First-person accounts from the train crash

Scene in Canton

Triage at the scene. By Cliff Francoeur, who has more photos and a report from the scene. Matt Pillsbury also posted photos.

Andrew was on the train that got hit by a box car in Canton. He reports:

... We came to a dead stop (again, not surprising), and I waited to get going, knowing we weren't too far out of Canton Junction. What happened next was certainly the most surprising and startling moment of my life, as there was no advanced warning of any kind - suddenly I found, in one swift yet disjointed motion, my head thrown against the glass pane of the door, and my entire body lurching in the opposite direction - and not just away, backwards, but down.

The lights were out, my hat was thrown clear, and my IPod wasn't playing; in fact, my headphones weren't in at all. ...

Bob Baril reports his sister Dianne was in the first car:

... Dianne said the train was just about pulling into the station when the conductor verbally warned the passengers that a freight car had just rolled onto the track. She turned to look at the conductor and was suddenly and violently thrown forward. Since she was looking at the conductor, she hit the side of her head, but otherwise would have hit her face and might have had a broken nose and other serious problems. ...

Cliff Francoeur lives near the crash scene. When he got home, he grabbed a camera and went out:

... I saw a woman who was noticeably cold and shaken sitting and waiting to be seen. I put my jacket on her and sat with her to keep her company. There were so many people that were sitting staring off, or that had been strapped to a backboard staring up at the sky. The scene was overall, rather grim. We made small-talk as we waited for her to be seen. I heard one of the paramedics yell that he had room in his ambulance and one of the firemen that was trying to keep people moving along came over and asked if she was able to walk. I hadn't asked about her injuries as she seemed to need a distraction. The fireman seemed concerned and wanted to get her taken in to be checked out as soon as possible and asked if she could try to walk with his assistance. We both grabbed her arms and helped her along. ...

He's posted a series of photos from the scene.

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Firefighter report

By Ron Newman | Wed, 03/26/2008 - 12:42am

From FireFighterNation.com, "The Social Network JUST For Firefighters, EMS & Rescue":

Mayhem On The Tracks In Canton

Boston Globe

By BostonMatt (not verified) | Wed, 03/26/2008 - 8:53am

You'd think an accident on the commuter rail at rush hour with 100+ injuries would merit front page coverage from the Globe. Instead the Sox are on page one and the commuter rail story is stuck back on B1.

They probably surveyed the injured

By adamg | Wed, 03/26/2008 - 8:59am

And determined they weren't wealthy enough to matter. How else to explain how this story about rich people making deals on ski lifts got on the front page instead.

And that's why it's good we're still a two-newspaper town, since the Herald splashed HORRIBLE on its front page.

Now that's quality journalism

By Gareth | Wed, 03/26/2008 - 9:08am

Anecdote: check
Quirk: check
Irrelevance: check
Nice picture: check

Why bother our beautiful minds with train crashes when we can talk about moguls among the moguls?

Good thing

By Michael | Wed, 03/26/2008 - 9:15am

...the ski lift didn't crash; the Globe would have had to rush out a Special Supplemental Edition.

In a moment of seriousness...

By bobmetcalf | Wed, 03/26/2008 - 4:52pm

Who makes these decisions at the Globe?
Is it McCrory or an intern that decides
what goes where for the daily paper?

SRSLY

By Neal | Wed, 03/26/2008 - 6:55pm

Who knows? Now that they've dumped their ombudsman, there isn't even anyone to complain to.

Must not have been any dogs

By oddjob60 | Wed, 03/26/2008 - 9:52am

Must not have been any dogs involved.

Or South End mommies.

Also on boston.com

By Gary McGath | Wed, 03/26/2008 - 10:04am

I was going to offer the excuse that the story may have come in at the last minute. But the same is true on boston.com -- an exhibition game in Japan is the top headline, and a local train crash gets a one-line link.

A real game, not an exhibition

By Ron Newman | Wed, 03/26/2008 - 10:09am

While I agree with your main point, the game that the Red Sox played in Japan was the regular season opener, not an exhibition.

Ah.

By Gary McGath | Wed, 03/26/2008 - 10:14am

Shows what I know about baseball. :)

FWIW, the followup story is

By oddjob60 | Wed, 03/26/2008 - 10:44am

FWIW, the followup story is now above the Sox on Boston.com.

This is where MSM does a much better job

By adamg | Wed, 03/26/2008 - 10:48am

Second-day, or followup stories - the "why" or "how" to go with the "what".

More people on the train

By adamg | Wed, 03/26/2008 - 10:54am

The Brockton Enterprise interviews people who were on the train:


Works now

By adamg | Wed, 03/26/2008 - 11:23am

Dunno if I messed up the URL or they changed it.

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