16 Dead: Chase Maryland Amtrak Tragedy Links
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_Maryland_train_collision - "The Conrail locomotive crew failed to stop at the signals before Gunpowder Interlocking, and it was determined that the accident would have been avoided had they done so. Additionally, they tested positive for marijuana."
"At the time, the wreck was the deadliest in Amtrak's history."
"Gates was later determined to have violated several signal and operating rules, including a failure to properly test his cab signals as required before departure from Bayview. It was later discovered that someone had disabled the cab signal alerter whistle on lead unit #5044 with duct tape, muting it almost completely. Also, one of the light bulbs in the PRR-style cab signal display had been removed. Investigators believed these conditions probably existed prior to departure from Bayview and that they would have been revealed by a properly performed departure test."
"Gates and his brakeman, Edward "Butch" Cromwell, were also smoking a marijuana cigarette. Cromwell was responsible for calling out the signals if Gates missed them, but failed to do so."
http://abcnews.go.com/Archives/video/jan-1987-amtrak-train-collision-12499930 - ABC News Video
http://www.gmu.edu/resources/facstaff/facultyfacts/1-2/grass.html – George Mason University / Marijuana Fact sheet - "Marijuana can alter one's sense of time and impair the ability to perform tasks that require concentration ... Experiments have shown that marijuana affects a wide range of skills needed for safe driving."
http://www.gmu.edu/resources/facstaff/facultyfacts/1-2/grass.html
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1993-06-16/news/1993167057_1_marijuana-legalization-dangers-of-marijuana-alcohol-and-marijuana
Baltimore Sun: Rickey Gates: 6 Years Sober - Mr. Gates, 38, has tried to avoid publicity since the accident. He offered to be interviewed only to defend Michael S. Gimbel, Baltimore County's substance-abuse director.
Mr. Gimbel came under fire in The Sun's letters-to-the-editor columns after he cited the Chase train wreck as an example of the dangers of marijuana use.
The letter-writers -- at least one of them an advocate of marijuana legalization -- sought to downplay the role of marijuana in the crash. But Mr. Gates says they're wrong.
"If the joint hadn't been there, I wouldn't have been so inattentive," he said. "I feel it was pretty much exclusively the marijuana -- the marijuana and the disease of addiction."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgDYejgVkEk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6L4wqWavuI&t=16s
http://www.emsworld.com/news/10409828/responders-residents-recall-deadly-maryland-train-crash
http://jegallag.zenfolio.com/misc-harford-county-fires-2/h1ED4B72A#h170fdaf1
http://essex.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/chase-amtrak-crash-25-years-later
http://nrhs1.org/images/Dispatcher_Jan_10.pdf
http://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/05/us/amtrak-wreck-kills-12-scores-injured.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,1313400
http://articles.latimes.com/1987-01-05/news/mn-2335_1_amtrak-train
http://articles.latimes.com/1988-07-16/news/mn-6057_1_17-year-history
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1987-01-06/news/8701020221_1_amtrak-train-conrail-train-event-recorders
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,843938
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6L4wqWavuI - Video / ABC News Magasine 20 / 20, Hugh Downs / interview / at around the 11:30 mark, engineer Rickey Gates said that at the time, he felt that marijuana made him a better train operator.
http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/RAR8801.aspx NTSB Accident Report. "The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the failure, as a result of impairment from marijuana, of the engineer of Conrail train ENS-121 to stop his train in compliance with home signal 1N before it fouled track 2 at Gunpow ..."
"At the time, the wreck was the deadliest in Amtrak's history."
"Gates was later determined to have violated several signal and operating rules, including a failure to properly test his cab signals as required before departure from Bayview. It was later discovered that someone had disabled the cab signal alerter whistle on lead unit #5044 with duct tape, muting it almost completely. Also, one of the light bulbs in the PRR-style cab signal display had been removed. Investigators believed these conditions probably existed prior to departure from Bayview and that they would have been revealed by a properly performed departure test."
"Gates and his brakeman, Edward "Butch" Cromwell, were also smoking a marijuana cigarette. Cromwell was responsible for calling out the signals if Gates missed them, but failed to do so."
http://abcnews.go.com/Archives/video/jan-1987-amtrak-train-collision-12499930 - ABC News Video
http://www.gmu.edu/resources/facstaff/facultyfacts/1-2/grass.html – George Mason University / Marijuana Fact sheet - "Marijuana can alter one's sense of time and impair the ability to perform tasks that require concentration ... Experiments have shown that marijuana affects a wide range of skills needed for safe driving."
http://www.gmu.edu/resources/facstaff/facultyfacts/1-2/grass.html
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1993-06-16/news/1993167057_1_marijuana-legalization-dangers-of-marijuana-alcohol-and-marijuana
Baltimore Sun: Rickey Gates: 6 Years Sober - Mr. Gates, 38, has tried to avoid publicity since the accident. He offered to be interviewed only to defend Michael S. Gimbel, Baltimore County's substance-abuse director.
Mr. Gimbel came under fire in The Sun's letters-to-the-editor columns after he cited the Chase train wreck as an example of the dangers of marijuana use.
The letter-writers -- at least one of them an advocate of marijuana legalization -- sought to downplay the role of marijuana in the crash. But Mr. Gates says they're wrong.
"If the joint hadn't been there, I wouldn't have been so inattentive," he said. "I feel it was pretty much exclusively the marijuana -- the marijuana and the disease of addiction."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgDYejgVkEk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6L4wqWavuI&t=16s
http://www.emsworld.com/news/10409828/responders-residents-recall-deadly-maryland-train-crash
http://jegallag.zenfolio.com/misc-harford-county-fires-2/h1ED4B72A#h170fdaf1
http://essex.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/chase-amtrak-crash-25-years-later
http://nrhs1.org/images/Dispatcher_Jan_10.pdf
http://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/05/us/amtrak-wreck-kills-12-scores-injured.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,1313400
http://articles.latimes.com/1987-01-05/news/mn-2335_1_amtrak-train
http://articles.latimes.com/1988-07-16/news/mn-6057_1_17-year-history
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1987-01-06/news/8701020221_1_amtrak-train-conrail-train-event-recorders
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,843938
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6L4wqWavuI - Video / ABC News Magasine 20 / 20, Hugh Downs / interview / at around the 11:30 mark, engineer Rickey Gates said that at the time, he felt that marijuana made him a better train operator.
http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/RAR8801.aspx NTSB Accident Report. "The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the failure, as a result of impairment from marijuana, of the engineer of Conrail train ENS-121 to stop his train in compliance with home signal 1N before it fouled track 2 at Gunpow ..."