Jun 2, 2008 8:35 am US/Eastern
Investigators Re-Enact Newton Train Crash
NEWTON (AP) ―
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An investigator takes pictures from the driver's cab during Sunday's crash re-enactment.
WBZ
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Federal investigators on Sunday re-enacted a fatal commuter train ride outside Boston in an effort to determine whether the operator who died in the crash could have stopped before crashing into another trolley.
Investigators conducted the "sight distance" reconstruction test at around 6 p.m. to match light and visibility conditions that existed at the time of Wednesday's crash, said Peter Knudson of the National Transportation Safety Board. The accident trapped and killed trolley operator Terrese Edmonds and injured about a dozen passengers.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday that a red signal required Edmonds to stop for 60 seconds at the Waban station before proceeding at no more than 10 mph.
Edmonds' trolley, however, was going 37 to 38 mph when it struck the other train, Kitty Higgins said.
On Sunday, investigators put a trolley on the tracks where the impact occurred before they traveled up the railway line in a separate train until they marked the point at which Edmonds saw the second car for the first time, Knudson said.
Investigators then ran tests to measure the braking distance from that point as the striking trolley run at the maximum authorized speed of 10 mph, Knudson said.
They again run the trolley at 37 to 38 mph to see "what the braking distance would have been from the point of first visual recognition of the other car," Knudson said.
"It's extremely thorough and it's very technical and it's long," and a report from Sunday's work may be released in 12 to 18 months, he said.
Track and brake problems have previously been ruled out as the cause of the crash and investigators also are looking into reports that Edmonds was using a cell phone.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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