About 1:10 a.m., e.d.t., on August 25, 1983, northbound National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) train No. 88, the Silver Meteor, struck an S. L. Balogh Trucking Company, Inc., tractor-lowboy semitrailer combination truck that had become lodged on a grade crossing of the single main track of the Seaboard System Railroad in Rowland, North Carolina. The 2 locomotive units and 2 cars of the 18-car consist of the train were derailed. The truck was damaged substantially and its cargo destroyed. Two of the 363 passengers on the train were treated at the scene and 15 were taken to local hospitals; 1 passenger was admitted, and the others were treated and released. Six of the 22 train attendants also were treated and released. Amtrak reports that since the accident an additional six passengers have claimed injury. The truckdriver was not injured. There was no fire. Property damage was estimated to be about $623,399. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the deliberate deviation of the truckdriver from the route prescribed on a permit for the movement of the oversized vehicle and an ensuing detour onto a railroad/highway grade crossing that would not accommodate the low ground clearance of the vehicle.
Railroad/Highway Accident Report - Collision of Amtrak Train No. 88 with Tractor Lowboy Semitrailer Combination Truck, Rowland, North Carolina, August 25, 1983
1984
38 pages
Report
No indication
English
Transportation Safety , Railroad Transportation , Road Transportation , Railroads , Motor vehicle accidents , Accident investigations , Collisions , Truck tractors , Semitrailers , Locomotives , Injuries , North Carolina , Railroad accidents , Railroad derailments , Amtrak system , Rowland(North Carolina) , Railroad grade crossings , Human factors