1987 Maryland train collision

Gunpowder Interlocking, the location of the accident. From left to right: Tracks 3, 2, 1, and A.

The Colonial after the collision. The second car from right is a Heritage Fleet coach; the rest are Amfleets.

As Amtrak Train 94 approached the Gunpowder Interlocking near the Chase community on the electrified main line, the three Conrail freight locomotives were moving north on one of the adjacent freight tracks. Before the adjacent tracks reached the bridge at the river, they merged into the two through tracks that cross the bridge.[1]

While the tracks and interlocking plant at this location are signalized to alert locomotive engineer when the interlocking switches are set for through track train movement, the switches are not designed to de-rail a locomotive or train that runs through them when they are aligned for through track train movement.[1]

In the case of the accident, the interlocking plant was properly set for through track movement only, so as to allow the Amtrak train to pass the freight locomotives (which should have been stopped on the side tracks) on the through tracks onto and over the bridge. The freight locomotive crew ignored the stop signals in their locomotive cab (which were muted), and at trackside, visible to them from the cab of their locomotive.[1]

Speed/event recording devices indicated that the Conrail locomotives were moving at approximately 60 miles per hour (97 km/h) when their brakes were applied for an emergency stop, after they had passed the trackside signals. This was, Gates later claimed, when he realized that he did not have a wayside signal to proceed north at the interlocking. He was, however, moving too fast to stop before passing the signal indicating he should stop clear of the main track on which #94 was approaching. Had Gates reacted either to an approach signal instructing him to reduce speed, or to the stop signal itself in a timely fashion, or had the brakeman called out the state of the signals as he was supposed to do, it was likely the Conrail engines could have stopped short of the switch.[1]

The Conrail locomotives came to a stop on the track directly in front of #94, which approached the interlocking a speed between 120 and 125 mph (193 and 201 km/h). Although the maximum allowed speed for Amtrak AEM-7 locomotives carrying cars on this corridor was 125 mph,[1] #94 was carrying one Heritage style passenger car, whose maximum allowed speed was limited to 105 mph (169 km/h). The conductor for #94 testified that he did inform the fatally injured train engineer of the Heritage car on the train; in any event, its presence meant that the Amtrak train was speeding.[1] With little time to react, Amtrak engineer Evans apparently saw the diesels on the line in front of him and applied the brakes for an emergency stop. The NTSB determined that even if #94 had been travelling at 105 mph (169 km/h), the Amtrak's authorized speed limit, the collision was unavoidable at this point.[1]

On impact, the rearmost Conrail diesel, GE B36-7 #5045 exploded and burned down to the frame completely destroying the unit. The middle unit, #5052, sustained significant damage to the front while lead unit #5044 had little damage.[1]

One of Amtrak's AEM-7s, #900, was buried under the wreckage, while the lead locomotive, #903, ended up among some trees on the west side of the right of way. Several Budd Company Amfleet cars were piled up, with some crushed under the pile.[1]

Cromwell, who was on the lead locomotive with Gates, suffered a broken leg in the collision. Gates was uninjured. The Amtrak engineer, lounge car Lead Service Attendant and 14 passengers were killed.[1]

The front cars on the Amtrak #94 train suffered the greatest extent of damage and were almost completely crushed. However they were nearly empty awaiting additional holiday passengers en route who would have boarded the train at stations further north. According to the NTSB, had these cars been fully occupied at the time, the death toll would have been at least 100. There were relatively few passengers on those cars, however, and so the death toll was much less. Most of the dead were on Amtrak car #21236.[1]

With a total passenger load of about 600 people, there was a great deal of confusion after the collision. Witnesses and neighbors ran to the smoking train and helped remove injured and dazed passengers, even before the first emergency vehicles could arrive at the location.

While many of the injured passengers were aided by nearby residents, some of the uninjured passengers wandered away, making it difficult for Amtrak to know the complete story.

