Wreck of the Amtrak Sunset Limited Train at Big Bayou Canot in Mobile Alabama in 1993
This is a 26th Anniversary Video of the Amtrak Sunset Limited that derailed in September 22th, 1993
The Big Bayou Canot rail accident was the derailing of an Amtrak train on the CSXT Big Bayou Canot bridge in southwestern Alabama, United States, on September 22, 1993. It was caused by displacement of a span and deformation of the rails when a tow of heavy barges collided with the rail bridge eight minutes earlier.
Events:
Immediately prior to the accident, a barge being pushed by the towboat Mauvilla (owned and operated by Warrior and Gulf Navigation of Chickasaw, Alabama) had made a wrong turn on the Mobile River and entered the Big Bayou Canot, an un-navigable channel of water crossed by a CSX Transportation rail bridge. The towboat's pilot, Willie Odom, was not properly trained on how to read his radar and so, due to the very poor visibility in heavy fog and his lack of experience, did not realize he was off course. The boat also lacked a compass and a chart of the waters. Odom believed that he was still on the Mobile River and had identified the bridge in the radar as another tug boat. After the investigation, he was not found to be criminally liable for the accident.
The bridge was struck by the Mauvilla at about 2:45 am. The span had been designed to rotate so it could be converted to a swing bridge by adding suitable equipment. No such conversion had ever been performed but the span had not been adequately secured against unintended movement. The collision forced the unsecured end of the bridge span approximately three feet out of alignment and severely kinked the track.
At 2:53 a.m., Amtrak's Sunset Limited train, powered by three locomotives (one GE Genesis P40DC number 819 in the front and two EMD F40PHs, numbers 262 and 312) en route from Los Angeles, California to Miami, Florida with 220 passengers and crew aboard, crossed the bridge at around 70 miles per hour (113 km/h) and derailed at the kink. The first of its three locomotives slammed into the displaced span, causing that part of the bridge to collapse into the water beneath. The lead locomotive embedded itself nose-first into the canal bank and the other two locomotives, together with the baggage car, dormitory car and two of the six passenger cars, plunged into the water. The locomotives' fuel tanks, each of which held several thousand gallons of diesel fuel, ruptured upon impact, resulting in a massive fuel spill and a fire. Forty-seven people, 42 of whom were passengers, were killed, many by drowning, others by fire/smoke inhalation. Another 103 were injured. The towboat's four crew members were not injured. At the time of the derailment, the lead locomotive, number 819, had been in service with Amtrak for only twenty days.
Despite the displacement of the bridge, the continuously welded rails did not break. As a result, the track circuit controlling the bridge approach block signals remained closed (intact) and the nearest signal continued to display a clear (green) aspect. Had one of the rails been severed by the bridge's displacement, the track circuit would have opened, causing the approach signal to display a stop (red) aspect and the preceding signal an amber (caution) approach indication. This might have given the Amtrak engineer sufficient time to stop his train or at least reduce its speed in an effort to minimize the accident's severity.
Fatal delay:
An episode of the National Geographic Channel documentary series Seconds From Disaster examined the accident. In addition to corroborating findings of the official accident report, the program revealed that the train had been delayed in New Orleans by repairs to an air conditioner unit and a toilet. This had put it a half-hour behind schedule. If not for this delay, the Sunset Limited would have passed over the Big Bayou Canot bridge 20 minutes before the bridge was hit by the barge.
Charleston ranks in top 10 cities to start a small business
Yelp has launched its first-ever Local Economic Outlook report which reveals the cities, neighborhoods, and industries that offer the most opportunity for small businesses to thrive.
Charleston landed within the top 10 cities in the country to start a small business.
Yelp’s Local Economic Outlook comprises a list of top 50 cities in the U.S. where businesses have the best chance of success, along with the top
50 neighborhoods and 10 business categories that have risen the most in rankings for new-business opportunity. Charleston came in at number 5!
Top 50 Cities in America for Economic Opportunity
1. Charlotte, NC (-)
2. Jacksonville, FL (-)
3. Omaha, NE (^)
4. Orlando, FL (v)
5. Charleston, SC (v)
6. Las Vegas, NV (^)
7. Tampa, FL (-)
8. Dallas, TX (-)
9. Salt Lake City, UT (^)
10. Houston, TX (v)
11. Louisville, KY (v)
12. Memphis, TN (^)
13. Tulsa, OK (v)
14. Miami, FL (-)
15. Phoenix, AZ (^)
16. Cincinnati, OH (-)
17. Atlanta, GA (v)
18. Nashville, TN (v)
19. Richmond, VA (v)
20. Saint Louis, MO (^)
21. Tucson, AZ (^)
22. San Diego, CA (^)
23. Albuquerque, NM (v)
24. Washington, DC (-)
25. Milwaukee, WI (^)
26. Denver, CO (-)
27. Columbus, OH (v)
28. Austin, TX (v)
29. Honolulu, HI (v)
30. Cleveland, OH (^)
31. Baltimore, MD (v)
32. Los Angeles, CA (^)
33. Minneapolis, MN (-)
34. Buffalo, NY (v)
35. Pittsburgh, PA (v)
36. New Orleans, LA (v)
37. Sacramento, CA (^)
38. Chicago, IL (^)
39. Philadelphia, PA (v)
40. Portland, OR (v)
41. Madison, WI (v)
42. Rochester, NY (v)
43. San Jose, CA (^)
44. New York, NY (v)
45. Hartford, CT (v)
46. Providence, RI (v)
47. San Francisco, CA (^)
48. Seattle, WA (v)
49. Portland, ME (v)
50. Boston, MA (-)
Top 50 Most Improved Neighborhoods in America for Economic Opportunity
1. Stonestown, San Francisco, CA
2. Wauwatosa, Milwaukee, WI
3. Ballston, Arlington, VA
4. Midtown, Detroit, MI
5. French Quarter, Charleston, SC
6. Admiral, Seattle, WA
7. Carmel Valley, San Diego, CA
8. Alum Rock/East Foothills, San Jose, CA
9. Silver Lake, Los Angeles, CA
10. North Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
11. Bucktown, Chicago, IL
12. Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, CA
13. Middle Village, New York, NY
14. Fox Point, Providence, RI
15. Lincoln Park, Chicago, IL
16. Elmwood, Berkeley, CA
17. Century City, Los Angeles, CA
18. Financial District, Boston, MA
19. North San Jose, Santa Clara, CA
20. Uptown, Minneapolis, MN
21. Downtown, Miami, FL
22. Russian Hill, San Francisco, CA
23. Mission Hills, San Diego, CA
24. Uptown, Oakland, CA
25. Downtown Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
26. Andersonville, Chicago, IL
27. Old Town, San Diego, CA
28. Near North Side, Chicago, IL
29. Willow Glen, San Jose, CA
30. U Street Corridor, Washington, DC
31. Marina/Cow Hollow, San Francisco, CA
32. Pico-Robertson, Los Angeles, CA
33. Banker's Hill, San Diego, CA
34. Mapleleaf, Seattle, WA
35. Rego Park, New York, NY
36. Back Bay, Boston, MA
37. Bay View, Milwaukee, WI
38. Hillcrest, San Diego, CA
39. Pacific Beach, San Diego, CA
40. Allapattah, Miami, FL
41. Tobin Hill, San Antonio, TX
42. Oltorf/East Riverside, Austin, TX
43. Echo Park, Los Angeles, CA
44. Highland, Saint Paul, MN
45. Elmwood Village, Buffalo, NY
46. Central West End, Saint Louis, MO
47. West Lawn, Chicago, IL
48. Tarzana, Los Angeles, CA
49. Far West/Northwest Hills, Austin, TX
50. Brentwood, Los Angeles, CA
Top 10 Most Improved Business Categories in America for Economic Opportunity
1. Restaurants
2. Nightlife
3. Beauty & Spas
4. Event Planning & Services
5. Health & Medical
6. Automotive
7. Food
8. Shopping
9. Home Services
10.Active Life
Highlights
Yelp is the largest source of in-depth local business data and reviews online, with 135 million reviews and data including location and hours for millions of local businesses in 32 countries. Yelp had 102 million unique visitors
per month on average to our mobile site and app as of Q2 2017, with those users performing millions of searches and actions each day.This Outlook launch comes on the heels of a Harvard study last month finding that Yelp can help measure local economic activity on a more granular level and in more real-time than publicly available government data, and recent reports that the Economic Census will be delayed.
This report is part of an ongoing effort to surface insights from Yelp’s deep data stores to help businesses succeed and arm policymakers with the information they need to make an effective change that will boost local economies.
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