operating on a yellow, he had plenty of time to see (and react to) the red at CP Topanga. And if he somehow overlooked that signal, anyone paying even the faintest amount of attention would've seen that the switch there was lined against him, and would take appropriate action. Yet . . . nothing.