Engineer in Train Crash Faults Light

The engineer of the Metrolink train that rammed a freight train in Fullerton last month told police he received a warning signal to slow down three miles before the crash but not a signal indicating a train was in his path.

Engineer Harvey Wong, an employee of Amtrak, said it “caught him off guard” when he spotted a 38-car freight train on the same track the morning of Nov. 18.

The eastbound Metrolink train hit the westbound Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight train just north of Commonwealth Avenue and Brookhurst Road.

Nineteen commuters aboard the Metrolink train sustained minor injuries. The collision sent three boxcars tumbling off an embankment, setting one ablaze, and derailed the commuter train’s locomotive.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

The Fullerton Police Department on Wednesday released its report on the incident, which included the first interview of Wong just after the collision.

The Metrolink engineer told investigator Bill Regan that three miles before the crash site, he passed a track signal light that was yellow over green--a warning to slow down to 50 mph to prepare to switch tracks.

Wong said the next signal light, near the site of the crash, was red over red--ordering him to stop.

At the same instant, Wong said, he spotted the freight train, which was in the process of switching off the Metrolink’s track. Wong said he immediately hit the emergency brakes but clipped the end of the freight train.

Jim Southworth, the NTSB’s lead inspector in the case, said the investigation’s initial findings do not indicate that a mechanical or signal failure was a factor in the collision.

Crash investigators are reviewing data collected from the signal lights and from the data recorders on the trains to determine what track signals were given before the collision.

Southworth said they are also double-checking for a possible signal malfunction and trying to determine if the rising sun may have affected the Metrolink engineer’s ability to see the signal.

A local rail union official assisting the NTSB inquiry said that if Wong’s account is accurate, he would not be at fault.

The track signal three miles from the crash site should have been a single yellow light, warning the Metrolink engineer to be prepared to stop at the next signal, said Richard J. Weigle, an Amtrak engineer and secretary-treasurer of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Local 20.

“We don’t know what happened yet, or if the signal system failed,” Weigle said. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”

Both Amtrak and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway engineers said that stretch of track in Fullerton is known to have weak signal lights, making it difficult for them to see warnings about possible traffic ahead.

However, no defects were found in the signal system when it was inspected by state railway safety workers earlier this year.

Wong remains on paid administrative leave. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday.