I had met the Engineer who was in this collision. Met him several times at an old job, transporting crews to and from trains and depots. Never knew him that well, but it was extremely freaky and unfortunate when this happened, he definitely didn't deserve dying that way. NEVER take a risk on a train crossing like. Railroaders all have had bad experiences with some kind of fatality at one
This screams bad planning for me. An oversized load this big usually has a well planned route so they don't get hung up.
As much as planning is incredibly important. Around where I live, though it's gotten better in recent years, I wonder why they let railroad crossings go so neglected sometimes. The heaves where the road meets the track, are sometimes just so absolutely brutal. Sometimes for years before something like this happens or you get enough insurance claims.
The investigation concluded that there weren't proper warnings posted at the crossing to indicate a change of grade. That, and the load on that truck was just under the weight necessary to classify it as a "super load," which would have increased the amount of required communication with the railroads.
That poor driver unfortunately did everything right (according to his own understanding), and now has to live with fact two people are needlessly dead because the state couldn't be bothered to update their infrastructure.
70mph was fucking ridiculous, could've killed way more people. I actually know how we could improve braking ability on trains, but I doubt the RR would study it let alone implement it, because if I've thought of it, I'm sure someone at the RR has too.
I wouldn’t say I’m an expert by any means, but I have worked on moving large equipment in convoy in the Military, and personally I’d still lay the blame with the trucking company and specifically the Escort / Pilot Crew…
… regardless of whether the crossing was poorly maintained, or the train didn’t slow earlier (even though it clearly wouldn’t have stoped it), the escort pilot crew should be skilled enough to pre-empt issues with the chosen route and crossing.
☝️That x 1,000,000! The route planners, dispatchers and chase/escort vehicles are all absolutely at fault! If this was an aviation incident they'd all be in jail facing prison time.
People can be liable in this situation also. I work on trucks and all the work I do is attached to my social security number. If I was the last person to touch a rim and that rim comes off killing someone. I’m fucked.
That is a large haul. They have very specific routes that they have to follow. Someone should have been in contact with the railway company to make sure that no trains will be passing those rails until the truck has successfully crossed them, specifically for this very reason.
This. But not only this. Someone also should have verified the truck could clear this track before it ever took off as part of that route planning. Trucks with the low body trailers are easily high centered like this, it doesn’t necessarily mean the truck driver fucked up. I saw this same type of accident hit three blocks from my house as a kid.
Parties to the investigation include the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration; the Federal Railroad Administration; the Texas Department of Transportation; the city of Pecos; UP; Boss Heavy Haul LLC; the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen; and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers.
For sure, Monday quarterbacking, they screwed up…BUT none of us were there and after the fact, any lawyer can rip apart anything we do in our jobs.. I’m not a cop, but I am in hairy situations where training is key and human factors will always be there. We all think special ops stuff goes flawless… it does not… ok I’m done being off subject. Sorry
You cab easily compare their actions with any other police response to active school shooters. They had dozens of men with assault weapons and body armor and they were all still too cowardly to go in. What's the fucking point of having police at that point? "Oh we've spent a huge chunk of the town's budget on all this equipment, but we're not going to try to stop your children being murdered"
Yeah but that's not what you said, is it. You specifically said that it was made up, and now that someone pointed it out to you, in your face, you're changing your tune. It's pretty sad to see. I took a screenshot just in case you realize how ashamed you should be and try to change it up.
I said the internet can make up whatever story. I didn’t say the shooting was made up. Screenshot all you want. You’re just a weirdo that thinks a screenshot means anything. You’re just believing what you want.. see
I mean every railroad crossing has those blue signs with a number you're supposed to call if there's an issue with the crossing. Each has a unique ID number so when you tell them it they'll know exactly where it is and if they need to issue a stop order to any rail traffic on the line
"As a result of the collision, the 4 head-end locomotives and the first 11 railcars derailed, and the derailed locomotives released about 9,000 gallons of locomotive diesel fuel into the ground. The collision displaced the combination vehicle’s load, which struck a municipal building. The engineer and the conductor of train ZAILA-18 were fatally injured; three bystanders were transported to a local hospital, treated for minor injuries, and released. UP estimated damages to signals, equipment, and track to be about $4 million; Boss Heavy Haul LLC estimated damages to the combination vehicle and the load to be about $2.2 million."
