Train derailments

[Starr DiGiacomo]

Spain Experiences its Worst Train Accident in 40 Years An increase in train derailments was one of the first symptoms of the approach of Planet X to become noticeable, being expressed even before Planet X entered the inner solar system in 2003. Planet X was described as affecting the Earth from afar, like tugging on the edge of a spider web where the effects are felt elsewhere on the web; in this way there has been an increase in earthquakes and unpredictable weather going back years, even before Planet X entered the solar system, due to the increased swirling of the Earth’s core. It is therefore logical that an increase in train derailments would accompany any increase in seismic activity – train tracks need to be straight and even the slightest shift to the side of a section of track would cause a train to derail. The area most affected by train derailments is the stretch zone.  Stretch zone quakes are silent, and people are generally unaware anything is happening, although signs such as booms and trumpet sounds can occur. This zone stretches from Western Europe across the Eurasian Plate, and also includes the South-East United States, the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Red Sea and the African Rift. In other parts of the world, shifting ground is more associated with earthquakes that people are aware of, such as the Pacific which is compressing, so authorities inspect railway tracks after any seismic activity, reducing the likelihood of accidents. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some Examples (click on pictures for link):

[Starr DiGiacomo]

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Train derails in Brunswick

Six cars, including one carrying liquid fertilizer, off track in Eagle Bridge

By LEIGH HORNBECK Staff writer

Updated

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  A fertilizer tanker on its side in Eagle Bridge, N.Y., after a train derailment on May 25, 2011. 

WHITE CREEK -- Six cars in a train operated by the Batten Kill Railroad derailed Wednesday and three overturned, owner William Taber said. There were no injuries and Taber said he doesn't know yet why the derailment happened.

One car was carrying liquid fertilizer, which began to leak slowly, Taber said, but the fertilizer was not a hazardous material. The liquid was collected in buckets and carried away while the car was drained.

A tanker truck from the Carovale Company in Salem was brought in to suck out 20,000 gallons of fertilizer.

The other cars were loaded with grain.

The Washington County Hazardous Materials Team was called to the scene, Greenwich-Cambridge Police Chief George Bell said.

Taber was driving the train at about 10 MPH when the cars went off the track in Eagle Bridge. Derailments are not unusual, said Taber, a veteran engineer after 25 years on trains, but this is the worst one he's seen as the owner of the Batten Kill Railroad.

"We'll get it back together pretty quick," he said.

The train runs from Greenwich to Salem to Eagle Bridge.

According to its website, the railroad is based in Greenwich and carries 40,200 tons of grain, fertilizer, logs and wood pulp in 413 cars annually over 34 miles of track.

[Starr DiGiacomo]

Derailment shuts down Kelowna bound line

Doris Janssen, CHBC News: Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Lumber product cars became derailed Monday morning on the Kelowna Pacific Railway near Vernon. No one was injured. The line has not had a derailment in four years, according to General Manager Kevin Woods.

Photo Credit: Jim Douglas, CHBC News

RELATED

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  The wheels of six freight cars have come off the Kelowna Pacific Railway near Vernon, shutting down the...

A freight train has derailed on the Kelowna Pacific Railway south of Vernon.

The accident took place around 4 a.m. Monday on a stretch of rail below the Kalamalka Lake lookout parallel to Highway 97.

The rail has broken and six lumber product cars have derailed.

Recovery work is taking place through the week, according to KPR General Manager Kevin Woods. Locomotives are on the way to help move all the derailed cars.

The Kelowna Pacific Railway is a 200 km shortline that connects goods with the CP mainline in Kamloops. The KPR is a subsidiary of KnightHawk Rail Ltd.

The KPR handles approximately 9,000 carloads per year. The major commodities are forest products, grain, and industrial products.

Woods says no one was injured and no property was damaged, which is likely because the train was traveling less than 15 km/h.

The KPR line between Vernon and Kelowna will be back in operation by the weekend, according to Woods.

An investigation continues into the accident. Woods says the KPR line has not had a derailment in more than four years which, he says, is above average.

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/Derailment+shuts+down+Kelowna+bound...

[Starr DiGiacomo]

UNION COUNTY, NC (WBTV) - Officials have reopened Highway 75 in Mineral Springs nearly 24 hours after a train collision killed two crew members and injured two other workers early Tuesday morning.

Photo Gallery Click here to view a photo gallery of the train wreck

Two locomotives traveling northbound collided at 3:38 a.m. near the intersection of Highway 75 and South Potter Road.

CSX Spokesman Gary Sease said investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board would be in charge of the investigation into the cause of the crash.

In addition, the Federal Railroad Administration will be investigating the accident.

Sease said officials are not sure if the collision was caused by human error or mechanical failure. Investigators will be looking at on-board cameras from both trains.

They will also be working with the train dispatch center in Florence, South Carolina, which monitors which trains are on the tracks at any given time.

The first train that was stopped on the tracks was heading from New Orleans to Hamlet, NC. It had nine freight cars and was transporting items such as concrete and scrap metal.

