NJ-ARP at the scene in Little Falls Jan. 30th truck/train collision:
NJ-ARP Director Phil Craig, after learning of the January 30th collision between New Jersey Transit's Montclair-Boonton Line train no. 1006 and a 53 foot-long tractor-trailer rig at the Main Street grade crossing in Little Falls (Passaic County) drove from his home in Montclair to the scene of the accident, a short distance east of the intersection in Singac of Main Street and NJ Route 23/:Pompton Turnpike. The accident occurred at approximately 8:15 AM when the truck driver, traveling eastbound on Main Street, failed to make a tight left hand turn into Fairfield Avenue and then backed his rig onto the railroad track as the crossing gates were coming down.
Train no. 1006. consisting of five Comet coaches and a diesel-electric locomotive, was being operated in push mode, i.e. with a cab car at the front and the locomotive on its western end. Seventy-one passengers and NJT employees were reported to be on the train at the time the collision occurred. A 61 year-old school crossing attendant who was attempting to help the truck driver maneuver his rig was injured by flying debris. The locomotive engineer suffered head injuries and was covered with paint during the impact. Those individuals, along with seven passengers also were injured, were taken to hospitals in Paterson and Passaic. As of the morning of January 31st, only the school crossing guard remained hospitalized.
By the time Phil got to the grade crossing, the train that struck the trailer filled with 500 containers five-gallon containers of yellow and white stucco paint had been moved to the Meadowlands Maintenance Center. Needless to say, there was paint all over the place. A salvage crew was addressing the trailer truck,
the rear of which had been ripped to pieces by the impact. Two very large fork lift trucks went to work lifting the front of it off the rear of the tractor, which was then moved forward by a heavy duty tow truck. Then they mashed the trailer flat into a massive piece of twisted metal. This literally took a couple of hours, after which it was lifted onto a flat bed trailer, chained down and driven away about 4:00 PM. About 20 minutes later, the tow truck departed with the tractor heading east towards the Little Falls business district.
The trailer's assembly containing its two rear axles had been detached from the body by the impact and pushed a hundred yards east of the crossing, landing on the north side of the track, which did not appear to have sustained any damage (other than being covered in yellow paint, which would have to cleaned off to ensure the functionality of the grade crossing safety equipment). A NJ Transit employee wearing fluorescent green safety coveralls told Phil that they had to make sure that there was no other debris on the track, clean the rails, check that the gauge had not been compromised, and begin the process to replace the missing set of flashers, warning bells and crossbuck that had been taken out by the debris at one corner of the crossing.
While Phil was there, the grade crossing protection equipment was activated west of the crossing (red lights flashing, bells ringing, gates coming down) by shunting between the two rails, demonstrating that the equipment was functional as train no. 1006 (which originates at Lake Hopatcong at 7:23 AM and was due to depart from Little Falls at 8:11 AM) approached the crossing. This clearly contradicted a statement of the 23 year-old truck driver that there was no warning that a train was approaching and that the gates did not come down. Maybe the injured 61 year-old school guard will have a different story to tell when the police interview her.
One of Public Service Electric and Gas Company wooden poles, about 60 feet tall carrying high voltage lines, had been split in two about 30 feet above the ground, the top of which was being held by a very tall crane. The electricity had been turned off, depriving the neighborhood of power. PSE&G crew was standing by with a replacement tall pole ready for installation and transferring the lines from the top to the old split pole to the new one.
A supervisor of the utility told Phil that it would probably take six hours for them to do their work, once the site was cleared of the tractor-trailer and the paint containers, many of which littered the site were removed. The supervisor said that he was going to call in flood lights so that his crew could work in the darkness, pointing out that the residents and businesses in the area need electricity back as soon as possible, both for light and heat. A little after 4:00 PM, as soon as the remains of the trailer had been trucked away, the PSE&G crew went to work, starting with digging a new post hole.
And, of course, there were police, fire and emergency medical service personnel present in legions: NJ State Police, NJ Transit Police, Passaic County Sheriff, Little Falls Police, NJ Department of Transportation personnel, Department of Environment Protection Hazardous Materials (Haz-Mat) personnel in orange uniforms wearing face masks, a Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) representative, an emergency response truck from Teaneck (Bergen County!), were performing their functions- all told, an impressive response.
As Phil left the site about 4:30 PM, he could not help but think how fortunate it was that the tractor-trailer combination had paint as its cargo, not gasoline or another volatile fluid. What he saw in Little Falls reinforced his conclusion that there are not unsafe railroad grade crossings but unsafe motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians who do not use common sense when crossing tracks and put themselves and many others at mortal risk.
Meanwhile, New Jersey Transit had made preparations to deal with the westbound evening rush hour. Montclair-Boonton Line trains originating in Hoboken for Dover, Lake Hopatcong, Mount Olive and Hackettstown were re-routed via the Morris & Essex Line. Passengers destined for points between Montclair State University (MSU) and Denville were advised to transfer at Newark Broad Street to Midtown Direct trains coming from New York's Penn Station and ride to MSU, where a bus bridge to the Wayne/Route 23 station had been set up.
A shuttle train was operated between Wayne/Route 23 and Denville making all intermediate station stops, providing a way for passengers to return to the stations where they had originated their eastbound trips that morning. On his was home, Phil drove past the MSU station at approximately 4:40 PM and observed at least ten NJT buses waiting for passengers as Midtown Direct train no. 6253, the 3:47 PM departure from New York, arrived.
As of this morning, Thursday, January 31st, Montclair-Boonton Line trains were back running on the temporary Post-Hurricane Sandy schedules, including diesel-propelled trains originating at Denville and points west. Clearly, New Jersey Transit had risen to the occasion.
