Amtrak Train Derailed onto I-5 Betweeen Seattle and Olympia

[Zembecowicz]

An Amtrak train has derailed on an overpass that crosses Interstate 5 between Olympia and Seattle. Multiple fatalities and even more injuries have been reported:
http://katu.com/news/local/derailed-tra ... -of-tacoma.

While I was checking up on friends and family who live in that area I learned that the injured are being taken to the hospital on Joint Base Lewis McChord.

[majorhavoc]

Saw that in the news and it looks fairly horrific. Apparently it was the inaugural run of the new high speed rail link between Seattle and Portland. Most of the passengers were Amtrak officials, dignitaries and rail buffs. Just a sad situation.

[Halfapint]

Being from the area this is a clustereff.... They expect I5 (the ONLY freeway north/south in this area), 6 dead currently 100 or so injured. This is in the middle of no where, there aren't any other roads to reroute people through. This is a new track and a new train for Amtrak (trail maintained by sound transit).

This is actually the major route for us to one of the bugout properties. If this is the case there is a side road to take but its 2 lane and is currently has a 7-10 mile backup because of all the traffic.

From the latest press conference the train was doing 81.1mph through a 30mph area, the train had done the same turn last week doing 77 unloaded.

[Halfapint]

Don't get to say this often in tragities, but the number of dead has gone down. 3 confirmed dead.

[Asymetryczna]

Glad fatality number has gone down. Radio report this morning said, "80+ mph in a 30 mph curve."
Speed: nearly always a hazard with men and moving machines.
The only thing missing from the last train crash I remember being reported is "operator was texting as train arrived at curve." (See: Chatsworth, 2008.)

[raptor]

Talk about a bad place to derail. It shuts down both the track and the Interstate. Obviously it is a key choke point at this area to take into consideration if that is a route to a BOL.

That said it is both unusual and good news when the death count declines.

[Halfapint]

Glad fatality number has gone down. Radio report this morning said, "80+ mph in a 30 mph curve."
Speed: nearly always a hazard with men and moving machines.
The only thing missing from the last train crash I remember being reported is "operator was texting as train arrived at curve." (See: Chatsworth, 2008.)

Yeah, not sure what happened, but the press conference last night they said it was doing 81.1 in a 30, initial reports were that it was a 79mph turn.

Talk about a bad place to derail. It shuts down both the track and the Interstate. Obviously it is a key choke point at this area to take into consideration if that is a route to a BOL.

That said it is both unusual and good news when the death count declines.

There are other routes to get to the BOL, one that skirts the road. The other is about A 70+ mile detour but there are ways around. If I were in the truck there's actually a service road that could be taken. its an old rail line that runs right to the property, that can be accessed from one of the bypass ways. The issue is that these bypass ways are now the detour route.

Haven't seen the news this morning but I5 is expected to be closed the next 3 days minimum. Which is going to effect a lot of economic traffic. One airline has dropped prices from Seattle to Portland because of this.

[Old_Man]

Being from the area this is a clustereff.... They expect I5 (the ONLY freeway north/south in this area), 6 dead currently 100 or so injured. This is in the middle of no where, there aren't any other roads to reroute people through. This is a new track and a new train for Amtrak (trail maintained by sound transit).

This is actually the major route for us to one of the bugout properties. If this is the case there is a side road to take but its 2 lane and is currently has a 7-10 mile backup because of all the traffic.

From the latest press conference the train was doing 81.1mph through a 30mph area, the train had done the same turn last week doing 77 unloaded.

The positive from this... gives you an idea of potential problem reaching your B.O.L.. I tell people for BOL during hurricanes, if it takes you more than 4-6 hrs in regular traffic, you aren’t going to make it on a tank of gas during a disaster. When Irma hit this year, what took 4hrs to get to normally, took +20hrs., (that was 2 days before the storm hit). Now imagine no notice of a impending disaster.

[Langenator]

Being from the area this is a clustereff.... They expect I5 (the ONLY freeway north/south in this area), 6 dead currently 100 or so injured. This is in the middle of no where, there aren't any other roads to reroute people through. This is a new track and a new train for Amtrak (trail maintained by sound transit).

This is actually the major route for us to one of the bugout properties. If this is the case there is a side road to take but its 2 lane and is currently has a 7-10 mile backup because of all the traffic.

From the latest press conference the train was doing 81.1mph through a 30mph area, the train had done the same turn last week doing 77 unloaded.

The positive from this... gives you an idea of potential problem reaching your B.O.L.. I tell people for BOL during hurricanes, if it takes you more than 4-6 hrs in regular traffic, you aren’t going to make it on a tank of gas during a disaster. When Irma hit this year, what took 4hrs to get to normally, took +20hrs., (that was 2 days before the storm hit). Now imagine no notice of a impending disaster.

In the Puget Sound region specifically, the 2 most likely major disasters are a Cascadia earthquake (no notice) or a Mt Rainier eruption (which will likely have warning that it's on it's way, but not exactly when). Both would also disrupt North-South travel in the region.

In the case of a Cascadia quake, depending on the damage in Portland, bypassing the damage might require going inland as far as Salt Lake City, then taking I-80 to Sacramento.

Mt Rainier's damage would be much more localized - limited to bridges over the Puyallup and Carbon rivers, although the effects of the ash cloud would make travel in the areas east(ish) of the mountain extremely difficult for quite some time. See photos of the aftermath of Mt St Helens ereuption on eastern WA and OR for illustration. And keep some nylons on hand to use on your vehicle's air filter.

[Halfapint]

The BOL down south there is the last resort kind. Luckily it's not one I ever plan on having to go to. But indeed, that is exactly what a lot of us here said. It's usually a 1.5 hit drive from my place to the BOL, it would have taken nearly 8 hours.

The problem with a major cascadia type earthquake event. Nothing here would be standing. Buildings probably would be mostly ok, but bridges, roads, rails, everything would be absolutely devistated. Hopefully I'll be on my property when it happens.