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The LIRR Train Crew Assigned To Reposition Equipment Reported To Work At Penn Station New York

The crew consisted of an apprentice engineer, an engineer, a conductor, and an assistant conductor/brakeman. The apprentice engineer operated the train the entire day under the engineer’s supervision. All crewmembers told investigators that they were well rested for the day’s assignments.
The crew completed its first assignment of the day without event. The crew’s second assignment was to go to the Morris Park, New York, engine house and take LIRR 508, an out-of-revenue-service locomotive, to the NYAR yard in Fresh Pond. LIRR 508 was to be interchanged to the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) for shipment to Altoona, Pennsylvania, for warranty/maintenance work.

The crew arrived at Morris Park at 10:30 a.m. LIRR 508 was to be moved “dead in tow” (unpowered) in the middle of a group of three locomotives. Locomotives LIRR 160 and LIRR 164 were to be the lead and trailing locomotives of the three-locomotive train, depending on the train’s direction of movement. Because LIRR 508 was a different type of locomotive, (5) the usual electrical cable connections between the locomotives could not be made. Therefore, whenever a movement took place, only the lead locomotive provided tractive power as the controlling locomotive. The train-line air brake and main reservoir hoses were connected between the three locomotives; the connection permitted the operation of the air brakes on all the locomotives.

LIRR Morris Park mechanical personnel coupled the three-locomotive train (LIRR 160, 508, and 164) and performed the required air tests. The mechanical personnel gave the crew a completed LIRR brake test slip that indicated that the air brakes were in working order. The crew told investigators that they also performed a brake test before leaving the engine house and a running brake test after they left the engine house. They did not note any exceptions to the air brake system operation.

At 12:00 noon, the crew moved the three-locomotive train from Morris Park to Jamaica Station, New York, with LIRR 164 as the controlling locomotive. At Jamaica, the train changed direction, and LIRR 160 became the controlling locomotive for the move to Long Island City, New York. At Long Island City, the crew changed ends again, making LIRR 164 the controlling locomotive. The crew told investigators that each time they changed ends, they tested the air brakes without noting any exceptions. The locomotive event recorder showed an air brake application each time the operating direction was changed.

Once the crew received permission from the yardmaster at Fresh Pond yard to enter the NYAR property, a NYAR pilot (6) joined the LIRR crew. The pilot instructed the crew to move onto the west leg of the wye (7) track and then proceed to the CPR interchange track, so they could put LIRR 508 on a train being prepared for movement.

To facilitate this operation, the crew had to separate LIRR 160 from the train, thus leaving LIRR 160 on the wye track. The conductor and assistant conductor stated that they closed the brake pipe angle cock (8) on LIRR 508 and left the angle cock open on LIRR 160. They stated that they did not apply the locomotive hand brake on LIRR 160. They further stated that they heard a “whoosh” of air as LIRR 164 and LIRR 508 pulled away from LIRR 160 and the air hose parted. They believed the sound indicated that the emergency brakes on LIRR 160 had applied. The assistant conductor said that he saw LIRR 160’s brake shoes against the wheels. The locomotive event recorder on LIRR 160 recorded the loss of air brake pressure when LIRR 508 separated from LIRR 160, but it did not record an emergency application of the brakes.

The crew then took LIRR 164 and LIRR 508 to the CPR interchange track, so they could couple LIRR 508 to the last car of a train that was being prepared for movement. The engineer stated that when they reached the interchange track, he got off the train and saw that LIRR 160 was not where the crew had left it.

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