Emergency personnel worked for many hours in the frigid cold to extricate trapped passengers from the wreckage, impeded by the stainless-steel Amfleet cars' skin resistance to ordinary hydraulic rescue tools. Helicopters and ambulances transported injured people to hospitals and trauma centers. It was over 10 hours after the collision before the final trapped people were freed from the wreckage.[1]

It was several days before the wrecked equipment was removed and the track and electrical propulsion system were returned to service.

Conrail diesel, GE B36-7 #5045 was completely destroyed while #5044 and #5052 were repaired and returned to service. Both Amtrak's AEM-7s and a few Amfleet cars were also destroyed in the collision.[1]

The interior of Conrail GE B36-7 #5044. The bulb for the "approach" aspect of the cab signal is missing.

Amtrak AEM-7 900 undergoing trials in January 1980. Unit 900 was the prototype of this class, and was one of the Amtrak locomotives destroyed following the accident

Gates and Cromwell initially denied smoking marijuana. However, they later tested positive for the substance. A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation revealed that had Gates slowed down at the signals as required, he would have stopped in time. It also determined that Gates and Cromwell's marijuana use was the "probable cause" of the accident.[4] Gates and Cromwell were immediately suspended by Conrail pending an internal investigation, but resigned rather than face certain termination.

Gates was eventually charged with manslaughter by locomotive; under Maryland law a locomotive is considered a motor vehicle. Prosecutors cut a deal with Cromwell in which he agreed to testify against Gates in return for immunity. Gates was sentenced to five years in state prison and one year's probation, and was later sentenced to an additional three years on federal charges of lying to the NTSB. Gates' history of DWI (driving while intoxicated) convictions as well as his admission that the crew had been using marijuana while on duty led for a call to certify locomotive engineers as to their qualifications and history.[4]

Toxicology tests on the Amtrak engineer's body returned negative. In a 3-2 decision, the NTSB report stated that the speed of train #94 at the time the brakes were applied, between 120 and 125 mph (193 and 201 km/h), was an unauthorized excessive speed, since the maximum for an Amtrak train carrying Heritage cars was 105 mph (169 km/h). The excessive speed was determined to have been a contributing factor to the amount of damage to both trains at the point of impact. The two dissenters to the report believed that it was unreasonable to assign contributory blame to the Amtrak engineer based solely on the premise of the Heritage car lowering its speed limit.[1]

Gates was released from prison in 1992 after serving four years (two years of a state sentence, then two more years of a federal sentence), and then worked as an abuse counselor at a treatment center. In a 1993 interview with The Baltimore Sun, Gates said the accident would have never happened if not for the marijuana, saying that it had thrown off his "perception of speed and distance and time." He admitted that in his rush to get back to Baltimore and get high, he skipped critical safety checks; he believed that had he performed those checks, "I wouldn't have been in front of that train." He also revealed he had smoked marijuana on the job several times.[4]

Additionally, it was never determined if the alerter whistle was muted while the locomotives were at Bayview yard. The alerter whistle on these locomotives were notorious for being irritating and loud, which was pointed out in a 1979 accident of a Union Pacific train in Wyoming which involved muting the whistle with a rag. The whistle was easily accessible by removing a cover on the back of the control stand that was sealed with latches, so it was possible for the Conrail crew to have muted the whistle before they left or before the units arrived at Bayview yard (which would have been done by other crews), but Gates reported that the whistle was relatively faint when it was tested, which meant that it could not be heard over the sound of the trailing units. The whistle was so well muted, that when it was sent to the FBI, they were not able to determine when and who muted it, due to the lack of fingerprints.

