railway disasters

On a recent Sunday afternoon, my son and I were in Penn Station to catch a MARC train to D.C. Every bench in the waiting room was full. We backed out and looked for a place to sit on the pair of long benches perpendicular to the ones in the waiting room, where I spotted a couple of spaces. But on one space was a soda can belonging to a young black man in the adjacent space. As I stood in front of the bench, I remembered two recent headlines in The Sun. One was about "gang killers" of a

A single-vehicle crash on MD 175 West in Columbia at Waterloo Road has closed the westbound left traffic lane and westbound left shoulder at 8:56 a.m., according to the state Department of Transportation.

Five people were injured in a "serious" crash in Middle River Monday morning and drivers were advised to avoid the area, Baltimore County police said.

DOT also reported a disabled vehicle on Interstate 70 East in Marriottsville at the Marriottsville Road exit at 9:06 a.m. on Thursday.

The state Department of Transportation has reported a disabled vehicle on the northbound Baltimore Washington Parkway in the Baltimore Highlands at Daisy Avenue at 8:29 a.m. on Friday.

A crash on northbound Interstate 83 at Northern Parkway has been cleared on Monday morning, transportation officials said.

These days, some parts of Big Hunting Creek do not seem nearly so presidential.

Emergency roadwork on MD 45 South in Cockeysville, just south of Padonia Road, has closed the southbound right traffic lane at 6:44 a.m. on Friday, according to the state Department of Transportation.

Two disabled vehicles on U.S. 40 East in Rosedale at 68th Street have blocked the eastbound right traffic lane and eastbound right shoulder at 7:20 a.m. on Friday, according to the state Department of Transportation.

An incident on U.S. 29 South in Columbia at Broken Land Parkway has closed two southbound off-ramp lanes and the southbound right shoulder at 8:36 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the state Department of Transportation.

A four-vehicle crash has closed two of four inner loop lanes on Interstate 695 at Wilkens Avenue at 9 a.m. Monday, state transportation officials said.

A two-vehicle collision on the outer loop of Interstate 695 at Old Court Road in Lochearn has closed the outer loop left traffic lane and outer loop left shoulder at 8:45 a.m. on Friday, according to the state Department of Transportation.

All southbound lanes of MD 45 in Baltimore County from Railroad Avenue to Wight Avenue are closed for a utility problem at 8 a.m. Monday, according to state traffic officials.

Marriottsville Road in Howard County was briefly shut down at the Carroll County line Thursday night after a CSX train leaving Baltimore experienced a fire in the locomotive area.

Emergency roadwork at Southwestern Boulevard North in Arbutus at Washington Boulevard has closed the northbound right shoulder at 8:27 a.m., according to DOT.

NTSB's call to ban all cell phone use by drivers except in emergencies deserves to be heeded

The freight train derailment and explosion that caused millions of dollars in property damage in Rosedale last year spurred National Transportation Safety Board officials on Wednesday to call for new laws banning the use of hands-free cellphone devices by drivers.

Dozens of damages claims filed against the waste company involved in the derailment and explosion of a freight train in Rosedale in 2013 have been settled, according to federal court documents filed Tuesday.

All lanes of the outer loop of Interstate 695 are reopened at 8:30 a.m. near Exit 27 for MD 146/ Dulaney Valley Road after a three-vehicle crash, though some delays remain at 8:45 a.m., according to the Maryland Department of Transportation.

Three people were hospitalized Thursday night after a vehicle was struck by a train in Westminster.

Southbound Amtrak train 181, scheduled to arrive in Aberdeen at 8:35 a.m., has been canceled by Amtrak due to a service disruption, the Maryland Department of Transportation said.

Hazmat crews and police responded to Baltimore's Penn Station Monday evening after a white powdery substance was found on a train.

The Baltimore City Department of Transportation said that all lanes are open on westbound Lombard Street on Friday morning with the clearing of a disabled vehicle between Calvert and Light streets.

A man was struck by a vehicle after stepping off a bus near the BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport train station on Wednesday afternoon, according to Maryland Transportation Authority Police.

A collision on MD 2 South in Arnold prior to U.S. 50 has closed both southbound traffic lanes and the southbound right shoulder at 8:55 a.m. on Friday, according to the state Department of Transportation.

Afternoon MARC service to Perryville and Aberdeen will be restored for the afternoon commute, according to the Maryland Transit Administration.

Rail commuters were met with a slew of cancelled and delayed Amtrak and MARC trains Tuesday morning after a freight train tore down catenary wires between Perryville and Aberdeen, according to transit officials.

Emergency roadwork on MD 150 East in Dundalk at Pembrooke Boulevard has closed the eastbound right traffic lane and eastbound right shoulder at 6:52 a.m., DOT said.

As taken from the pages of The Aegis dated Thursday, Aug. 6, 1964:

A train struck a vehicle Tuesday morning at the same Rosedale crossing where a train collided with a garbage truck last year and triggered a massive explosion and partial derailment.

Four people were injured after a light rail train collided with a vehicle in downtown Baltimore on Tuesday morning, according to the Maryland Transit Administration.

An 18-year-old man was hospitalized Sunday evening after he fell from a train on the CSX rail line in the Joppa area.

A pedestrian was struck by an Amtrak train early Sunday in Aberdeen.

Experts worry that the proliferating use of headphones is fueling an increase in serious accidents involving pedestrians.

A man was killed when he was struck by an Amtrak train in Baltimore Monday night, authorities said.

A CSX freight train reportedly carrying 8,000 tons of coal partially derailed in Bowie early Thursday morning, dumping at least some of its load on the ground surrounding the tracks, according to the Prince George's County Fire & EMS Department.

Officials with Amtrak are seeking the public's input as they begin a three-year study regarding the refurbishment – or replacement – of their 108-year-old railroad bridge across the Susquehanna River between Harford and Cecil counties.

Col. Jesse D. Mitchell Jr., a World War II P-51 Mustang combat fighter pilot who later commanded the Maryland National Guard's 175th Tactical Fighter Group, died Friday of cancer at the Charlestown Retirement Community. He was 90.

Trains are being stopped in Aberdeen Thursday morning after a pedestrian was fatally struck by a train near a crossing off of West Bel Air Avenue, Harford County officials said.

An Amtrak train tore down overhead catenary power lines near Bowie on Thursday morning, stopping all rail traffic in the area and disrupting many MARC and Amtrak riders' morning commute, according to the Maryland Transit Administration.

By the time the badly-damaged body of George Thomas McAleer was found near Amtrak train tracks in Rosedale, he'd likely been dead for more than 8 hours.

A single-vehicle crash on MD 175 in Fort Meade at MD 32 (Savage Road) has closed the southbound right traffic lane and southbound shoulder at 8:56 a.m. on Thursday, according to the state Department of Transportation.

New technology that could stop or slow a train before an accident — reducing the likelihood of an operator error turning deadly — will be installed on all MARC trains.

Months after a CSX train collided with a truck in Rosedale, triggering an explosion felt around the region, a crash that killed two in Baltimore last week again raised questions about the safety of the state's railroad crossings.

A vehicle stuck on a train track in Ellicott City was struck by a train early Saturday, leaving a man injured, Howard County fire officials said.

A 22-year-old Rosedale woman was fatally struck by a CSX train Friday afternoon in what Baltimore County police said appears to be an accident.