Auto Train 52 - Va to Fl Derailment

[albiats]

Within the past hour, Auto Train 52 from Sanford, Florida to Lorton, Virginia has suffered a derailment in Cresent City, which is in Putnam County, Florida. The train was headed north to Virginia.

This is South of Jacksonville and north of Daytona Beach.

Several cars have been derailed and it looks to be very serious with three fatalities confirmed.

If you are concerned about someone that was supposed to be on that train, they have emergency information numbers set up.

At 7:15pm, they changed the phone number for emergency information to:
800-523-9101

They caution that you may have to hold on for a couple of minutes until someone can help you, they are working on staffing fo rthe lines:

Our thoughts and prayers are with those on board with hopes for their safety.

[kbeverina]

:( I just heard this on the news a few minutes ago. (We live about 20 minutes from Lorton) They said at least 25 critically injured as well.

[albiats]

This is a link to a Website for one of the TV stations in Jacksonville that is carrying the story:

News4Jax Website (http://www.news4jax.com/jax/news/stories/news-140670420020418-160456.html)

[albiats]

The Emergency Services media contact for Volusia County was interviewed:

As of 6:30pm, they have a triage area set up and they have sent approximately 20 people off for critical medical attention to various area hospitals.

They are not confirming the number of fatalities at this time.

[sudiequ]

Just hear 3 people have died, and 75 are still trapped. Very sad.

[Mr.MouseFan]

As soon as I heard the news I immediately thought of these boards and the people who visit them everday. I'd like to express my sincerest condolences to the families of those who may have died and to those who have been injured. They will all be in my prayers and I just hope that nobody from these boards was involved in this accident. :(

[albiats]

At 7:15pm, they changed the phone number for emergency information to:
800-523-9101

They caution that you may have to hold on for a couple of minutes until someone can help you, they are working on staffing for the lines.

[drgnfly30]

OK... I'm freaked out now... We were booked on Midway last year & after 9/11 they went out of business so we ended up driving:(... my 6 yo DS is terrified of flying after seeing the first images of 9/11 of TV so I booked the autotrain for this years trip... I cannot let him see any hint of this or I'll be walking to WDW this year!!! Do have a curse on my travel choices??
Christinehttp://www.tinksnook.com/tink/public/tink7.gif

[albiats]

Updated link to the TV News Website:



http://www.news4jax.com/sh/news/stories/nat-news-140676120020418-170421.html

[Karen4120]

I just can't believe what I'm seeing on TV. ITs so very sad. My family and I are scheduled to be on the exact train on June 20th. I can only imagine what those families must be going thru. To see them just standing on top of the train looking dazed is just so scary. The majority of people on these trains are elderly and families. It is just so tragic. I have no clue how I'm getting to Disney now.

[goofygal531]

I'm actually really scare. I get so freaked out on the train in the middle of night. It goes so fast and it's so dark out. I keep saying to myself what if a truck or a cow is on the tracks?? I'm even more scared now! I told my DH I'd much rather drive ourselves but our train tickets are already purchased. I'll be awake the whole trip down!!

I too, thought of the people from these boards and my heart goes out to them. The thought of being trapped under a car is making me so upset right now.

I truly hope a lot of people are safe. It was reported that 400 people were on the whole train.

[chrisd596]

We've been on the Auto Train the last three years and have enjoyed our ride. Being unhappy with airline safety I saw the Auto Train as an alternative. At this point it seems that the vast majority survived this. In a way this is encouraging.

[4nana]

I was watching the news and could not believe my eyes! A good friend of mine
works on this very train and I was in a panic! Thankfully she got to call her Mom and said she was just banged around and not seriously injured, but was very busy assisiting passengers. She said hearsay has it invloved the extreme heat of the tracks? I feel so terrible for the lost of life, injured, all the terrified passengers. My thoughts and prayers are with them ^i^

[albiats]

At 10:30pm, they just gave us a news update on the TV, unfortunately, the death toll for the train derailment has been updated to six.

I'll check for updates on the local news Websites.

The second link that I posted is being updated by the news station and is accurate.

[JudithM]

I was very saddened to hear this news earlier tonight. My thoughts & prayers to al lthe passengers & their families.

I much pefer to drive to WDW. Last August we took the Autotrain round trip. At that time I said the train rocked back & forth so much & was so much bumpier than previous trips that we thought the train was going to jump the tracks.

[albiats]

On the 11pm tv news, they said that everyone has been removed from the train wreckage.

