Wreck occurred on Wednesday in a small Texas town north of Dallas... http://nbc5i.feedroom.com/index.jsp?auto_band=x&rf=sv&fr_story=bb332aff5998cc1851dfe1709384575f230bef91
From what i can gather from other forums, this is single track, unsignaled TWC territory. The southbound loaded rock train was in a siding with a track warrant that said to proceed after the arrival of two(2) northbound trains. The southbound pulled out, by mistake, on the main after the arrival of just one train. They hit headon at track speed(49mph). The engineer of the southbound was killed, so the true reason may never be known for sure.
What a terrible shame. Hopefully the conductor will be able to shed some light on just what happened and why.
This wreck took place on the ex-Frisco line between Sherman and Irving. It happened at Gunter, which is south of Sherman in Grayson County. As reported, a southbound loaded unit rock train collided head-on with a northbound empty, killing one & critically injuring three. From what I saw of the news reports, one of the diesels had the section of the front walkway, cab, and sheet metal over the generator was facing 180 degrees from the direction of the route of travel. Loaded rock cars (all Ortner 100-ton hoppers) were accordioned behind the southbound. Hazmat crews were dispatched to deal with spilled diesel fuel from the engines' tanks. No idea how long this will take to clean up. The line, once Frisco's main line from Tulsa to the Dallas-Ft. Worth area (and the one-time route of such hot freights as the Texas Special, train 33), now sees mostly rock train traffic through Sherman, as well as one daily manifest train and several locals. Shortline Dallas, Garland & Northeastern also uses this line via a trackage rights agreement to reach Plano with freight and rock trains as well. On occasion, BNSF will also send detoured trains (manifest, empty coal) over this track. The line is dispatched, as mentioned earlier, by Track Warrant Control.
I've been following this story in the news and it's a sad story indeed. Thanks for all of the information.
Update from the Ft. Worth (TX) Star-Telegram concerning this accident. It mentions that the transcripts of conversations between the dispatcher and the two trains will be studied. http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/8722237.htm Also, an NTSB media briefing will take place this afternoon in Sherman at about 4:30 PM. Not sure if it'll be live or taped, but I'll be watching the local news channel (KXII-TV) to see what they say on this manner. Also, it's been reported that the line has now been re-opened through the wreck site. One dead engineer, one trainman at Parkland in Dallas with severe burns, three others at Wilson N. Jones in Sherman. So far, it looks like human error, but this is just speculation- more will come out this afternoon and in the days & weeks to come. Another reminder that this is essentialy a heavy-equipment operation, and you have to be awake & alert at ALL TIMES. That also includes us railfans.
Found this link from Railspot for this article: http://cms.firehouse.com/content/article/article.jsp?id=30742 It's a report from the chief of the fire department that responded to the wreck scene. Included are several shots of the wreckage, including a cab and sheet metal (and not much else) of a Santa Fe GP60M. The line has been open since Thursday, but there are cars still to be picked up. Plus the GP60M, there are at least two SD40-2s that will most definitely be scrapped, if not three. According to preliminary NTSB reports, both freights were in emergency braking, and were traveling about 36-38 MPH when they collided. Crew members jumped from both trains, and sadly the engineer was killed when a locomotive fell over on him during the crash.
