Cosmo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You guys all need to lay off the crew from
> 717...no one knows for sure what happened
> yet...and the word that they ran up and got thier
> stories straight is probably, most likely
> BS....just hang out and wait till the real story
> comes out..and it will...


Oh, you want the real story?? Let's start a little earlier in the day shall we?

Another engineer had boarded 717 at Merced to re-qualify on the territory (since he was previously terminated for an on duty incident of a D&A positive test)

At Emeryville, the qualifying engineer dropped back to the cab car so that when the train arrived in OKJ they could change ends and get back to the yard quickly.

717 departed EMY and got a yellow signal at CP King Street.

CP North Jack London is clearly visible form CP King Street and was displaying a double red (stop indication)

717 went by the red signal, went over the switch, made a left instead of a right, and the engineer put the train into emergency when he realized he was headed towards train 14.

WHAMMO!!!! 717 smacks into the front of 14 at 15mph, derailing the lead axle of both engines and injuring passengers and crew.

After surveying the damage to both trains, both engineers climbed into the cab of train 14 to talk to the engineer of that train to "get their stories straight" before Amtrak managers or other emergency responders arrived.

The engineer of 717 even made a statement to a CBS 5 reporter about the incident and gave his name, something Amtrak tells its employees to never never never never do. Watch the CBS 5 video report, at the end of the video the reporter says he "talked to one of the crew members of 717 and he said......." Clearly the engineer since he said he "put the emergency brakes on".

Amongst all the chaos and carnage, 717's engineer is walking around the OKJ platform seemingly aloof to the havoc he's caused, even telling people that this is "no big deal", "not that bad", and "not my fault".

A download of the CTC computers confirm that the signal at North Jack London was indeed displaying stop and that the previous signal was yellow.

Oh, and like I said before, 717's engineer had a previous incident where he ran a red signal and nearly went head on with a freight train. Yes he was inexperienced.. BUT... when you're on a yellow signal and must be prepared to stop and the next signal, you don't go the full 40mph to the red, in the fog, and when you must assume you're getting close. Heck, the BNSF even has warning signs that tell you when you're getting close (1000 feet, 500 feet). When he was a student, ever instructor told the company he had no business running a train, and his evaluations even reflected that. The union said the same thing when they hired him to be an engineer.