Engineer may have fallen asleep before Metro-North train crash

The Huffington Post is reporting that investigators believe the cause of the Metro-North train crash was caused by the engineer briefly dozing off while in charge of the train:

Veteran engineer William Rockefeller all but admitted he was falling asleep as the train came roaring to a curved section of track north of Spuyten Duyvil in statements made shortly after four people were killed and dozens were injured in the wreck, sources said.

He apparently woke up just as the train, travelling at 82 MPH, was heading into a precarious curve that called for the train's speed to be reduced to just 30 MPH.

As the train entered the curve, sources said, Rockefeller was jolted from his sleep and hit the brake, but not in time. The cars derailed, and several careened onto their sides before grinding to a halt on the edge of the Harlem River. Four people were killed, three of whom were thrown out of the cars, and more than 60 others were injured.

Rockefeller, 46, has been an engineer for roughly 11 years and a Metro-North employee for 20 years, and has an unblemished record.

NYC: Metro-North train derails near Bronx, 4 dead

A Metro-North train headed for Grand Central Station derailed this morning killing 4 and injuring over 60 passengers.

The derailment of the southbound Hudson Line train was reported at about 7:20 a.m., authorities said. The train left Poughkeepsie at 5:54 a.m. and was due to arrive at 7:43 a.m. at Grand Central Terminal.

Four or five cars on the seven-car train derailed about 100 yards north of the station, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said in a news release. But none of the cars entered the Hudson or Harlem rivers, which are adjacent, the MTA said.

The train appeared to be going "a lot faster" than usual as it approached the curve coming into the station, passenger Frank Tatulli told WABC-TV.

I love me some TRAIN

Pop/rock band Train (big hit "Hey, Soul Sister" among many others) has decided to 'wait and see' if they will still participate in the Boy Scouts Jamboree this summer due to the ongoing discrimination against gays in scouting.  From the Train website:


"When we booked this show for the Boy Scouts of America we were not aware of any policy barring openly gay people from participation within the organization. Train strongly opposes any kind of policy that questions the equality of any American citizen. We have always seen the BSA as a great and noble organization. We look forward to participating in the Jamboree this summer, as long as they make the right decision before then."

Let's hear it for TRAIN! Let's hear it for the good guys!

And while we're 'hearing,' let's take a listen to their recent hit "Bruises."