Smitha Wesson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In the hot summer month of July 2006, in the very
> early hours of the morning at a siding called
> Kismet on the BNSF's Stockton Subdivision, the
> engineer of the eastbound M-RICBAR (Richmond,
> Calif to Barstow Calif. manifest freight), managed
> to run the block at the east switch. The cab
> camera video of a head on collision has been seen
> on YouTube for years, with the two crew members of
> the victimized westbound cement train train
> permanently disabled, one of which is in perpetual
> awful shape.
>
> Although the engineer of the eastbound train
> claimed the signal was clear, this assertion was
> later proved to be overwelmingly false. With
> nearly than ten years of experience at the
> throttle on the district, and having hired out
> with the Santa Fe in 1992 in the mechanical
> crafts, engineer Alan Jackson made the near fatal
> error of losing attention in the early morning
> sunrise. Did he and his Conductor and Brakeman
> fall asleep? Two crewmembers nearly dead, five
> million dollars in wreckage, five lives changed
> forever.
>
> To his defense, the difficulty of staying alert
> and attenive during the spread of hours his crew
> was on duty (22:00 on duty at Richmond, all night
> dragging ass down the valley) is often a nightmare
> of difficulty in such a monotonous operation.
> Should we be so lucky to survive our careers
> without such a mishap is tribute to a higher power
> and a steeled dedication to our craft.
>
> Although Mr. Jackson was ultimately fired for the
> raft of rules violations that following August,
> the results of the carrier's piss poor and
> ill-advised investigation has led to several
> appeals, both by the carrier to keep Mr. Jackson
> off the property, and the BLE&T trying to get his
> job back.
>
> The last dance of the lawyer boys has finally
> resulted in Public Law Board ruling 7550, BNSF
> Carrier File No. 76-06-0043D, PLB Case No.1, Award
> 01, NMB Code No. 173 signed June 20, 2013 giving
> Mr. Jackson his employment back with BNSF, pending
> rules recertification. No back pay was awarded. He
> is currently on Board 5, Reinstated.
>
> See the westbound cab camera footage:
>
> Kismet wreck, MRICBAR runs east switch

Well, well, well . . . Good Ol' Action Jackson is back. Let's see, now . . . famous for the "Riverbank Flashing Red" maneuver (hey, it was foggy that night but you still gots to know where your absolute signals are located) and other "minor" offenses . . . restricted to yard service for quite a while (Mormon yard was never the same) . . . got himself "rehabilitated" and was able to finally get road service again and marked up in Richmond.

Love him or hate him, he had the misfortune of getting Tom M. as the conductor that trip. If AJ was fighting the sandman that hard, he still knew better than to turn the controls over to an unexperienced person. If Tom was throttle jockey so Alan could nap, they were doomed from the moment he got into the right seat (in my "humble" opinion based on working with and around him).

I'd say give AJ a chance . . . he might have actually learned something from all this. I know the two Fresno crewmen will not like to hear this news but what can you do? There will also be the Richmond people who are going to have a problem as well because the brakeman was a good kid and good help in the yard. He had a lot of friends there and just drew a bad hand that night.

Thankfully, I am retired to a land far, far away where the Stockton and Bakersfield subs are but a distant memory now. Good luck out there!