We definitely crossed paths. I was in ATC from 1983 until I retired in 2010. I worked almost exclusively on the Red Line, mostly A99, A11, and B98 on evening shift. I also worked for Gauani for the first several years I was at Metro, in fact, he became a supervisor just before I was hired and I got his old unit number. I don’t know if you heard but both Gauani and Marty Henry have since passed away.

The deaths of Jeff Garrard and Sung Oh were completely preventable. According to the NTSB report (which was just released last month — 2 years and four months later) the accident was almost entirely the fault of the people at OCC. What the report describes fits the definition of negligent homicide. Unfortunately, the spouses and/or family of Metro employees who are killed on the job cannot sue, because Metro has Worker’s Comp Insurance. I’ve written about the accident elsewhere on this blog and plan to comment a bit on the NTSB report shortly.

My wife and I are in touch with Jeff’s wife and daughter. I’ll pass along your comment.

Please share any stories recollections you have. I’ve been hoping others would add to what I have written. It would make the blog much more interesting.

Not too many people seem to make it out of ATC alive before retirement. You were smart to leave when you did. I hope you’ve been well.

Enjoyed reading the stories. I probably have some of my own if I think back.

Yes, we do know each other but we never worked together. We met a few times — typically when you were working OT on PM shift at Shady Grove (A99). I wish we had gotten to know each other better — I always heard nothing but compliments about you as a person and a technician.

Thank you for posting, and for providing the background on how we came to get the ‘pumpkin suits’. I was not aware of that. I am of course familiar with the tragic accident in which Joe Volpe was killed. It was a preventable death and was extremely traumatic for the tech who was with Joe at the time.

I hope more people will follow your lead and comment on my posts. I did not work much OT and spent the majority of my time on the Red Line on PM shift, so while I was at Metro for 27 years
my experience and knowledge is more limited than that of many employees who had/have less seniority than I did. It’s great to get other perspectives and additional information. It makes the blog more interesting and may jog my memory which is unfortunately not very good.

I would welcome anything you’d like to share about Joe’s accident or anything else.

I too am trying to find out more about the 5/29 accident at A99. There’s a good chance I know the employee who was injured since he has 28 years seniority — assuming he typically worked at A99. We were always very careful when opening the door to cross the wash track because there is very little clearance between that doorway and the trains. It’s not clear that the employee was hit there, but I wouldn’t be surprised.

I probably know you. I’m going to read everything on your blog. Thank you.

Whoever made the rail clamp video you posted (above) did a very good job.

I wasnt trying to be disrespectful of metro employees about the installation of the cembre…i know it probably sounded that way…I really meant the contractors would probably be better trained and given the proper tools and connectors to do the job

WRT the new clamp — I like that the lock/jam nut has been relocated to the top where it is easily accessed. No more need for a ‘bent wrench’ (which always seemed to disappear), any ordinary 15/16″ open end wrench will work. That’s a big improvement.

It’s good that the clamps are re-useable and designing the bolts so that the head shears off at the appropriate torque is a good idea. However, I have to wonder why other than relocating the lock/jam nut the clamps could not have remained the same and been installed using a torque wrench?

My guess would be that these new clamps cost Metro more due to the bolt head that’s designed to shear off and the fact that the pressure plate is now removable. In addition, in order to reuse a clamp, the specialized bolt must of course be replaced. Since it’s Metro, the bolt itself probably costs $50.

Also, while the pressure plate is designed to be removable (and obviously must be removed in order for the bolt to be replaced) it looks to me like the little Allen head machine screw is all but guaranteed to rust and seize in place — especially since the insulator will hold moisture against it. In cases where it can be removed, anything small like that is easily lost — particularly when working on tie and ballast.

As a practical matter, many of these new clamps will not be able to be reused.

I’m not trying to be negative or step on any toes — these new rail clamps are better than the Cembre connectors — it just seems to me that the shearing feature (which necessitates the bolt being replaced, which requires that the pressure plate be removed) is an expensive solution to a “problem” that did not exist — or more accurately, does not have to exist.

I realize that no one is asking for my advice, but I would suggest issuing a torque wrench to each ATC tech. They should have one anyway for other hardware they must secure. For the price of one new style clamp Metro could probably purchase 3 to 5 decent torque wrenches. They have numerous uses and really should be used whenever critical hardware is being installed/tightened. In addition, they would save Metro (read: passengers and taxpayers) a lot of money in the long run.

I know that CMNT at Shady Grove (A99) had a few torque wrenches that were supplied by Metro and they also had a device mounted to one of the vertical I-beams to calibrate the wrenches. If I’m not mistaken, most of those same wrenches were in use the entire time I was at (A99) — off and on from 1984/85 thru 2010. Seems like a good investment to me.

PS: In defense of my former coworkers, I would not assume that the contractors will do a better job installing the Cembre connectors. There are many very intelligent, skilled technicians in ATC in general and on the Red Line in particular. Many/most of the problems with Cembre connectors appear to be due to their design and manufacture. To the extent that there have been problems with them due to faulty installation I would suggest that there’s a very good chance that the tech(s) doing the work did not have proper training, which obviously is not their fault. If contractors do a better job in some cases (and I don’t know that they do) it would only be because that is usually _all_ they do. They naturally become proficient at a specific task if they perform it week after week, month after month. An ATC tech is by definition a ‘Jack of all Trades’. Given proper training, I would put my former coworkers up against contractors any day.

They are putting in new track circuits this weekend on the red line (A11) and I think they are using cembre connection….I would assume they will be installed properly since contractors are doing the work….

I’m glad to hear that there have been some improvements to the rail clamps — that is all the more reason to use them instead of the Cembre connectors.

The only drawback I can think of is that since the bolt heads now shear off, the clamps can be used only once. They are expensive (about $200 each, last I heard) so it’s a shame to have to throw them away when the older design could often be re-used.

Also, since the bolt head shears off when the clamp is installed, how is the clamp removed? Sledgehammer/BFH?