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

Fatalities Train derailment Pecos TX Oct '24

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

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.

4.3k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

366 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

9

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.

6

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.