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Commuter Train Derails in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A light rail train jumped the tracks in the center of a downtown street, crashed into a utility pole and skidded into the roadway Monday afternoon.

About two dozen people on board suffered bumps and bruises, but no serious injuries were reported.

Because Monday was a holiday, few vehicles were on the street and none was hit by the skidding train cars.

Passengers on the light rail TRAX train said they heard scraping on the rails and then a bang when the train hit the pole, throwing riders from their seats.

``You just heard a crash, then you're down on the floor and people are piling on top of you,'' said passenger Susan Brown.

``It was chaos,'' said passenger Radell Donel.

Utah Transit Authority officials believed the accident was caused by a malfunctioning switch. The train's wheels apparently caught on the switch after coming around a curve, jarring the third car off the tracks. The train then slid across the pavement, slammed sideways into a utility pole and bounced into the street.

http://www.newsday.com/ap/rnmpne18.htm

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 22, 2000

Answers

LINK

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 22, 2000.

Rail industry press reports (www.altamontpress.com) for today describe what happened as a "picked switch". That's a purely mechanical occurence when the flange of a railcar's wheel slips between the switch point and the joining rail.

It happens in most cases due to worn switch points and a poorly adjusted switch. This incident happened on a curve, which increases the wear on the rail and switch points.

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), February 22, 2000.

Thank you for your input on this Wild Weasel! =)

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 22, 2000.

Interesting theroy, but the TRAX system just started here in Salt Lake last December. Not much time for a lot of wear.

-- BunkerBoy (lynns@xmission.com), February 22, 2000.