| Sunset Limited | | | | Although he was aware that he had struck something |
| Amtrak/NTSB Investigation | | | | when his tow collided with the bridge, his initial |
| | | | supposition was that one of the barges had merely run |
| Three locomotive units, the baggage and dormitory | | | | aground. Such an assumption would have been |
| cars, and two of the six passenger cars were | | | | unwarranted due to the relatively abrupt nature of a |
| catapulted into the water. It was the worst train | | | | collision with a stationary object. |
| disaster in U.S. history. The National Transportation | | | | The bridge span had actually been designed to rotate |
| Safety Board was called in to investigate and used | | | | so it could be converted to a swing bridge by adding |
| forensic engineering and metallurgy to discover the | | | | suitable equipment. No such conversion had ever been |
| cause of this accident. | | | | performed, but the span had not been adequately |
| TMBA was asked to recreate several animations of | | | | secured against unintended movement. |
| the accident scene based on the findings of the NTSB. | | | | Despite the displacement of the bridge, the |
| >> | | | | continuously welded rails did not break. As a result, the |
| This wreck occurred after a CSX Transportation | | | | track circuit controlling the bridge approach block |
| swing bridge over the Big Bayou Canot in | | | | signals remained closed (intact) and the nearest signal |
| southwestern Alabama (about 10 miles northeast of | | | | continued to display a clear (green) aspect. |
| Mobile) was struck at approximately 2:45 AM by a | | | | Had one of the rails been severed by the bridge's |
| barge being pushed by the towboat Mauvilla (owned | | | | displacement, the track circuit would have opened, |
| and operated by Warrior and Gulf Navigation of | | | | causing the approach signal to display a stop (red) |
| Chickasaw, Alabama), whose pilot had become | | | | aspect and the preceding signal an amber approach |
| disoriented in heavy fog. | | | | indication. |
| The collision forced the bridge approximately three | | | | This might well have given the Amtrak engineer |
| feet out of alignment and severely kinked the track. | | | | sufficient time to stop his train or at least reduce |
| At approximately 2:53 AM,[1] Amtrak's Sunset Limited | | | | speed in an effort to minimize the severity of the |
| train, powered by three locomotives (one GE Genesis | | | | accident. |
| P40DC number 819 and two EMD F40PHs, numbers | | | | >> |
| 262 and 312) en route from Los Angeles, California to | | | | TMBA is a New York City animation studio known for |
| Orlando, Florida with 220 passengers and crew | | | | providing factual, forensic & investigative |
| aboard, crossed the bridge at high speed and derailed | | | | animations. We provide flexible, affordable 3D trial |
| at the kink. | | | | graphics that communicate quickly and clearly the key |
| The locomotives slammed into the bridge | | | | details of any case. |
| superstructure, causing its destruction. The lead | | | | Our specialty is taking factual documents, photos of |
| locomotive embedded itself nose-first into the canal | | | | physical evidence, expert testimony and eye witness |
| bank and the other locomotives, as well as the | | | | accounts and creating computer animated scenes of |
| baggage car, dormitory car and two of the six | | | | complex details and events with 100% accuracy. |
| passenger cars, plunged into the water. | | | | Our firsthand experience includes creating animations |
| The locomotives' fuel tanks, each of which held | | | | for scenarios that include: personal injury, wrongful |
| several thousand gallons of diesel fuel, ruptured upon | | | | death, disaster, mechanical and engineering failures. |
| impact, resulting in a massive fuel spill and a fire. | | | | The TMBA team has extensive experience in building |
| Forty-seven people, 42 of whom were passengers, | | | | the most challenging 3D elements such as water, |
| were killed, many by drowning, others by fire/smoke | | | | floods, fires, storms etc. |
| inhalation. Another 103 were injured. The towboat's | | | | TMBA can provide 3D animation for any area of law: |
| four crewmembers were not injured. | | | | Environmental, Aviation. Commercial litigation, Antitrust, |
| Immediately prior to the accident, the Mauvilla had | | | | Pharmaceutical, Product liability, Accident |
| made a wrong turn and entered an un-navigable | | | | reconstruction, Construction law, Intellectual property, |
| channel of water. The towboat's pilot was not properly | | | | and Wrongful Death. Whether you choose to use our |
| trained on how to read his radar and thus, owing to the | | | | animations as settlement tools or demonstrative aids, |
| very poor visibility in the fog and his lack of experience, | | | | TMBA is the leading producer of high quality 3D |
| did not realize that he was off-course. | | | | animation for use in the courtroom and beyond. |