First, let me convey my sympathies to the families and relatives of the engineer, Mike Hoover, who as killed in this wreck. Must be very hard less than 3 weeks from Christmas to get a phone call like the one they got. This is in no way an attempt to diminish or trivialize their loss. I've posted 12 pictures of the derailment at Arminto, WY that occurred a little over a week ago. All photos are courtesy of my good friend Doug Duncan. http://www.trainweb.org/brettrw/derailments.html
No matter how many times you see photos of the destruction caused by a train accident, it is still hard to believe. This was obviously a viscious impact, as the one unit that appears to have been an SD40-2 was stripped of everything above the frame. Very breathtaking photos, and they are a great reminder to us of the power harnessed in those trains we watch. It may make some people take an extra few steps back from the tracks when a train goes by...
Thanks for posting the pics, the devastation when to trains collide is horrific. was this collision in a dark teritory or was it a signalled area?
I don't live too far away from this accident site so I did some research and found the NTSB report. The report stated the accident was caused by human error. The track inspector had serviced the switch and did not re-line it for the main before he left. Three hours after the inspector left, the accident happened. One could only imagine how this man felt after he realized what had happened.
