ATTORNEYS
SAY TRANSCRIPT PROVES DISPATCHER MISTAKE
(As reported in Daily Herald)
February 8, 2001
Below
is an edited transcript of the dispatcher's communications.
Attorneys for the victims in the Jan. 9 train crash say
it shows the maintenance crew told the dispatcher that broken
gates at Schmale and Wolf roads were fixed. But later, the
dispatcher told the train crew the gate at Army Trail also
was fixed. That proved to be a tragic mistake:
Ken
Roberts (maintenance crew): Okay, you can lift your (stop
and protect order) at Schmale Road and Wolf Road.
Bob
Haas (dispatcher): OK, Schmale and Wolf, very good. Thank
you.
•
• • •
Haas:
Dispatch to IC 1006 West.
Unknown:
1006.
Haas:
Has the relief crew showed up yet?
Unknown:
No, not yet, Bob.
Haas:
Okay, Schmale Road and Wolf Road crossing protection both
been repaired. Have the crew call me when they get in.
•
• • •
Haas:
CNIC Dispatch, over.
Train
crew: Yeah, Bob, IC 1006 West, ready to depart here ...
Any change on our "stop and protect" at (mile
post) 29.7 (Army Trail)?
Haas:
Yeah, it's been repaired.
Train
crew: Been repaired. All right.
•
• • •
John
Snapp (train conductor): Dispatch on the (inaudible) radio,
over.
Haas:
Dispatcher, 1006 over.
Snapp:
Yeah, we hit an automobile at 29.7 (Army Trail).
Haas:
OK, you hit an auto, OK. You gonna need an ambulance?
Snapp:
Yeah.
Haas:
Do you know if the crossing protection was working? John,
do you know if the cross protection was working?.
Snapp:
I could not tell.
•
• • •
Unknown:
Have you heard how long they're gonna hold them at...
Haas:
No, I haven't got any more than that.
Unknown:
You don't know if anybody died or anything like that?
Haas:
No fatalities, three people in the car.
Unknown:
OK.
Haas:
I can give you what I know. I mean I have information.
Unknown:
OK.
Haas:
The speed of the train was 50 miles an hour. The car was
going south. The crew didn't notice if the crossing protection
was working or not. That seems sort of weird.
Unknown:
Right.
Haas:
But the weather was clear.
Unknown:
OK. But nobody died then?
Haas:
No, not to my knowledge at this time. Apparently there were
some injuries, but apparently it's not an ugly mess.
•
• • •
Haas:
... we're having so much fun out here I can't stand it.
I have a little incident on my hands here; I had my hands
full.
Unknown:
OK, I'm sorry about that.
Haas:
You know I thought about it. I go "yeah, I sent him
something." Then I got busy with that incident, you
know.
Unknown:
Yeah.
Haas:
And I got to looking up, and I don't see my piece of paper
telling me what I did, and I guess I screwed up.
