E PLURIBUS UNUM

NATIONAL TRA S PORTAT

OI N

BOARD

SAFE T Y

N

National Transportation Safety Board 

Washington, D.C. 20594 

Railroad Accident Brief

Accident No: ATL-97-FR-004 

Location: Jacksonville, Florida 

Date of Accident: February 5, 1997 

Time: 4:45 p.m. eastern standard time 

Railroad: National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) 

Motor Carrier: Coastal Transport, Inc. 

Injured: 15 minor 

Property Damage: $1,410,000 

Type of Accident: Grade crossing collision 

The Accident 

About 4:45 p.m., eastern standard time, on February 5, 1997, National Railroad 

Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) train P098, the Silver Meteor, while operating over CSX 

Transportation (CSXT) tracks, struck a tractor-semitrailer combination at Old Kings 

Road in Jacksonville, Florida. The locomotive and four leading cars derailed. Of the 182 

passengers and crew onboard the train, 15 reported injuries. The injured passengers were 

treated and released the same day. The locomotive engineer and assistant engineer were 

hospitalized and released after 48 hours with minor injuries. The tractor-semitrailer was 

destroyed. The truck driver had exited the truck prior to the collision and was not injured. 

Damages are estimated at $1,410,000. Weather at the time was clear, with a temperature 

of 70° F. 

The tractor-semitrailer was operated by Coastal Transport, Inc., (CTI) of 

Savannah, Georgia. About 4:35 p.m. on the day of the accident, the truckdriver attempted 

to turn his vehicle around near the grade crossing on Old Kings Road. The driver stated 

that in the process of turning around, the semitrailer hung on the crossing, and the drive 

wheels left the pavement and lost traction. The driver of a passing pickup truck stopped 

and attempted, unsuccessfully, to use a chain to pull the larger truck back onto the 

pavement where traction could be restored. 

Amtrak train P098, with one locomotive, one baggage car, and nine passenger 

cars, originated in Miami on the day of the accident. Approaching Old Kings Road at 

milepost 631.8 on the CSXT Nahunta Subdivision, the engine crew observed that the 

crossing gates were down and that a truck was on the track. When he realized that the 

truck was not moving, the engineer applied the train’s emergency brakes. The locomotive 

event recorder indicates that the train was traveling at its authorized track speed of 79 

mph when the emergency brakes were applied 1,721 feet from the crossing. The train had 

NTSB/RAB-01/01
 

 2 

slowed to 23 mph at impact. The collision caused the locomotive and the first four cars to 

derail. The locomotive and baggage car came to rest on their sides. All derailed passenger 

cars remained upright. The train crew organized an evacuation of passengers, which was 

accomplished without incident. Police and emergency medical personnel arrived on scene 

shortly after the accident. 

The CTI truck was equipped with both a CB radio and a Qualcom satellite 

communication system. The satellite communication system was designed to allow text 

communication between the truckdriver and the CTI dispatcher. The truckdriver did not 

attempt to use the CB radio or the satellite system to contact anyone about fouling the 

track at the crossing. 

Probable Cause

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of 

this accident was the tractor-semitrailer driver’s improper turn on a narrow road that 

resulted in fouling a grade crossing and the truckdriver’s failure to use available 

communication devices to warn authorities that his vehicle was fouling the tracks. 

Approved: October 26, 2001 

NTSB/RAB-01/01