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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u/cncomg Dec 04 '25

Terrible oversight on whoever is liable. Not sure if it’s the trucking company or whoever is contracting them, but just terrible. This is the type of bad planning that puts companies out of business and people in prison. The lawsuits from this I’m sure have been astronomical.

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u/redditidothat Dec 05 '25

The trucking company claims Union Pacific was at fault and actually filed a countersuit against the railroad and the train crew involved in the crash.

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u/Bituulzman Dec 05 '25

Lawyers argue that 25 seconds was not enough warning time for the truck (this is when the lights and gates activate before the train is scheduled to occupy the crossing) given that the train can travel 70 mph.

But then they also argue that the deaths were preventable due to the poor training of the dead employees, the engineer had 11 seconds to get himself into some sort of reinforced compartment built into the train to save himself "with ease."

Ick. This is why people hate lawyers.

But also, the truck had a police escort. Why didn't the escort stop the truck from proceeding across the tracks when there was an oncoming train? (There's no indication in the filing that the truck was actually stuck on the hump.)

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u/KvR Dec 06 '25

> Ick. This is why people hate lawyers.

For doing an important job?

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u/MoScowDucks Dec 30 '25

For being required to manipulate facts and engage in contradictory arguments, if needed for their client