Re: (erielack) CX-99 VS. X-51 Wreck

["JKUmb_@_aol.com"]

Todd-
	Dan Biernacki (ELHS steam advisor and former EL dispatcher) was on 
duty at a different desk when this wreck occured.  He  went up to the scene 
after he got off duty, and shot an entire roll of black and white film of the 
wreck, starting at the south end of the wreck and moving north.  As I recall, 
dan told me it was a VERY foggy pre-dawn.  The passenger extra was 
deadheading from Suffern to Monroe (it's starting point), and missed the 
signal at NJ in the fog.  He ran through the signal and realized that he was 
heading up the Graham Line instead of the Main.  The dispatcher on duty saw 
the track indicator light on his board come on showing that the extra had 
passed the signal instead of stopping as he was supposed to, and reached for 
the radio to warn CX-99, for whom the route was lined. At about that time, 
the board went dead, indicating that it was too late to call CX-99!  
	As it turned out, the crews were lucky that day.  I think that the 
extra's engineer bailed out when he saw 99's headlight through the fog, and 
99's crew hit the floor - fortunately, because the lead car of the extra 
obliterated the cab of the lead unit down to the battery boxes, bounced in 
the air and landed squarely on the cab of the trailing unit, which was back 
to back with the lead unit (they were U33 or 36C's as I recall. The crew from 
99 had only minor injuries, I believe......although I'm sure they found God 
if they weren't already religious.  It might have been much worse if the 
extra had had the engine on the north (west) end of the train!
	I never heard that the trainset had been "pirated" from NJT - I know 
there was some controversy over the use of NJDOT units in NY State, but I 
thought it was settled when NYDOT bought a trainset (with a U34 built from a 
C&NW U30C) and allowed it to be used in NJT service.  That might have been 
AFTER the wreck, though. 
	Hope this answers some of your questions.
	Jon Umbdenstock ELHS#434 

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