Aussie Train Smash

S

steamrail

New Member
Jun 5, 2007
7
0
1
Queensland Australia
Eleven people lost their lives this week when a Semi Trailer slammed into the side of a VLine passanger train, the accident happened at a level crossing in the town of Kerang, the side of the passanger car was opened up like a can of beans, the Semi driver was rescued from the wreck and is recovering in hospital.

Only one in six of the 2,000 plus Victorian level crossings have boom gates, many crashes occur but usualy involve freight trains, sadly this time it happened to a passanger train.

Recently we had a serious smash between a Semi Trailer and a triple headed freight train, the semi was carrying a flamable load, all three locomotives were destroyed when the load blew up, just one of many, seems that trucks like to race trains across crossings these days, this of course has to be proved in the latest disaster, no good pre judging these things.

Regards
David.
 
T

TrainNut

Ditat Deus
Sep 15, 2004
1,731
0
36
54
AZ
Kind of sounds like the driver of the truck might have been sleeping. I mean how do you not see a train? If he were racing it, you would think that he would have stopped when he realized he was not going to beat it. According to the article, he struck the train a ways back from the front. Maybe he thought the train was going faster than it was and it would clear the crossing before he got there so that he did not have to slow down. Still..... speculation.... heart attack.... stroke... diabetic attack... could have been anything. Prayers for all the families involved.
 
B

Bones

Member
Apr 11, 2007
150
15
16
42
Lower Alabama
"Road Trains" are common in Australia. Had this been a road train rig, he may not have had time to stop. These trucks often operate at what other countries would consider unsafe speeds (70 MPH+), on the long, open stretches of highway.
These rigs are usually a high horse power / high torque semi tractor pulling three to four 53' trailers (up to 8 in some cases). The longest Road train ever recorded was a 79 trailer rig in 2000.

You can read about them here: Road train - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ok, just read that page for myself. I noticed only 2-trailer Road Trains are allowed in Victoria, so it was probably some other case of neglect or mishap.
 
R

rogerw

Active Member
Jun 16, 2006
1,110
0
36
manhattan ks
Still a very interesting link bones. I have never herd of them before. Did you see the new record set in 2006, 112 semi trailers . Thats crazy
 
S

steamrail

New Member
Jun 5, 2007
7
0
1
Queensland Australia
Interstate Semi drivers over here have a pretty bad reputation, long hauls, time schedules to keep and the massive outlay to keep these rigs running all contribute to to problems for ordinary motorists and it seems trains, there are some of course taking various drugs to stay awake but I like to think most semi drivers have the brains to take sleep breaks, I do a fair amount of travelling myself and see many trucks parked beside the road while the driver take a nap, sadly there are always the Cowboys that have no consideration for the safety of others, I am sure they are in the minority, as for this latest train smash it has already been said that it may have been some truck failiure or heath problem, no good pointing the finger until it all comes out at the inquest.

Regards
David.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom