COLLEGEDALE, Tenn. — Injured crew members have been released from the hospital and a Norfolk Southern rail line has been reopened after Tuesday’s derailment of a train that hit a 134-foot concrete bridge beam being transported by truck, WRCB-TV reports.
The rail line reopened Wednesday morning, while the grade crossing that was the site of the accident was expected to reopen Wednesday afternoon. Three locomotives and 10 cars derailed after striking the beam on Tuesday afternoon, injuring two NS crew members [see “NS train derails …,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 20, 2022.]
Collegedale police identified the truck’s driver as 64-year-old Jorge Luis Cruz-Vega of Martinez, Ga., who was driving for Starrette Houston Trucking of Augusta, Ga. Police said they will not comment on possible charges against Cruz-Vega while their investigation continues.
The beam was bound for a nearby road-widening project involving a bridge on State Route 317, WRCB reports. A Tennessee Department of Transportation spokeswoman said that because beams are manufactured specifically for each project, replacement of the one destroyed Tuesday could delay the highway project.
A failure to plan. A simple coordination with the railroad via phone to make sure they had an open window to roll over the tracks would have prevented the accident.
It’s possible that identical beams had already been trucked to the same job site, using the same route, and may have been stopped on the tracks by the same stoplight. But no train came and it was not an issue.
Looking at Google maps there is no traffic light or even a stop sign on the road for him to be stopped at. Maybe they have put a light in because the google view is from May 2022. But the construction site is straight across from the tracks. Maybe he was waiting for instructions where he should go. I may be wrong but looks like he was just stopped there for some other reason than a light.
Thank goodness the NS families will enjoy their loved ones being home and not dead. The railroad is not at fault contrary to what some local Tennessee media people are suggesting, Operation Lifesaver needs to take these “news readers” out for a taste of the REAL world!!!
I believe the problem was a red light not high centering. “officials say the truck was stopped on the railroad tracks while waiting for a traffic light when the crossing gates activated for an approaching train, and the truck was unable to clear the crossing in time.” [ “NS train derails …,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 20, 2022.]
Hope the truck driver has good insurance. How does total incompetence get a licence to drive a truck, how is an oversized load allowed to get high centred on a crossing! Who is in charge of the logistics of the highway project for which the beam was purposed.
TennDOT needs to conduct an investigation including of itself. This stuff moves under state highway permit.
I know how this will shake out, which may be an overreaction. In the future, the truckers will need to hire a railroad supervisor at hundreds of dollars per hour. When a bridge is built over a railroad, a railroad supervisor is on site at all times. Among other duties, the railroad supervisor gives permission for the bridge crew to occupy the track space.
Going forward, it will be the same for a permit oversized load over a grade crossing. Rail traffic will be held until the railroad supervisor certifies that the highway load had cleared.
Terry,
The truck was not high centered. It was stopped in traffic by the traffic light just ahead of it. You can even see the truck start to move forward just before being struck. His mistake was starting across the tracks without making sure he could clear the other side. It was just luck that the one traffic signal cycle that would affect him was also when a train came through. If the train was a minute earlier or later, the accident probably wouldn’t have happened.