Metra leaving with door open

[ibebobo]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-metra-door-open-20130206,0,1054398.story?fb_comment_id=fbc_537614199603840_6042679_537638789601381#f212404e1

How can this happen???

[Busjack]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-metra-door-open-20130206,0,1054398.story?fb_comment_id=fbc_537614199603840_6042679_537638789601381#f212404e1

How can this happen???

What seems apparent, but isn't mentioned:

• There must have been some sort of malfunction in the door equipment as the left door is closed but the right one isn't.
• While the article mentions a door open light, no indication whether they are interlocked with the propulsion control.

Also, the article mentions Rachael Barton, but the issue there was that the door slammed on her leg, not that it didn't close.

[trainman8119]

First this appears to be either a 7400 or 6000 series car...what that means, I don't know, other than it may indicate placement of the car in the consist, within 3 cars of the engine. More than likely, the person operating the doors did so from the back end of the train (which would be normal). It is next to impossible to see 5-6-7-8 cars to verify that all doors are actually closed, procedure or not, so sometimes you go with the flow and hope and pray. The diesel lines do not have door light indicators at each door panel, so it would be up to the engineer to determine if there is a door light to indicate that all the doors are closed. It appears also that there is an ice buildup in the door track. Why a train would come from the yard with that is a mystery. Finally, if you notice, there is no chime or recording that the doors are closing, or light illuminated above (white) showing that the doors are closing. Without that, to me, implies that the mechanics of the door "thought" it was closed, which would in turn extinguish the red lights on the outside indicating whether the door is open or closed, which could also explain why the engineer may have had a door light which would have allowed him to proceed. Normally, if a door is stuck open like that, the "caution, the doors are closing" with the chime would continually sound...I do not hear that in the video. So, blame the crew if you want, sounds like a good old fashioned mechanical malfunction, which Metra will never admit to.

[jajuan]

I saw this story on Wednesday's 5 o'clock edition of WGN News. The folks who commented on the article raised the valid issue of how is it the reporter recorded the door, using his cell phone, being opened for the approximate 13 or so minutes before a conductor walking past got the door closed, yet the reporter didn't alert a conductor himself. The folks responding generally were ripping into the reporter for recording the full incident yet apparently failing to alert any of the train personnel that the door was opened while the train was speeding along. From how this story is playing out in the article, the conductor who got the door closed wouldn't have even known the door was opened had he not just been passing through the vestibule near the door. About the only thing the reporter did seem to do outside of recording the open door, from watching the WGN story, was tell a fellow passenger who tried closing the door that that was a dangerous move to make.

[Busjack]

I saw this story on Wednesday's 5 o'clock edition of WGN News. The folks who commented on the article raised the valid issue of how is it the reporter recorded the door, using his cell phone, being opened for the approximate 13 or so minutes before a conductor walking past got the door closed, yet the reporter didn't alert a conductor himself.,,,

(a) The conductor wasn't nearby [but the inference is correctly that the reporter didn't look for him, which brings us to], or (2) he figured the news was slow that night, so he'd get some footage for at 9 p.m.,* or (iii) as the commenters state, he wasn't bright enough to figure it out.

_______

*Metra being a better whipping boy than CTA.

[jajuan]

(a) The conductor wasn't nearby [but the inference is correctly that the reporter didn't look for him, which brings us to], or (2) he figured the news was slow that night, so he'd get some footage for at 9 p.m.,* or (iii) as the commenters state, he wasn't bright enough to figure it out.

_______

*Metra being a better whipping boy than CTA.

That's the point. Take the service boards to task when they definitely deserve it but do your part when there is a dangerous situation afoot by alerting them to it when it happens especially when like in this case the situation could have arisen from an apparent weather related malfunction. As someone else noted, rail personnel may have followed every procedure they were supposed to follow but still have ice buildup contribute to a malfunction after the fact that resulted in the door being open. That's the part Metra and BNSF have to work out in investigating this. As you yourself pointed out the left part of the door was actually closed.

[Railwaymodeler]

I just did some quick math. Google tells me the distance from Chicago to Aurora is 42 miles. Not clear from what part of Chicago, but lets go with 42 miles. Assume each car on a train makes, averaged out, two round trips per day. 168 miles per day. Ignoring yard moves, of course.