It is insane that this ever happens anywhere. Rail companies need to invest in their American infrastructure. Surely there's improved signals or gates that could have fixed this.
Looks like everyone was doing their job perfectly...
Not!
It's kinda the only thing that the pilot cars are paid to do when assisting oversized loads such as this...
They're in charge of doing all the logistics, planning the routes and not letting something like this happen!
Kudos, dipshits!
I'm sure whatever was destroyed by the train, and the train itself is easily repaired in just a few quick days,....
And of course.,.... Didn't set anyone back on their project timeline at all...
Oh.... My bad...
I hadn't watched the video to the end before my original message.,.
The train derailed as a result of hitting the oversized cargo being piloted by a company hired to make sure shit like this doesn't happen...
Kudos again!
Lord loves retards....
Ban me from this Sub if my comments are too hard for you to take, you pussies!
For what appears to be an extreme load being hauled by the truck, why weren't the roads closed and railway notified anything on its route controlled / coordinate to prevent such occurrence? Where I am, if they move a house it is all planned, announce in news/media roads closed, etc.
Apparently im ever single damn case, it seems to be better to derail a wholeeee as fucking train, then to risk hitting another car by giving it some more gas, BEFORE he hits the train tracks people!! Dont come tell me how idk cuz im not a truck driver. I get it, once they're on the tracks they forget how to drive that BIG ASS truck engine.
Edit: I think everyone involved with the truck, is responsible. Whats the point of all that escort? For the lols?
I get what you’re saying but once the trailer hangs up it’s over. To get it off the tracks takes a large wrecker. Seen it happen to many times. I do agree the companies involved with the truck are totally responsible
You obviously have no knowledge of the process involved in permitting an oversized load. There's an old saying "it's better to keep your mouth shut and look stupid than to open it and remove all doubt". I feel like this is applicable here.
😂🤣🤣😆😆🤣 Funny you say that, looks like everyone there kept their mouth shut and STILL looked stupid. Anywho, theres no one speaking here, only typing. So im glad no one is looking stupid here. Thanks for playing.
I guess people do have hearts. Went through all the comments & expected at least 2 people to say, “This was staged”. Proud of the Reddit community, today.
Watch the video linked in the comment from Impressive_Low_2018. Most of it is bodycam footage of a cop responding to the scene but skip to 13:00 and there is a detailed analysis of the crash after the investigation. Sounds like the biggest factor was that while the terrain appears to be flat visually, there is in fact a slight grade that resulted in the truck’s tire loosing traction as it crossed, not bottoming out. Everything was approved for the route BUT it was filed as a heavy load rather than a super load, which might have resulted in this crossing being flagged as insufficient.
It was a super load, and the road had a hard to see rise into a slope after the tracks. Huge truck bottomed out, and could only be freed using controls on the exterior of the trailer. Watch the video.
It's like the truck driver wanted to murder them. You truly couldn't find a more appropriate load to get stuck on the tracks with. Also, why (not knowing the track) wouldn't the train tried slowing down... It couldn't have just come from around a curve with that much speed built up. I'm a bit shocked by this one.
The train was going about 70 miles an hour; it would take over a mile for the train to stop after it applied the brakes at that speed. This is why trains don’t stop for crossings and cars do instead lol
Both engineer and conductor died in this. Watching a locomotive lift up into the air during a collision is fuckin nuts.
I had met the Engineer who was in this collision. Met him several times at an old job, transporting crews to and from trains and depots. Never knew him that well, but it was extremely freaky and unfortunate when this happened, he definitely didn't deserve dying that way. NEVER take a risk on a train crossing like. Railroaders all have had bad experiences with some kind of fatality at one
RIP Clay. Knew him from the RR.
