(The following article by Samuel Bruchey was posted on the Newsday website on March 24.)
PUEBLO, Colo. — On a frozen Colorado desert, two old Long Island Rail Road cars paid the ultimate price for safety yesterday.
Just after 1 p.m. Eastern time, the decommissioned LIRR cars led a five-car passenger train that rumbled down a track at 31 mph and deliberately rammed into a waiting, stationary locomotive. The thundering crash echoed across the landscape — but left little visible damage.
Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta was pleased with the test of new safety equipment. “I think all the preparation and cost we put into this experiment has been very beneficial,” said Mineta, who watched the crash at the Federal Railroad Administration test facility here.
The safety improvements, which include special bumpers and couplers, could become federally mandated on all passenger trains, including the LIRR’s.
At the moment of impact yesterday, a small cloud of metal dust billowed. The locomotive, connected to two weighted freight cars, was pushed backward several hundred yards. But the passenger cars, outfitted with metal bumpers called “crushed zones,” absorbed the impact and did not collapse.
“It worked flawlessly,” said Jo Strang, a Federal Railroad Administration engineer.
Sliding bars affixed to the bottom of the cars, called “couplers,” also reduced damage, Strang said. In a similar test in 2002, without the equipment, the lead car crumpled 22 feet, destroying 10 rows of seats.
The only noticeable damage yesterday was ripples in the metal along the side of one car, a strip of paneling sheared off and the crush zones, which had compressed about 18 feet, said Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Boardman.
“They spread the impact throughout the train,” said Boardman, referring to the crush zones.
Not everything went as planned. Protruding metal forks did not hold the cars together as hoped. But the cars did remain on the track and did not override, buckle or jut to the side.
Over the next few weeks, engineers will inspect damage to 10 dummies placed inside the train. The dummies were placed on seats with higher headrests, stiffer foam and stronger frames, Boardman said. They also were wired with 425 sensors to measure potential injuries to a person’s abdomen, head or neck.