When Conrail unit 5044 was tested after the accident, it was found that all light bulbs (including a replacement for the missing one) were working, and it was undetermined if the light bulb was removed while Conrail and Amtrak left the units unattended. Gates recalled having tested the cab signalling and seeing all the aspects, but he might have not looked at all the lights. The deadmans pedal was also found to have been disabled, when Gates was trying to reactivate the cab signaling system by switching it off in the nose of the locomotive (this was despite the cab signalling and deadmans pedal levers being different in aspect). The data recorder found that the reverser was put into the reverse position two hours after the accident, and the locomotive's fuses, battery and engine switched off.[6]

As a result of the wreck, all locomotives operating on the Northeast Corridor are now required to have automatic cab signalling with an automatic train stop feature.[2] Although common on passenger trains up until that time, cab signals combined with train stop and speed control had never been installed on freight locomotives due to potential train handling issues at high speed. Conrail subsequently developed a device called a locomotive speed limiter (LSL), a computerized device that is designed to monitor and control the rate of deceleration for restrictive signals in conjunction with cab signals. All freight locomotives which operate on the Northeast Corridor must now be equipped with an operating LSL which also limits top speed to 50 mph (80 km/h).[2] Previously, freight locomotives were only required to have automatic cab signals without an automatic train stop feature.

Also as a direct result of this collision, federal legislation was enacted that required the FRA to develop a system of federal certification for locomotive engineers. These regulations went into effect in January 1990. Since then, railroads are required by law to certify that their engineers are properly trained and qualified, and that they have no drug or alcohol impairment motor vehicle convictions for the five-year period prior to certification. Another effect was that age-old Rule G (The use of intoxicants or narcotics by employees subject to duty, or their possession or use while in duty, is prohibited. — UCOR, 1962) was revamped to:

An employee who reports for duty under the influence of alcohol or other intoxicant, cannabis in any form, an amphetamine, a narcotic, a hallucinogenic drug, any controlled substance (as defined by federal law), or a derivative or combination of any of these, or who uses any of the foregoing while on duty, will be dismissed. Possession of any of the foregoing while on duty, or possession, use, or being under the influence of any of the foregoing while on Company or occupying facilities provided by the Company is prohibited. Source: Tennessee Valley Railroad Operating Rules book, effective March 15, 1995

A form of Rule G has existed in many railroad operating manuals for decades. However, the federal codification of this rule was deemed necessary to assure that any violator would be dealt with in a consistent and harsh manner. Also, anyone who passes a stop signal loses his or her FRA certification for a period not less than 30 days for a first offense. This is per 49 CFR part 249.

In 1991—prompted in large part by the Chase crash—Congress authorized mandatory random drug-testing for all employees in "safety-sensitive" jobs in industries regulated by DOT.

Ten years after the collision, the McDonogh School of Owings Mills, Maryland decided to build a 448-seat theater in memory of one of the crash's victims and alumna, 16-year-old Ceres Millicent Horn, daughter of American mathematicians Roger and Susan Horn. Ceres Horn graduated from McDonogh at age 15 and enrolled and was accepted at Princeton University at age 16 where she majored in astrophysics.

On January 4, 2007, the 20th anniversary of the crash, her family visited the theatre for the first time and attended a ceremony at the McDonogh School held in honor of their daughter.[7]

The Baltimore County Fire Department's medical commander at the scene 20 years earlier told the newspaper that the Amtrak crash is still being used as a case study in effective disaster response. "The reason is how the members of the professional and volunteer fire departments and the community people got together." It was, he said, "a very sad but a very proud moment" in his career.[8]

• 1996 Maryland train collision, involving two passenger trains
• Hinton train collision, similar accident in Canada the previous year in which a freight disregarded signals and collided head-on with an intercity passenger train; the freight's crew was also found to have adversely impacted mental capacity (in their case due to insufficient rest and the engineer possibly having a heart attack or stroke) and had disabled safety features as well.

• Picture of AEM-7 Amtrak #903 in Wilmington, Baltimore after the crash - http://www.railpictures.net/photo/78276/
• Pictures of the 2 Amtrak AEM-7's on flat cars near the accident site - Lancaster Dispatcher - Lancaster Chapter NHRS (January 2010, Vol. 41 #1) - https://web.archive.org/web/20160910044434/http://nrhs1.org/images/Dispatcher_Jan_10.pdf
• Media related to 1987 Maryland train collision at Wikimedia Commons