I'm going to have to look up the correct date of this wreck one of these days. I really have no idea what it is, other than that it was early 1993, as confirmed by the just-blooming trees in the background. I took this shot during the aftermath and cleanup of a major wreck in Utica, NY involving a loaded stack train headed by G.E. Dash 8s. The Dash 8s are gone by this point, with the smashed well cars and containers bulldozed to the side, and one track has been reopened, letting these GP40-2s through, rare even by 1993 standards. The wreck, according to the news reports, was deliberately caused by a group of teenagers, who were subsequently arrested for the crime, but the results of the case were kept secret because of their ages. One person, perhaps not the smartest person in the world, blamed it on the railroad, saying something along the lines of "I don't know why they put the railroad so close to the housing development." The housing development where the teenagers came from dated to the 1960s, the railroad to the 1830s.
Date: 4/1/1993 Location: Utica, NY   Map Show Utica on a rail map Views: 1278 Collection Of:   Jon Searles
Locomotives: CR 3305(GP40-2) CR 3375(GP40-2)    Author:  Jon Searles
Picture Categories: This picture is part of album:  Jon's U.S. Rail Photos
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User Comments
Name Type Comments Date
C.S. Jackson General You Got some idiots who'll do anything stupid concerning to a railroad these days. 5/30/2007 5:01:06 PM
Jon Searles General Agreed, although note that this photo is quite old at this point, even if I've lost the exact record of the date. 6/5/2007 5:29:26 AM
C.S. Jackson General You know what's really moronic? It's when the "City Of New Orleans" ran into that truck in Bourbonnais, Illinois on March of 1999. that killed 11 people two from Horn Lake, Miss. I thik it's worse than what you got up there. BTW. I tried getting some pictures I had on Flickr uploaded on this website. But I got rejected more than three times. Maybe, I'll find whatever new and try it again. maybe it'll come through next time. 6/8/2007 11:03:30 PM
Jon Searles General Hmm... I'm not sure if I remember that one, but obviously crossing accidents usually involve breathtaking stupidity of some kind. Thanks for your comments! :-) 6/11/2007 4:26:07 PM
Ron Moraca General Jon, I hope those d*mned kids' parents had to fork over some dough over this! 25 years later, I wonder of those dumb little s**ts are now dumb big s**ts? Probably so! 5/8/2008 9:39:00 PM
Fred Stuckmann General The media plays to the stupidity as well. It's always the train that "slams" into the vehicle, never the person ran the lights or around the gates. Can't tell you how many times my heart was in my throat as I watched people disregard all kinds of crossing protection as we approached. 6/10/2009 10:11:22 PM
thomas militello General the housing project has since been leveled. 4/30/2011 8:44:23 PM

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