The second train had 12 freight cars and was traveling from Atlanta to Charlotte. Some of the cars were filled with clothing. When the trains collided, the clothing kept burning making it nearly impossible to extinguish.

The fires were completely extinguished by late Tuesday night and officials reopened Highway 75 around 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday once all fire trucks and apparatus were cleared from the road.

The two crew members killed included a locomotive engineer and a conductor. Their names have not been released. Both of these men were on the second train which crash into the stopped train.

The two crew members on the stopped train received minor injuries only. 

Sease says there were more than 4,500 gallons of diesel fuel which leaked out of second train after it collided with the stopped train. He said the fuel made the fire extremely difficult to contain. 

Officials say they will be conducting soil and water containment in the immediate area to ensure the leaked fuel and water sprayed on the fire doesn't contaminate surrounding land or drinking water.

Sease said these tracks are considered "high volume" and that 15-20 trains use these tracks daily. The trains that would normally travel in this area have been re-routed onto other tracks until the wreckage is clear.

While the tracks did not sustain major damage, some minimal repair will be necessary before trains are allowed transport cargo in this area. They are bringing in 50-feet sections of replacement tracks.

Resident James Bailey says he made the first call to 911 to report the collision. Since he didn't know what was on board, the emergency dispatcher told him to leave his home immediately.

Bailey's home is so close to the tracks, he actually heard a voice coming from the rubble.

"I believe he [conductor] was trapped from the way he sounded and, evidently, he couldn't move, he was just crying out," Bailey said.

Bailey's nephew, whose first name is also James, actually climbed through the mangled mess of metal to help.

"I just heard one of the conductors screaming for help, he was in and out of consciousness and the other one was pretty calm about everything," Bailey said.

James Bailey and his nephew stayed with the injured workers until rescue crews arrived on the scene.

One employee on the second train died at the scene. The other employee died after being transported to Carolinas Medical Center-Main.

"I wish to express my deepest sympathy to the families and coworkers of the two CSX workers who lost their lives in this tragedy," said Mineral Springs Mayor Rick Becker. 

The American Red Cross opened a temporary shelter Tuesday morning at the Mineral Springs United Methodist Church for residents living near the collision who were evacuated from their homes.

That's where we found resident Shirley Ritter who was still shaken by what happened. But this isn't the first time she's had to quickly evacuate from her home due to an emergency situation.

"I'm a survivor of Katrina, and my first instinct was, Father God, I thank you, I don't wish nothing on nobody else... I just wish whatever it is, it's a distance so we can get out of here," Ritter said.

A representative with the American Red Cross said a dozen families were displaced from their homes and six of them are temporarily staying in local hotels.

One evacuee said he was told his family would have to remain in the hotel three to seven days before they are allowed to return home.

http://www.wbtv.com/story/14702934/train-derailment-causes-road-clo...

[Starr DiGiacomo]

Train Derailment in Kansas Sparks Big Fire

By Associated Press

Mon 11:14 AM 05/23/2011

  1Share

 

The highway was closed from Moran to the Kansas 39 intersection east of Chanute.

A 23-mile stretch of U.S. 59 in southeast Kansas is closed after several cars of a Union Pacific train derailed, causing a large fire.

 

The Allen County Sheriff's Department says some of the 15 cars that derailed from the 80-car train were filled with ethanol alcohol.

 

The derailment occurred early Monday about four miles south of Moran. The highway was closed from Moran to the Kansas 39 intersection east of Chanute.

 

Deputies went door to door to homes near the derailment to warn residents of the threat. The Iola Register reports that crews could do little more than watch as the fireball burned. A plume of smoke was visible as far west as Iola.

 

No injuries were reported.

 

The cause of the derailment is under investigation.

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Aurora Derailment again?!? Doesn't it make all of us wonder how common it is?

Monday 23 May 2011 22:05 | Report this comment

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[Starr DiGiacomo]

Train cars derail in Bangor

Kevin Bennett | BDN

Railroad repair crew members pick up tools along the railroad tracks behind Eastern Maine Medical Center on Monday after replacing ties in in that area. Seven rail cars carrying sheet rock flipped on their side along the Penobscot River early Sunday morning spilling cargo towards the river. Buy Photo

By Dawn Gagnon

Posted May 23, 2011, at 3:54 p.m.
Last modified May 24, 2011, at 12:02 a.m.

Kevin Bennett | BDN

Seven rail cars carrying sheet rock flipped on their side along the Penobscot River early Sunday morning spilling cargo towards the river behind Eastern Maine Medical Center as seen on Monday. Railroad repair crews were seen replacing ties and shoring up tracks with crushed rock on Monday afternoon. Buy Photo

BANGOR, Maine — Railroad police late Monday afternoon were still on the scene of a derailment in Bangor that sent seven cars off the track behind Eastern Maine Medical Center.

The derailment occurred about 6:45 a.m. Sunday, according to Cynthia Scarano, spokeswoman for Massachusetts-based Pan Am Railways.

Scarano said investigators were still working late Monday afternoon to determine what caused the derailment.

Six of the cars that went off the tracks were carrying gypsum wallboard and one was empty.

