@@Herman-ej4xn Herman your on track with your insightful comment . yes as you pointed out this is what happens when any government funded project is compromised due to cost cutting politicians that want to say to there constituents " NO NEW TAXES .
Only time will tell… 3 decades after Amtrak’s worst accident in their history books, going over the site of the crash will give those that heard the story will get chills in their hearts.
Out of the 129 years that the Sunset Limited has operated (1894 - ) first by Southern Pacific then Amtrak, the train has only gone to Florida for 13 of those years (1993 - 2006). For the remaining 116 years the eastern terminus has been New Orleans.
Unfortunately Amtrak due to other derailments no longer has the Superliner cars to create three more train sets which would be required to reinstitute the Sunset Limited east of New Orleans. As it is Amtrak barely has enough Superliner cars to sustain the Superliner trains presently. Even with the ongoing Superliner fleet refurbishment, Amtrak has had to pull cars from service during and after the pandemic. The good news is this refurbishment program will finish by the end of 2024 with TWELVE previously wrecked Superliner cars returning to service. But just as soon as Amtrak may be able to return the Sunset Limited to Florida soon, Amtrak suffers another derailment of Superliner cars. Of interest though is Amtrak received TWELVE RFP replies from manufacturers and will be ordering a new fleet of bi-level cars to replace the Superliner fleet during the 2030s very soon... How many cars for the fleet will be revealed very soon...
@@ronclark9724 At this point it does seem it's just a waiting game for Amtrak's new fleet to be ordered. At that point I would imagine we see the remaining Superliners serve in the same vain as the former Santa Fe hi-levels. A select few did remain in service as late as 2018 and I could see at least a few superliners being set aside as a back up.
Well done Thunderbolt 1000! This has got to be one of the Best Remastered videos I've seen since the Chase MD Remastered (which was also amazing). You do a Great Job on doing these Train wrecks/ Disasters anniversarys! Hope you keep up the Amazing Work! R.I.P to the 47 Passengers & Crew that died on the Sunset limited as well as Wille the Tugboat driver.
I think Thunder, probably following the NTSB, put too much blame on the bridge and train. The only problem with the bridge was that the signal triggers lacked sensitivity, though barge bumpers might have been a worthwhile investment. What I still wonder is did the captain know about the fog? He certainly knew it was dark out and the pilot knew about the fog, and both should have decided to stop in the foggy dark, knowing they were ill equipped and ill trained to operate in those conditions. Did the pilot have the authority to stop? Did the Captain? or were they both under too much pressure from owners to go regardless, like the Captain of El Faro, who sailed into a hurricane after having been fired for playing it safe and being slow, as have many captains, and truck drivers etc. Owners should be held responsible for tight schedules. Though the training and equipment requirements may also be necessary when there may be no place to stop when conditions deteriorate, in this case there was.
Well, I’ve really LOVED the scene of the reconstruction; the Crash looks very devastated. I’ve praised for the simulation of your content. + I’ve give to many hearts and sympathies to the fallen victims of the Sunset Limited and a Big Bayou Wreck of 1993. Hopefully in future, this accident will never be the same ever again. As railroads will changed forever, especially for ‘Amtrak.
@@JNRC62fan *Of The 220 Passengers On Board 42 People And All 5 Crew Members Including The Engineer And The Conductor Were Dead 103 People Were Injured*
Masterful revisiting. What caught my attention is that this happened during the brief window in which the Sunset Limited extended to Miami instead of Orlando. Feel like that's relatively obscure knowledge about the history of the route
Man that incident was the worst tragedy crash in one of Amtrak's history and that's why it's been 30 years after that nasty accident but will never forget on that day
Great Remastered you never fail to impress with these train wreck documentaries. 6:17,6:19,6:21,6:32 6:35 this is arguably of the best accident reenactments I have see.
What a tragedy, Big Bayou wreck was the worst accident. Though I couldn't imagine what the passengers must've felt when they woke up and smelled smoke. It was horrible, really horrible. I remember seeing recent documentaries and noting the investigation into the cause of the incident. I believe this incident could have been avoided,but it happened, nonetheless. Dedicated to those 47 people, including the engineer and Ronald Claytons. Rest In peace ❤🕊
Hey, I used to work for CSX. Amtrak has started qualifying engineers and crew to go from New Orleans to Mobile and back on this route. They are in talks about opening the service in 2024 or 2025.
True, think the only hold up now is finishing a loading platform in Mobile. They did some test runs in 2023 and unfortunately had two collisions with one fatality. People have to get used to these fast trains coming through there again.
Many of us outside of that industry often hear of rail freight companies cutting corners on maintenance projects or even forgoing them altogether - is that any sort of myth or is it a valid depiction? And in this particular case would CSX have necessarily born the responsibility of having this “incomplete” Canot bridge appropriately retrofitted?
I'd remember hearing stories about this accident during the 1990's and The Big Bayou Train disaster would end up leading to more Amtrak Trains derailments and Amtrak being questioned about the safety of their railroad.
Your documentaries are always excellent and i love how you always try to do better and better. Ive been a fan of yours for a bit since i saw the cajon trilogy and would love to the trio of BN wrecks from the 80s. One of which led to a complete overhaul of drug testing for rail crews
I was just a toddler of 3 living in Houston when this happened, but I have vague memories of news reports being shown on big news channels. My dad was studying for his masters for engineering and he came home one day and rushed to turn on the TV to feature the horrible news of this tragedy. I have little memory of this, but what stands out is the mangled wreck.
