Chester, Pennsylvania
April 3, 2016
DCA16FR007
This video comes from the forward/outward-facing on-board image recorder of the accident train, Amtrak #627. The train was equipped with Wabtec image and event data recorders. Parametric data from the event data recorder of the accident train was extracted, and video time was established by correlating to common events on the locomotive’s event data recorder. The video shows the track and surroundings in front of the locomotive. The time to collision is shown to the nearest tenth of a second in the lower left, and the train speed in miles per hour (mph) is shown in the lower right.
The video begins with the accident train entering a right-hand curve as it passes Flower Street undergrade, MP 14.8, traveling southbound on main track 3 at speed of 107 mph. The time to collision is indicated as 27.9 seconds.
The video runs continuously in real time up to the point when the train is 1.7 seconds from the collision. The speed of the train is indicated to be 99 mph. A yellow Loram Vacuum Train is visible on the adjacent main track 2, and equipment obstructing main track 3 is apparent ahead of the train. The video does not include any of the images that were recorded after this time.
The video doesn’t include any audio.