This screams bad planning for me. An oversized load this big usually has a well planned route so they don't get hung up.
As much as planning is incredibly important. Around where I live, though it's gotten better in recent years, I wonder why they let railroad crossings go so neglected sometimes. The heaves where the road meets the track, are sometimes just so absolutely brutal. Sometimes for years before something like this happens or you get enough insurance claims.
The investigation concluded that there weren't proper warnings posted at the crossing to indicate a change of grade. That, and the load on that truck was just under the weight necessary to classify it as a "super load," which would have increased the amount of required communication with the railroads.
That poor driver unfortunately did everything right (according to his own understanding), and now has to live with fact two people are needlessly dead because the state couldn't be bothered to update their infrastructure.
Yep someone fucked up but probably not the driver...
70mph was fucking ridiculous, could've killed way more people. I actually know how we could improve braking ability on trains, but I doubt the RR would study it let alone implement it, because if I've thought of it, I'm sure someone at the RR has too.
Or they should at least fit locomotives with impact pods. I guess they have enough time to get in one in scenarios like this.
That’s what I said. I watch these type of videos all the time. This is the first time I’ve seen one lift up on impact.
Was the driver charged with their deaths at all?
I did some reading on this. The NTSB has only issued a preliminary report so far, the full report is still pending.
Interestingly though the Trucking Company has just filed a counter suit against Union Pacific blaming the train company - link below.
https://www.trains.com/pro/freight/class-i/trucking-firm-countersues-union-pacific-blames-crew-and-crossing-design-for-fatal-texas-crash/
I wouldn’t say I’m an expert by any means, but I have worked on moving large equipment in convoy in the Military, and personally I’d still lay the blame with the trucking company and specifically the Escort / Pilot Crew…
… regardless of whether the crossing was poorly maintained, or the train didn’t slow earlier (even though it clearly wouldn’t have stoped it), the escort pilot crew should be skilled enough to pre-empt issues with the chosen route and crossing.
Will be fascinating to see how it plays out.
So sad that lives were needlessly lost.
Was this a rather recnt accident?
This is much, much larger fuck up than just the truck driver.
☝️That x 1,000,000! The route planners, dispatchers and chase/escort vehicles are all absolutely at fault! If this was an aviation incident they'd all be in jail facing prison time.
People can be liable in this situation also. I work on trucks and all the work I do is attached to my social security number. If I was the last person to touch a rim and that rim comes off killing someone. I’m fucked.
How?
That is a large haul. They have very specific routes that they have to follow. Someone should have been in contact with the railway company to make sure that no trains will be passing those rails until the truck has successfully crossed them, specifically for this very reason.
This. But not only this. Someone also should have verified the truck could clear this track before it ever took off as part of that route planning. Trucks with the low body trailers are easily high centered like this, it doesn’t necessarily mean the truck driver fucked up. I saw this same type of accident hit three blocks from my house as a kid.
That’s why they have spotters who go ahead.
I've read about it recently. Apparently the cops failed to tell the train company about the truck. It's the police department that fucked this up.
The cops weren't the ones under investigation:
So the cops chose not to investigate themselves?! Shocking?!
It's cute you still think the cops had anything to do with this.
The National Transportation Safety Board handled the investigation.
"the city of Pecos" is pretty broad. I'm certain this includes the cops, and not the library.
Texas cops not doing their jobs leading to lives lost? I've seen that before somewhere.
Oh how the internet can make up whatever story, and people will believe it.
While im not sure about the above posters claim, the thing that I was referencing, the Uvalde shooting wasnt exactly an internet made up moment.
For sure, Monday quarterbacking, they screwed up…BUT none of us were there and after the fact, any lawyer can rip apart anything we do in our jobs.. I’m not a cop, but I am in hairy situations where training is key and human factors will always be there. We all think special ops stuff goes flawless… it does not… ok I’m done being off subject. Sorry
You cab easily compare their actions with any other police response to active school shooters. They had dozens of men with assault weapons and body armor and they were all still too cowardly to go in. What's the fucking point of having police at that point? "Oh we've spent a huge chunk of the town's budget on all this equipment, but we're not going to try to stop your children being murdered"
That stuff starts at the top. It’s a command issue, not a police issue
Yeah but that's not what you said, is it. You specifically said that it was made up, and now that someone pointed it out to you, in your face, you're changing your tune. It's pretty sad to see. I took a screenshot just in case you realize how ashamed you should be and try to change it up.