“What they are trying to do now is get the track back together,” Scarano said. She said that the affected section of track is the company’s freight main line for the region and that the track is expect to remain out of service until at least Tuesday morning.

The train, which consisted of two locomotives and 29 cars, was en route from Calais Junction to Ayer, Mass., when the derailment occurred, Scarano said. She said no one was injured in connection with the incident.

http://new.bangordailynews.com/2011/05/23/news/bangor/train-cars-de...

[Starr DiGiacomo]

MORAN, Kan. — Firefighters continue to battle a blaze in southeast Kansas that erupted when 32 cars of a Union Pacific train derailed.

A 23-miles stretch of U.S. 59 is closed after the derailment early Monday about 5 miles south of Moran. No injuries were reported.

Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis said the train, traveling between Kansas City and Fort Worth, Texas, included three cars that contained ethalene, a liquefied flammable gas. They started a fire that was being fed by plastic pellets in other cars, he said.

He said rail traffic will be diverted to other lines until cleanup is complete, and he didn't know when that would be.

As a precaution about three homes near the rural accident site were evacuated. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/1e8efe7af77f4b6fa5e36701d86d...

[Starr DiGiacomo]

Cargo train derails in Germany

May 21, 2011 12:51 Moscow Time

Cargo train in Germany. Photo: EPA

Mulheim, a southern German town, survived a disaster after a train carrying chemical and explosives jumped its tracks, police in Baden-Wurttemberg state said on Friday.

Police said the eight-compartment train skidded near the train station in the town, causing a flow to huge of amounts of dangerous substances to pour on the ground.
Local authorities said hundreds of people were evacuated from the scene as traffic along the busy Freiburg section has been suspended.  

Experts fear the spill may result in a major environmental disaster.

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/05/21/50612753.html

[Starr DiGiacomo]

Freight train with chemicals derails in Germany

May 21, 2011 01:51 Moscow Time

Train derailment in Germany. Photo: EPA

A freight train has been derailed in southwest Germany between German Freiburg and the Swiss city of Basel, leading to a toxic spill.  The accident disrupted traffic on one of the busiest railway lines leading into Switzerland.

The crash spilled a large amount of oil tar and chloroacetate. These substances are highly flammable, and threaten human health. Complete evacuation was carried out within a 500 meter radius of the crash site. Some 300 people were forced to leave homes and jobs. No injuries were reported.

The exact causes of the disaster have not yet been determined.  Movement along the Freiburg-Basel section will resume no earlier than Saturday.

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/05/21/50602504.html

[Starr DiGiacomo]

MTA Subway Disruptions Continue Due to Derailment

May 17, 2011 2:12 PM EDT

There was a work-train derailment north of the Dekalb Avenue station in Brooklyn. According to officials with the Metropolitan Transit Authority, as a four-car train was coming off the Manhattan Bridge, one of the cars went off the tracks. The train carried MTA employees, but there were no injuries.

- Downtown D trains are running on the F line between the West 4th Street-Washington Square Station and the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue Station.

- Select D trains run local in both directions between the 59th Street-Columbus Circle Station and the 145th Street Station.

- Downtown  trains are running on the  line between the Canal Street Station and the Dekalb Avenue Station.

- Select downtown N trains are running on the D line from the 36th Street Station (Brooklyn) to the Coney Island-Stilwell Avenue Station.

Furthermore, the Long Island Rail Road has suspended service on the Ronkonkoma Branch between Ronkonkoma and Farmingdale. A train struck a vehicle on the tracks east of Deer Park this morning.

Read more: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/147128/20110517/mta-subway-disrupti...

http://newyork.ibtimes.com/articles/147128/20110517/mta-subway-disr...

[Starr DiGiacomo]

MAX Train Commuters Had Big Delays From Derailment

Around 5:30 a.m. today, a MAX train experienced a switch problem at the exit point from TriMet’s Eastside rail yard – Ruby Junction, located at E 197th and Burnside. An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the problem. The two-car train was headed westbound out of the yard, and the trailing car was directed to go east, causing the car to come off the track several inches

To isolate the train so crews could safely begin working on the problem, overhead power in the entire yard was turned off. Sixteen trains were unable to leave the yard on time. These trains were scheduled to leave Ruby Junction to serve on three lines: Blue, Green and Yellow. The disruption affected service across the system and continues to, primarily on the 1-205 portion of the Green Line and Blue Line service east of Gateway Transit Center.

Around 6:30 a.m., power was restored to the yard, and crews were able to manually throw switches so the backed-up trains could leave the yard. Moving the trains onto the alignment took significant time. Riders experienced significant delays – up to an hour – while trains returned to regular schedules.

Shuttle buses were immediately deployed to serve customers between E 172nd Ave and Cleveland Ave stations since Blue Line trains scheduled to head east were not able to make those trips. Shuttle buses were in service until 9:30 a.m. due to significant gaps in service.

MAX service the rest of the day is not expected to be impacted.

http://www.kxl.com/MAX-Train-Commuters-Had-Big-Delays-From-Derailme...