One phrase that really angers me is, "the costs outweigh the benefits". Especially in regard to safety. A few quid, (dollars in this case) is more important than human lives! Transport safety is paid for in blood and that really shouldn't be the case. Excellent video by the way, thanks so much for sharing your hard work!
That's how I feel about airlines not using less flammable JP-5 Jet fuel that doesn't ignite from a mere fart like regular jet fuel, it's also another reason I hate flying. I'll gladly fork out a mortgage to have airliners run on JP-5
We are in a world unfortunately where companies are run by bean counters who only exist to please share holders rather then be run by engineers who actually care about putting out a good product.
Despite with your personal issues, I appreciate that you still put the time into this video. I really like this re-master. Great one my dude! Rest in peace to all the passengers who were killed because of this accident.
I remember watching the old one which basically got me into trains in the first place. This remake is unbelievably well made. Crazy to see how far you've come.
Even if the Sunset Limited had not been delayed and had crossed the bridge before the barge hit it, the next train through would have suffered the same fate.
Well there wouldn't have been 47 fatalities and likely they would have gotten word to dispatch to stop the trains by then. This was just unfortunate that the barge hit just minutes before the Amtrak was coming through.
You did a great job on this documentary Thunderbolt! I also like how you gave more detail than the original video and the train simulator wreck too! I am excited for more of your videos!
Well done there kid!!! It was my company that invented the warning system that could've prevented this. It was a pendulum that started swinging. The circuitry watched the frequency of the swinging pendulum. The bandpass filters could tell when it was just a train! You did a nice job on this!!!
Now I believe they made it movable should the need arise for upstream navigation, but it never did, and the requirement to secure it (which had it been fully mobile, it would have had) hadn’t been considered.
@@lycanmotions CSX’s problem, they dropped the ball, though it wasn’t even their bridge, they got it from the L&N. A bridge inspection ought to have caught it, but being registered as an immobile bridge when CSX got it, I doubt they paid it any mind. As for Amtrak, with trackage rights only, timetable speed and ride quality is really all with which they are concerned.
This wreck happened many miles away from my home where I live now, aka Bay Minette. As all my people on my dad's side stayed there. But as of me now living there. I've asked them about the wreck and they said it was terrible, they've lost people they knew as friends or even closest. And sometimes I railfan that track that It could've ran on too.
This was amazing and you did a well done job on the suspension, animation, and images/videos. Very good keep it up I love it, especially when you do the calls. It's still sad of what happened though. 😞
That accompanying closing theme is just heart wrenching .. GREAT animation on the re-enactment .. I don’t know that Mr. Odom’s negligent actions rose to the level of CRIMINAL, but some party - CSX or otherwise - bears responsibility for not having the “incomplete” bridge retrofitted to the necessary requirements of the day as it pertains to marine and rail travel through the BBC
Nice remastered video of this accident, new photos and great simulation, RIP everyone on board. Next do you think you can do this time the sunset limited sabotage crash? since you mentioned it in this video and other videos.
This accident happened 12 years and one day before I was born. However, every year on September 22nd, I always take time to reflect on this accident. Hopefully, an accident of this magnitude does not happen to any other railroad again.
Very nice presentation. I am from Mobile and will never forget this tragic event. A few years after the crash, I rode the Sunset Limited from Mobile to Los Angeles. I sat in the last seat of the last car. Think it took about 52 hours to get to Los Angeles, but it was a great experience, got to see lots of things. The people were great and the train was very comfortable.
It is inexcusable that no proper radar training nor the existence of a compass and proper maps (if you have radar how do you not have these things?!?!) were available to the barge pilot, especially when such a course shift to the Big Bayou Canot was that easy to do off the Mobile River. Even the existence of some navigational lights on the bridge could have helped avoid tragedy.
Amazing video Thunder! I’m glad you remade this, because there are many more details that you missed the first time you made it. Great job with the simulation too. I could never put in that much effort into something like that. I have a few questions. Do you create the maps for simulating derailments yourself or do you find places to download them from. Also, do you think you could make a documentary on the 1980 Cima Hill runaway? I am making one on it right now, but I don’t have many photos and limited information about the crash, and I have a feeling that your video would be better (especially because you can simulate the runaway which I most likely would not include in my video because of the amount of time I would need to create the map). It’s okay if you can’t. I know that you have a lot of things going on right now. Thanks again for the great documentaries :)
Believe it or not this same wreck was briefly shown in the opening credits of the 1999 film ATOMIC TRAIN mainly showing coach 34040 leaning over the bridge Granted this was on the dvd release
It would’ve been nice if Amtrak had ordered another p40dc unit and numbered it 819 to replace the original one that was wrecked, possibly to help fill in the gap.
I just found some interesting information on why there are three engineers on 819. Turns out 819 was due to go to Sanford Florida for crew training. Which would explain why was on the train in the first place and also why there were three engineers that were in the cab when the accident happened.
I figured you’d remaster this wreck. For any comments on how you narrated it, just know Alec Baldwin wasn’t as into his narrations of Season 6 of _Thomas the Tank Engine_ because of, well, if you know, you know. For those who don’t, it was his divorce from actress Kim Basinger and the negative reception of _Thomas and the Magic Railroad_ that did it.
14:40 I think that's perfectly justified. After all, it's not like Odom rammed the Bridge on purpose. Heck, he didn't even know there was a bridge in front of him. And the fact that someone who couldn't use radar was allowed to work as a tugboat pilot is purely to blame on requirements being to low.
Did u guys know there was an actually a fourth runaway train on the cajon pass that happened a few months before 576 west crashed into the rear of 9450. Luckily this runway did not derail and managed to regain its brakes
