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[KevinKorell]

NORTHFIELD, Vt. —  Special fences protect railroad tracks from rock slides in some parts of the country, but the head of Amtrak said Tuesday it's unclear if the mechanisms could have prevented a derailment that injured seven people in Vermont, reported ABC News.

The fences are installed in known rock-slide areas and are designed to send signals if they are hit with debris, Amtrak CEO Joseph Boardman said.

Boardman said slide fences are used in parts of New York, but Vermont transportation officials said it's not believed that any are in the state. The National Transportation Safety Board is now investigating the derailment, which occurred when the train, carrying 98 passengers and four crew members, hit rocks that had fallen from a ledge onto the tracks in Northfield, according to ABC News. For the full story, click here.

Keywords

Amtrak   Joseph Boardman   NTSB   rail safety   rock fencing   rock slide   train derailment   Vermont   

 

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[KevinKorell]

NBC News, 10/6/15:

 

Amtrak CEO: Rock-Slide Fences Weren't Being Used in Vermont

 

Amtrak has deployed heavy-duty netting to block rock slides from tumbling onto railroad tracks, but not in Vermont, where falling rocks caused a derailment Monday, the rail agency's top official said.

The latest

[KevinKorell]

 

Amtrak Vermonter Service to Resume Thursday

Northbound train to operate normally; modified service southbound

October 7, 2015

4:45 p.m. ET

 

Amtrak Vermonter service will resume on Thursday, October 8, following this week's derailment near Northfield.

 

Northbound service (Train # 56) will operate normally between Washington and Saint Albans, Vt.

 

Modified service remains in place for southbound travel. Passengers boarding north of Springfield will be provided alternate transportation to Springfield or New Haven, Ct., where they will be re-accommodated on other trains.

 

Amtrak regrets any inconvenience. This information is correct as of the above time and date. Information is subject to change as conditions warrant.

 

Passengers with travel plans can confirm their train's status, change their plans or review refund information using a range of tools – including Amtrak.com, smartphone apps or by calling 800-USA-RAIL. Service Alerts, Passenger Notices and other announcements are posted at Amtrak.com/alerts.

 

To be notified of service disruptions on the Northeast Corridor (including Acela Express, Northeast Regional and other corridor services), follow @AmtrakNEC on Twitter.

[CNJRoss]

AP, 10/6:

 

Federal investigators probe Amtrak train accident in Vermont

 

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) -- The National Transportation Safety Board is now investigating the derailment in central Vermont of a Washington, D.C.-bound Amtrak train after it hit rocks that had fallen onto the tracks, sending two cars down an embankment and injuring seven people, the head of Amtrak said Tuesday.

 

Amtrak CEO Joseph Boardman said the person most seriously injured in the Monday derailment of the Amtrak Vermonter, a conductor who had been riding in the locomotive alongside the engineer, had been released from the hospital.

 

Boardman said at a news conference he felt "very blessed and thankful" none of the injuries were more severe.

 

Continue here w/VT Governor news conference video.

[CNJRoss]

AP, 10/6:

 

The Latest: Diesel fuel disappeared after Vermont derailment

 

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) -- The latest on the derailment of an Amtrak train in Vermont (all times local):

---

4:35 p.m.

The Vermont governor's office says about 900 gallons of diesel fuel remains unaccounted for following the derailment of an Amtrak train

 

SNIP

 

Noon

The head of Amtrak says all those injured when a passenger train hit a rock in Vermont are out of the hospital.

 

More here.

[CNJRoss]

Kevin Burkholder has posted several aerial photos of the wreck site:

 

http://tinyurl.com/amtkderail

[KevinKorell]

WPTZ-TV, Channel 5 in Plattsburgh, NY, 10/8/15:

 

Full Amtrak Vermonter train service to resume

 

Full Amtrak Vermonter train service will resume Friday.

 

Amtrak announced Thursday afternoon that full service would resume five days after a train derailed in Northfield.

Next update

[Sloan]

 

 

AMTRAK ROUTE CLEARED AS CREWS WORK TO RETRIEVE LOCOMOTIVE

 

The tracks at the site of Monday’s derailment of Amtrak’s Vermonter in Northfield have been cleared and are once again open to rail traffic, but a workforce of specialists continues its efforts to retrieve the train’s 135-ton locomotive, still sitting in a ravine below the tracks.

https://vtdigger.org...eve-locomotive/

 

Also

 

 

 

Amtrak Vermonter Service Fully Restored

Amtrak says the Vermonter service is now fully restored following the train derailment in Northfield.

 

http://www.necn.com/...-331514942.html

[CNJRoss]

 

 

 

AMTRAK ROUTE CLEARED AS CREWS WORK TO RETRIEVE LOCOMOTIVE

 

The tracks at the site of Monday’s derailment of Amtrak’s Vermonter in Northfield have been cleared and are once again open to rail traffic, but a workforce of specialists continues its efforts to retrieve the train’s 135-ton locomotive, still sitting in a ravine below the tracks.

https://vtdigger.org...eve-locomotive/

 

 

The locomotive was retrieved using the plan described in the article.  Kevin Burkholder posted an aerial photograph of the locomotive loaded on a heavy-duty low-boy truck:

 

http://www.railpictu...o.php?id=549731

[CNJRoss]

VTDigger, 10/11:

 

Amtrak locomotive hauled off with 12-axle transporter

 

The damaged Vermonter locomotive makes its way north past the former Northfield train depot, bound for Montpelier Junction. Photo by CB Hall/VTDigger

 

Amtrak locomotive number 102 was transported to Montpelier Junction Sunday, after being retrieved by heavy-duty cranes from the steep ravine where it came to rest after last Monday’s derailment in Northfield.

 

At 1:45 p.m. Sunday, a New England Central Railroad locomotive slowly pulled the wrecked locomotive, strapped firmly to a flatcar, from the spot in Northfield village to which it had been taken by road on Saturday. Crews from a New York State rigging company had spent about two hours lifting the Amtrak locomotive from that site and suspending it over the tracks while the NECR engineer backed in his flatcar.

 

Continue here.