I said the internet can make up whatever story. I didn’t say the shooting was made up. Screenshot all you want. You’re just a weirdo that thinks a screenshot means anything. You’re just believing what you want.. see
There were plenty of videos showing the massacre taking place and the cops standing by, what are you talking about?
I mean every railroad crossing has those blue signs with a number you're supposed to call if there's an issue with the crossing. Each has a unique ID number so when you tell them it they'll know exactly where it is and if they need to issue a stop order to any rail traffic on the line
They did issue a stop order, but only about a minute before impact, way too late to stop a train that size.
Yeah for some reason no one really seemed to be in a hurry to alert the railroad it would have seemed
Positive control have a role here?
Planning 99% of it. Guess trucker could have refused the job.
Pecos, Texas. December 2024. https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Pages/RRD25FR005.aspx
US 285. I thought that place looked familiar. That highway has claimed many lives.
Ah. The state that would rather remove one flipped semi after another from the highway due to extreme winds that just close the roads.
Curious that it doesn't seem to specify whether the truck is actually stuck, but that seems to be self-evident.
This is very sad. Both the engineer and conductor died. Below is the video of the Emergency Services and Police attending the scene (no graphic):
https://youtu.be/YpdcUq6M3Ow?si=4Yh8PJk-DK4nW_3M
At the 12:15 mark you can see the video of the crash. It took almost 30 seconds after the crash for the train to fully stop!!
First time seeing train go up in the air
"As a result of the collision, the 4 head-end locomotives and the first 11 railcars derailed, and the derailed locomotives released about 9,000 gallons of locomotive diesel fuel into the ground. The collision displaced the combination vehicle’s load, which struck a municipal building. The engineer and the conductor of train ZAILA-18 were fatally injured; three bystanders were transported to a local hospital, treated for minor injuries, and released. UP estimated damages to signals, equipment, and track to be about $4 million; Boss Heavy Haul LLC estimated damages to the combination vehicle and the load to be about $2.2 million."
That seems too low a number...
Which number? Their comment has several numbers in it.
Why do train tracks stall out so many vehicles? It feels statistically disproportionate to other slices of roads.
The problem here was that the so-called "level" crossing wasn't.
An estimated $6.2 Mil and two lives lost, insane. Rest in peace
When and where did this happen??
https://www.reddit.com/r/ShittyAbsoluteUnits/s/t58VG0dPyS
Crazy man. Lucky no one inside the building got killed and there weren't more buildings damaged
Crazy
Don't understand how those dudes are standing so close to the tracks with all that happening, so confident
That would be terrifying just to witness.
Ala verga, guey!
Whatta TRAINwreck THAT was
It is insane that this ever happens anywhere. Rail companies need to invest in their American infrastructure. Surely there's improved signals or gates that could have fixed this.
"It's just a little trainwrecked! It's still good! It's still good!"
The entire train and so much cargo is a write off.... full derailment.
Anyone know what this cost?
You think they would have the route planned, espially when the train passes every hour.
Honest Q: Why do so many vehicles get stuck on the crossings?
The trucker may get rail roaded in court
he dun fucked up
GTA has entered the chat and claims the video can’t be real. Train never stop.
Jesus Christ, that was like watching a train wreck!
Is it just me or was this train going WAY too fast?
Looks like everyone was doing their job perfectly... Not! It's kinda the only thing that the pilot cars are paid to do when assisting oversized loads such as this... They're in charge of doing all the logistics, planning the routes and not letting something like this happen! Kudos, dipshits! I'm sure whatever was destroyed by the train, and the train itself is easily repaired in just a few quick days,.... And of course.,.... Didn't set anyone back on their project timeline at all...