The death count is at 6 and the number injured is about 200.

They have evacuated those with serious injuries to area hospitals and regional hospitals 100 miles away and more. We have some of the injured here in Jacksonville and they have also been taken to Gainesville, and several other sites.

They are setting up centers for the people that were on the train and not severely injured at the local high school and at the local YMCA. They are receiving food, water, treatment for minor injuries, and counseling.

They are starting to investigate the cause of the derailment. The tracks are owned by the CSX Corporation and it was reported that they had just been inspected between 9 and 10 am this morning with no problems observed.

[HugsForEeyore]

I feel totally sick to my stomach. I ridden the Auto Train many times in the last six years. I am one of the biggest fans of the train. I read in an article today that the Auto Train has not had an accident since it started about 20 years ago. But every mode of transportation has it's risks. I hope they can figure out why this horrible crash happened, and learn from it.

:( :(

<img src="http://home.att.net/~swill70/hugsmall3.gif">

[albiats]

This is a link to the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper Website.

They have compiled a gallery of stories about the derailment with interviews of some of the victims and of nearby residents that volunteered to help.


Orlando Sentinel Link (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orl-story-amtrakgallery041902.storygallery?coll=orl%2Dhome%2 Dheadlines)

[The4Foxes]

We have tickets for the Autotrain May 2nd (in 2 weeks) - just last night driving home from work I mentioned to my husband (it was around 5:30) - "just think, this time in 2 weeks we will be on our way to Florida." The very reason we are taking the train was because I do not like to fly and we were trying a new way to go instead of driving (for the past 6 years) from MA. My heart goes out to all the families affected.

[DisneyPoly]

We too have tickets, but ours are for Friday, May 3rd. My first inclination was to cancel and drive. We had planned to drive home anyway. We only purchased tickets southbound, so that we can arrive a day early for our cruise. I contacted Amtrak about their cancellation policy this morning. He asked when I was traveling. He said they were hoping to be up and running by Wednesday of next week. I think I'm going to take my time and make this decision. We have traveled the AutoTrain many times without incident. Considering all of those additional hours driving to Orlando with four children is not an exciting thought. Yes, the train does rock and I probably won't sleep at all, and when it rocks this time I'll be in a panic. I think I will base my decision on the outcome of the investigation.

Good luck to everyone and my prayers to those who were involved.

[albiats]

On Friday, Amtrak officials revised the death count downward to four instead of the earlier count of 6.

The Orlando Sentinel has a very good story gallery with an associated photo gallery at this link: Orlando Sentinel Story Gallery (http://orlandosentinel.com/news/orl-story-amtrakgallery041902.storygallery)

They are still trying to determine the cause of the derailment.

[DisneyPoly]

Thanks for keeping us updated. It's truly appreciated!

[albiats]

You're Welcome for the updates.

In my local newspaper's Sunday edition, they reported that it does appear to be a section of the track that caused the derailment. The train was doing 56 mph in a 60 mph zone and the lead engineer saw a 'buckle' in the tracks and activated the 'emergency stop system'. The lead engineer activated the system but it turns out that it was less than one second before the train encountered the first problems. An off duty engineer and a conductor also pulled the emergency stop levers independently while in their respective areas but after they heard and felt the train cars derailing.

It was reported that the 'buckle' that the lead engineer said he observed was approximately 10 inches long. He was in the lead engine at the time and there was a second engineer in the seat on the other side of the engine and he confirms the problem with the track.

All of the engineers are on administrative leave pending the results of the investigation. They are also awaiting the results of mandatory drug tests and blood tests. The engineers have all passed breath tests given shortly after the derailment.

There was a freight train loaded with coal that had just used the tracks six minutes before the Auto Train tried to use them. The coal train was heavily loaded and was headed south. The track in that area has a banked turn that causes the tracks to suffer additional pressure.

CSX has made temporary repairs to the track and they have been inspected and approved by the Federal Railroad Administration as of Sunday morning. Slow moving freight trains are using the tracks and permanent repairs will be made as quickly as possible.

The names of the four victims have been released. Two were Snow Birds returning to their summer home in Ontario and two were vacationers returning to their separate homes in different parts of New York.

There are approximately 37 people still in various hospitals with injuries as a result of the derailment.

The official cause and the report from the National Transportation Safety Board have not been filed yet.

The link for the Orlando Sentinel (in my earlier posts) is still the best source that I know of for the news articles and a gallery of photos.