NTSB: Event recorder not functioning

An Oct. 3 National Transportation Safety Board update on the Sept. 29 crash of NJ Transit Pascack Valley Line train #1614 into the platform of the Hoboken Terminal has revealed that the event recorder in the train's locomotive, which was in push mode (at the rear of the consist) was not functioning at the time of the wreck.

NTSB reported the following, without providing much detail:

“The first recorder removed for inspection from the locomotive was not working.”

“Investigators interviewed the accident train engineer. The engineer believes the train was operating normally until the crash, and does not remember the crash itself.”

“Environmental and structural issues still prevent removal of the train from the station. Extensive debris removal must be completed before investigators can access the train and then have the train removed.”

“With the assistance of NJ Transit, investigators obtained video from other trains that were at the Hoboken Terminal, to see what those cameras captured from the accident event. The event recorder and camera from the controlling cab of the accident train remain inaccessible to investigators.”

“There were no signal anomalies found on the tracks leading to the terminal. A full signal study cannot yet be completed because the accident train remains in the terminal.”

“Investigators completed the walking inspection of the track and found nothing that would have affected the performance of the train.”

The locomotive powering NJT train no. 1614 was GP40PH no. 4214, among the agency’s oldest diesel-electrics. These units trace their heritage to the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey, which purchased them new from the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in 1969. NJT rebuilt its GP40PH fleet between 1991 and 1994. 4214’s event recorder was manufactured by Quantum Engineering of Orange Park, Fla., in 1995. Invensys Rail (now part of Siemens Rail Automation) acquired Quantum Engineering in 2008.