Oh.... My bad... I hadn't watched the video to the end before my original message.,. The train derailed as a result of hitting the oversized cargo being piloted by a company hired to make sure shit like this doesn't happen... Kudos again! Lord loves retards.... Ban me from this Sub if my comments are too hard for you to take, you pussies!
Bitch I’m a train
Colossal fuckup from many angles
For what appears to be an extreme load being hauled by the truck, why weren't the roads closed and railway notified anything on its route controlled / coordinate to prevent such occurrence? Where I am, if they move a house it is all planned, announce in news/media roads closed, etc.
That truck driver must feel TERRIBLE
Apparently im ever single damn case, it seems to be better to derail a wholeeee as fucking train, then to risk hitting another car by giving it some more gas, BEFORE he hits the train tracks people!! Dont come tell me how idk cuz im not a truck driver. I get it, once they're on the tracks they forget how to drive that BIG ASS truck engine.
Edit: I think everyone involved with the truck, is responsible. Whats the point of all that escort? For the lols?
Those engines aren’t invincible. Once that trailer gets hung up, it’s done.
I get what you’re saying but once the trailer hangs up it’s over. To get it off the tracks takes a large wrecker. Seen it happen to many times. I do agree the companies involved with the truck are totally responsible
That and whoever gave them the prescribed route to take based on measurements (the State of Texas)
You obviously have no knowledge of the process involved in permitting an oversized load. There's an old saying "it's better to keep your mouth shut and look stupid than to open it and remove all doubt". I feel like this is applicable here.
😂🤣🤣😆😆🤣 Funny you say that, looks like everyone there kept their mouth shut and STILL looked stupid. Anywho, theres no one speaking here, only typing. So im glad no one is looking stupid here. Thanks for playing.
The truck couldn’t move.
Oh hey I saw the police bodycams for this one
So I’m never getting my custom flesh light now? I ordered that thing months ago!
I guess people do have hearts. Went through all the comments & expected at least 2 people to say, “This was staged”. Proud of the Reddit community, today.
Still waiting for the inevitable “looks like AI" comment.
Someone asked about "where is my fleshlight" so idk 🤷♀️
It isn't an ai comment but still falls in the dumb category of comments
Why would you stop on a railroad crossing under any circumstances
Because physics.
You can see this had nothing to do with that. It wasnt an elevated crossing to the extent that would cause the trailer to become dislodged
Watch the video linked in the comment from Impressive_Low_2018. Most of it is bodycam footage of a cop responding to the scene but skip to 13:00 and there is a detailed analysis of the crash after the investigation. Sounds like the biggest factor was that while the terrain appears to be flat visually, there is in fact a slight grade that resulted in the truck’s tire loosing traction as it crossed, not bottoming out. Everything was approved for the route BUT it was filed as a heavy load rather than a super load, which might have resulted in this crossing being flagged as insufficient.
The trailer wasn't "dislodged." It was "high centered."
The bump doesnt look big enough. You'd think these truck drivers would be more aware of their route
You need to read more comments in this post. The bump was obviously big enough, and the truck driver relies on others to plan the route.
It was a super load, and the road had a hard to see rise into a slope after the tracks. Huge truck bottomed out, and could only be freed using controls on the exterior of the trailer. Watch the video.
This guy in white truck is responsible for that. He should check the road etc.
😶
Wrong. I would explain but plenty of others have already done so. So read the other comments and educate yourself
You just don’t mess with Texas truck drivers
It's like the truck driver wanted to murder them. You truly couldn't find a more appropriate load to get stuck on the tracks with. Also, why (not knowing the track) wouldn't the train tried slowing down... It couldn't have just come from around a curve with that much speed built up. I'm a bit shocked by this one.
The train was going about 70 miles an hour; it would take over a mile for the train to stop after it applied the brakes at that speed. This is why trains don’t stop for crossings and cars do instead lol
A train that big going that fast, by time they can recognize it as a hazard it's too late