168 * 365 days in a year = 61320 miles per year.

Assume a car is kept 30 years minimum. 61320 * 30 = 1,839,600

Now go ask this reporter if his car can go almost two million miles without anything going wrong, especially with hundreds of people on and off every day.

Seems interesting that he can record the door malfunction, but not go inform the train crew.

[Busjack]

I just did some quick math. Google tells me the distance from Chicago to Aurora is 42 miles. Not clear from what part of Chicago, but lets go with 42 miles. Assume each car on a train makes, averaged out, two round trips per day. 168 miles per day. Ignoring yard moves, of course.

168 * 365 days in a year = 61320 miles per year.

Assume a car is kept 30 years minimum. 61320 * 30 = 1,839,600

...

The shot didn't get the car number. trainman, who works there thought it was a 7400, which would make it 20 years old, but I don't think there are that many of those on the BNSF, which had 7100s. There is a possibility that it could have been one of the original Burlington bilevel cars, which could get it over 50 years old.

[trainman8119]

The shot didn't get the car number. trainman, who works there thought it was a 7400, which would make it 20 years old, but I don't think there are that many of those on the BNSF, which had 7100s. There is a possibility that it could have been one of the original Burlington bilevel cars, which could get it over 50 years old.

The reason I said that it was a 7400 or 6000 was that the doors were larger with only 2 rows on the stairwell and the vestibule was on the bright side. The older Budds had 3 and the original Burlington cars were very narrow and the vestibule was dark.

[artthouwill]

There are no 6000s on BNSF, so more than likely a 7400 coach car.

[Busjack]

There are no 6000s on BNSF, so more than likely a 7400 coach car.

The BNSF line definitely got 8500s to replace the cab cars, and got the last few 6000s.

[trainman8119]

Right now all series of cars are all over the place. Metra is getting more and more like the CTA

every day. 6000s in small numbers have found their way to the Milwaukee and the BNSF. I have

also notice a few 7100s on the UPNW here and there. In the video, just look at the doors in the

vestibule and you can tell it is an ADA car, be it 7400, 6000, 8400 or 8500.

[Railwaymodeler]

I've seen an 8200 series cab car at the Waukegan station fairly often lately. Usually first or second car behind the locomotive.

My point still stands about the car mileage. Given how many miles these cars travel, and how many people go through those doors each day, including those who grab them in a way not designed, push them, lean on them, what-have-you, and that no man made object is ever truly foolproof, yes, I bet that the crew thought the doors were closed, perhaps even a sensor or something indicated they were, but the door mechanism malfunctioned one way or the other.

I am a bit bothered by the reporter who can take a video of it, but not alert a crew member. Wonder what would have happened if he had that video, then someone fell out the door at speed. Given the screweyness of the US judicial system, wonder if he would have any kind of accountability?

[Busjack]

...

I am a bit bothered by the reporter who can take a video of it, but not alert a crew member. Wonder what would have happened if he had that video, then someone fell out the door at speed. Given the screweyness of the US judicial system, wonder if he would have any kind of accountability?

Quick answer is no, because he is not Metra or BNSF or an employee or agent thereof. Those are the only ones who owe a duty to the passengers.

The only question is whether you would see the person flying out of the car on the News at 9, or the video would be deemed unsuitable by the bankers who own WGN.

But I'm not sure about your assumption that other passengers would ride in the vestibule if there was some standing or sitting room in the train compartments.

[Railwaymodeler]

Not even ride in the vestibule: Even crossing between car halves and slipping (Easy to do this time of year), could end one up through the door.

I've seen before, coming into the Waukegan yard, the crew put a yellow barricade up and open the door manually for a switching move. Don't remember the car series, though.

As a souvenir from a cab ride in a F40PHM-2 "Winnebago", I do have the door key to a Metra car. Is on my keychain, along with a key that opens a crew locker, though even an inkpen can do that. Does make my keys easier to find should I forget where I placed them. Neither key is anything special, really.

[Guest ctafan630]

I just did some quick math. Google tells me the distance from Chicago to Aurora is 42 miles. Not clear from what part of Chicago, but lets go with 42 miles. Assume each car on a train makes, averaged out, two round trips per day. 168 miles per day. Ignoring yard moves, of course.

According to Metra, the distance from CUS to ATC is 37.5 miles