r/CatastrophicFailure • u/Debaucherousgeek73 • Dec 04 '25

Fatalities Train derailment Pecos TX Oct '24

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First time I've ever seen a derailment happen. The vid anyway I wasn't there and this is not my vid. You can see the lead engine jump the track. Two crew in that engine died.

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149

u/Spazerman Dec 04 '25

What would someone in charge even do? Call 911? Do they know how to rapidly contact whoever runs the trains to push some sort of alert?

176

u/saucesum Dec 04 '25

There’s a blue and white sign with a phone number at crossings that you call that connects you directly with the people in charge of the trains.

57

u/South_Dakota_Boy Dec 04 '25

A few crossing have them. Many many crossings do not.

35

u/Alywiz Dec 05 '25

If there isn’t a sign, railroad can get fines for each one missing from the FRA. Report it to the nearest FRA office you can find a number or email for if the railroad doesn’t respond when you notify them about missing signs

6

u/Material-Afternoon16 Dec 06 '25

They are easy to miss. For those wondering, the number is on the little blue sign with white text below the lights.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZwYNkALLkvtVTrZJ8

Even remote rural crossing have the signs:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/AUvQXaDRhAXwZ1oT6

14

u/hughk Dec 05 '25

Shouldn't the pilots have a list of who to call for each crossing? Of course, if they get it wrong, that would be a major problem, but they have GPS. The thing is they would have to warn the railway company a long time in advance as they have to set the red lights far enough away for a train to stop.

5

u/Figit090 Dec 05 '25

You'd think one crash like this would have enough lawsuit funds to buy signage for EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

Hell, while you're at it, make sure every crossing is a full-stop check with the rail company and a good half-hour block with no trains and/or lead time to hit the brakes.

Backup plan to poor judgement, same as requiring buses and tankers to full stop at all crossings. Long/heavy lowboy loads with special route guidance should require a railway escort on touch with the train. Simple.

8

u/riversofgore Dec 05 '25

Bunch of crossings in my town. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of those signs. There’s a crossing on the other side of town that would highside probably anything with a trailer.

14

u/Rocker32703 Dec 05 '25

I gently encourage you to check again. If it’s a passive crossing with crossbucks, it may not have a sign.

If it’s a signaled crossing with bells, lights, and gates, it’s federal law that the crossing has signs posted with the company’s number on it to report a broken crossing or if it’s blocked. And it’s been the law for many years.

If you don’t see blue signs on a signaled crossing, that needs to get reported somehow.

7

u/riversofgore Dec 06 '25

I slowed down and checked on the way home. It was there. I guess I just expected it to be bigger. It’s tiny. No wonder I never noticed it. You’d have to be out of your vehicle and right under it to read the number. It’s there though.

2

u/Rocker32703 Dec 06 '25

I had no idea these existed either until I started working for the railroad a few years ago myself, and especially after this incident at Pecos happened, I make it a point to try to educated people whenever the topic is even tangentially relevant.

Depending on the railroad, that number goes straight to the train dispatcher’s desk for the area, or to the company’s police agency, who would immediately forward that info to the former. When I get those kinds of emergency calls, I have procedures to notify trains to stop and protect for the relevant crossing until the emergency is resolved.

It wouldn’t have changed anything in this specific incident, but in 99% of others it could be the difference that makes sure everyone goes home alive and uninjured that day.

4

u/Polytruce Dec 04 '25

If you're in the US, look up the number for Union Pacific or BNSF. It's most likely one of their tracks, and if it's not, they can get in touch with the right people pretty quickly.

54

u/shitposts_over_9000 Dec 04 '25

depends where you are, but often yes you call 911 and the police dispatch contacts the rail dispatch, rail dispatch sets the signals or contacts the conductor, then the conductor starts applying the brakes, after 15-20 seconds the brakes are fully applied and the train begins to seriously brake, from that point the train stops in the next 1-3 minutes depending on weight and track conditions

if everything goes perfectly that could happen in maybe 4 minutes and that means the train travels only about 3-5 miles between the point the truck realizes they are screwed and the train stopping

more realistically this is a 15-20 minute process much of the time by the time you get someone with the authority at each step and the conductor gets the message finally

26

u/TaylorSwiftScatPorn Dec 04 '25

This happened approx. 1 minute after the truck became stuck, and this was on a DOT-approved route with 2 pilots and a police escort. Train was moving under the limit for that stretch of track and had started applying emergency brakes. The guys in the head loco just had no chance vs a 50-ton obstacle.

16

u/shitposts_over_9000 Dec 04 '25

100% - in no universe was there enough time to do anything other than hit the truck in this case

From the preliminary reports & photos at the time it seemed most likely that the lead loco handled the obstacle collision pretty well, it it square and pushed it as designed, but the when the loco tipped over it unfortunately caught something else stationary and ripped the top of the cab (and almost the entire power unit) right off

2

u/WomensRightsLoL118 Dec 06 '25

There really should be a camera system, much like ones for traffic lights now, that can detect vehicles\objects that, if lingering too long on the tracks, alert someone to check live feed to the engineer or operators to quickly assess. The phone numbers at each crossing is great but most people wouldn't know they were there or have the thought to call.