Chris Mathews wants to ban train track turns

"How do you get rid of the turns?"

"Amtrak engineer’s online rants"

"The Amtrak engineer at the controls during Tuesday’s deadly Philadelphia derailment — whose train inexplicably sped up to 106 mph going into a sharp curve — had been ranting online for years about the perils of ­fatigued train ­operators."

“Everyone wants an extension to hours of service to avoid inconvenience, but what will you say when the crew that’s been on duty for long­er than 12 hours accidentally falls asleep and passes a stop signal and rear-ends a loaded hazmat train, killing dozens or hundreds of people?” wrote an online train forum member who identified himself as Brandon Bostian in some posts. (read more)

Elsewhere in related news. The safety controls that could have prevented the train wreck where installed, but the bureaucracy had not turned it on yet. From the NYT...

The Amtrak train that derailed in Philadelphia on Tuesday night was equipped with an automatic speed control system that officials say could have prevented the wreck, which killed eight passengers and injured hundreds. (read more)

Trainwreck

On board Amtrak train from DC bound to Philadelphia , pretty empty . pic.twitter.com/iCGvNLVi9M

— Tarik Warner (@tarikwarner) May 13, 2015

Train carrying Boeing fuselages derailed in Montana

Six photos at krem.com

King5.com

Nineteen cars westbound derailed near Superior Montana. Ended up in Clark Fork River. Nobody was hurt. Story posted yesterday, tracks expected to be reopened almost immediately, today, in fact.