UTU News Digest - Monday, October 19, 1998

UTU Daily News Digest

Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees

Monday, October 19, 1998

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FBI may be close to solving Sunset Limited derailment

PHOENIX -- Amtrak's Sunset Limited carried 20 crewmembers and 248 passengers on October 9, 1995 as it rumbled across the Arizona desert toward Los Angeles. Then an hour and a half past midnight, something went terribly wrong.

The train traveling at 50 mph fishtailed off a trestle 60 miles west of Phoenix into a sandy wash below, killing a porter and injuring 78. More than two dozen spikes had been removed from the tracks and the electronic warning system was disabled.

The FBI concluded the Oct. 9, 1995, crash was sabotage; two letters found at the scene included anti-government, neo-Nazi messages. Suspects also included former railroad employees with technical know-how and emergency crewmen who create disasters so they can heroically rescue the injured.

Three years later, authorities say their painstaking search for the saboteurs -- which led them to search an abandoned gold mine this weekend -- could be coming to an end.

With help from Arizona law enforcement authorities, FBI agents recently pulled several vehicles from an 800-foot vertical mine shaft near Phoenix, about 35 miles north of the crash site. One of the vehicles -- a rusted, twisted dune buggy suited for desert travel -- may be linked to the derailment. The dune buggy, however, may not reveal much.

Normally investigators take tire prints and try to match them with tire tracks at the scene. But the buggy's tires are missing -- and dozens of emergency vehicles entered the crash site before it was secured.

Then agents found something perhaps even more crucial: a long tool called a "J-hook"' shaped like the letter. Experts say it's possible such a tool could be used to extract railroad spikes.

In addition, the FBI increased an outstanding reward offer to $320,000, up from $120,000.

FedEx pilots' union votes unanimously seeking strike OK

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Leaders of the Federal Express pilots' union voted unanimously Sunday to seek strike authorization from members.

Ballots will be sent this week to the 3,200 members of the FedEx Pilots Association. The union hopes to complete the balloting by Nov. 20.

If two-thirds of the union pilots are willing to walk out, the union could call a strike during December, which is the Memphis-based company's busiest season, when daily volume often exceeds 4 million packages.

The union said in a statement that it was forced to take the vote because of a lack of progress in contract talks. The company's pilots, more than 90% of whom belong to the union, have never had a contract since they became unionized in 1993.

They say career compensation for FedEx pilots is 37% below their top rival United Parcel Service, while retirement compensation is 213% below United Airlines.

FedEx chief executive officer Ted Weise said the company has a proposal on the table that would put pilots "in the very top echelon of the airline industry in every major category."

His comments were in a cover letter sent Saturday to pilots, along with copies of the latest contract offer and an actuarial study showing the total compensation package would move them from ninth in the industry to No. 2 behind UPS.

St. Louis Zoo miniature train accident kills engineer

ST. LOUIS -- A St. Louis Zoo train carrying children among its 10 passengers went out of control and jumped the tracks, killing the engineer.

Witnesses said some passengers jumped off the train Friday when it was about to crash. One passenger suffered cuts and bruises. The engineer, 67-year-old John Forsythe, was thrown from the train. A two-year employee, he was a locomotive engineer for a conventional railroad for 41 years.

The red miniature train, with partly open sides, bench seats and five cars, normally travels at 3 mph to 5 mph as it takes passengers around the zoo. Witnesses said the train raced through a station where it was supposed to stop. The engine overturned, and the other cars also left the tracks.

Some said they heard the engineer yelling that he could not stop. Investigators are trying to determine if the brakes failed. The train has a main set of brakes and a backup.

40 people killed in Egyptian train crash

CAIRO --At least 40 people were killed Sunday when a train jumped its tracks in Egypt's Nile Delta and plowed into nearby houses, police officials said. About 200 people were injured and more deaths are expected, police officials said.

It was not immediately clear how many people were on board the train, but such trains are usually packed with hundreds of commuters. The train was traveling from the port of Alexandria to Kafr el-Sheik when it crashed in the town of Kafr el-Dawar, about 30 kilometers southeast of Alexandria, the officials said.

The train went off the tracks when the driver turned into a siding, the officials said. Four of the passenger cars overturned, crashing into nearby homes, the officials said. It was not immediately clear why the driver took the wrong line.

Egypt's official Middle East News Agency said the driver could not stop the train because free-riding passengers had tampered with the brakes system between the cars.

Railroad told to install flashing signals

GENESSE, Wis. -- The state railroad commissioner has directed the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad Co. to install flashing signals and road gates at rural crossings on Highways D and ZZ.

"In order to adequately protect public safety, the installation of 12-inch flashing light signals is needed (at both highways) because of the restricted sight distances," said Railroad Commissioner Rodney Kreunen.

Wisconsin & Southern Railroad operates two to four trains per day between Waukesha and Janesville that pass through the crossings at 30 mph. There have been no train/motor vehicle accidents at the two crossings since at least 1973, Kreunen added.

At the Highway D crossing, railroad officials said, the view down the tracks "is severely restricted by trees on private property, the curvature of the road and the angle of the intersection." The order requires Wisconsin & Southern to install 12-inch flashing lights and gates at both sites by Dec. 31, 2001.

Amtrak offers ski packages, other services

PHILADELPHIA -- Amtrak has begun marketing ski packages to Vermont resorts and will offer a later 5:35 p.m. departure on Sundays aboard the Ethan Allen Express from Rutland, facilitating weekend ski trips from New York to the Vermont slopes.

The later departure is part of Amtrak's new Northeast schedule, which takes affect Oct. 25 and responds to a frequent request from customers. The later departure enables weekend skiers to spend a full day on the slopes Sunday before returning to New York City and destinations en route through the Hudson Valley.

As an added bonus, the Ethan Allen Express is now equipped with baggage cars outfitted with special racks for skis and snowboards. The baggage cars, which were added last month, bear the logo of the Ethan Allen Express on the outside.

Amtrak will add 19 more Keystone trains a week between Harrisburg, Philadelphia and New York, launch new service to Chicago and speed up running times in eastern Pennsylvania as a result of recent track improvements, when it introduces a new Northeast train schedule on Oct. 25.

The Pennsylvanian, which now runs roundtrip daily between New York, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, will become a new Philadelphia-Chicago train, operating roundtrip daily via Pittsburgh and Cleveland. The Pennsylvanian will make the move to an earlier 6:35 a.m. departure from Philadelphia on Oct. 25, running as far as Pittsburgh. The extended service to Chicago will commence Nov. 7.

To replace the local service between New York, Philadelphia and Harrisburg now provided by the Pennsylvanian, Amtrak will introduce new westbound and eastbound Keystone trains running at the same times and making the same station stops. Amtrak will further adjust service weekday mornings from Philadelphia to Harrisburg by replacing an 8:15 a.m. train from 30th Street Station with an 11 a.m. train. The 11 a.m. departure will fill a nearly five-hour gap in service that exists in the current weekday schedule between 9:15 a.m. and 2 p.m.

As a result of the changes, Amtrak's local Keystone service will increase from 82 trains a week currently to 101 under the new schedule. The long-distance Pennsylvanian and Three Rivers, which runs roundtrip daily between New York, Philadelphia and Chicago, offer another 28 departures every week.

Trains will run anywhere from three to 12 minutes faster between Harrisburg and Philadelphia, primarily as a result of track improvement work completed over the past two summers. For instance, the 5:20 p.m. train from Harrisburg, which now arrives in Philadelphia at 7:37 p.m., will get into 30th Street Station at 7:25 p.m. under the new schedule.