From: j.albert@snet.net   
      
   On 7/12/14 1:36 AM, dpeltier@my-deja.com wrote:   
   > ohn, I don't think any of us have seen or heard what the prosecutors'   
   > theory of the case is, but the question of happened to the automatic brakes   
   > seems totally irrelevant to me. The train was required to have a sufficient   
   > number of handbrakes set to hold the train without air, and it did not.   
   > Seems to me the criminal case - at least for the engineer - will be all   
   > about determining whose fault that was, and whether it rises to the level   
   > of criminal recklessness. What happened with the automatic brakes should   
   > have been totally irrelevant, if handbrakes had been set as required.   
      
   The train did not move because of something the engineman   
   didn't do.   
      
   It moved because of something else that happened after he   
   left the scene.   
      
   I will guess (as I'm not privy to the special instructions,   
   either written or verbal, that were generally given to   
   engineman who tied down the train at that location) that the   
   instructions for the Nantes tie-down were to apply all   
   locomotive hand brakes and a certain number of car brakes.   
      
   I will also guess that the engineman complied with these   
   instructions. He may have miscounted a car brake or two.   
      
   You further wrote:   
   [[ How in the bloody hell would this exonerate anybody? The   
   rules require   
   sufficient handbrakes to hold the train, period. ]]   
      
   A word like "sufficient" is purposely left vague to protect   
   management in terms of mishaps and accidents.   
      
   You may counter that the "proper test" would be for the   
   engineman to go back to the cab, release all all, and see if   
   the train moved. He would then have to recharge the train,   
   put on a few more car brakes, and repeat the process. To do   
   all this takes time under "hours-of-service". I can't recall   
   just how much time he had left. In lieu of such things, the   
   operating officials may just issue instructions to apply all   
   loco hand brakes and so many car brakes, and (assuming that   
   number was complied with) the train would be ok to leave.   
      
   [[ The NTSB just released two reports on railroad accidents   
   at the beginning   
   of this month. The incidents are from July 2011 and July   
   2012 respectively.   
   The one incident I was personally familiar with took 27   
   months to release   
   the report. The reports include not just the facts, but also   
   an analysis of   
   the cause and contributing causes, along with suggested   
   remedial actions. ]]   
      
   What accidents were those?   
      
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