jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Do any of you live near that train derailment in Ohio? That had to be the worst one in decades. It's bad enough when a train derails, but when toxic chemicals are involved it's much worse. There's a town in CA that was hit by a fiery derailment twice!

jpwa Loc: Inland NorthWest

Yeah it's really bad for the people living close by and what's even worse is the government is not being honest with what chemicals were on the train.

JimmyTB

Another derailment outside of Detroit today with at least one car carrying hazardous materials.

mr spock Loc: Fairfield CT

Not to worry. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and his husband are on the case.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

The railroad must first provide a list.

The Environmental Protection Agency subsequently published a full inventory of the toxic chemicals on board the train, which included butyl acrylate, ethylhexyl acrylate and ethylene glycol monobutyl ether.

This is quite a list. They can make indestructible containers for nuclear waste. Maybe they should do the same for chemicals that kill people and ruin their lives.

https://response.epa.gov/sites/15933/files/TRAIN%2032N%20-%20EAST%20PALESTINE%20-%20derail%20list%20Norfolk%20Southern%20document.pdf

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

The railroad is responsible for that.

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

That belongs in the Attic.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

It looks like it was a "hotbox" - an overheated journal between an axle and a wheel, which can lead to a wheel falling off of the axle. Obviously, that will cause a derailment.

In the old days, the crew in the caboose would be on the lookout for a hotbox, which causes smoke to rise from the over-heated journal box. Cabooses and the rear end crews have been eliminated by management, and hotbox detection now depends upon automated sensors placed here and there along the track. Of course a hotbox condition can be pretty far along before a train happens to pass a sensor, and it looks like that is what happened with this wreck. A hotbox was detected by a track side sensor, the crew in the locomotive was notified, and they immediately applied emergency braking, but it was too late. We know that because of the preliminary work by federal government inspectors on the scene.

Other issues that are contributory factors are the inadequate construction of the cars that carry hazardous material, the length of the train, and the mislabeling of the materiel carried. All of these issues are the fault of the carrier, and the carriers have been fighting to repeal regulations, and to skirt or ignore those that exist for a long time.

By the way, those safety and crew problems are exactly why the railroad workers were striking recently.

Chatter about the government's supposed failure to upgrade infrastructure being a factor in this accident are off the mark, because the railroad right of way is privately owned and maintenance is the responsibility of the railroad.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Well said.

kdogg Loc: Gallipolis Ferry WV

Live downstream from the spill. There was a meeting scheduled the other day. Railroad reps didn't show up,and folks are getting frustrated. They continue to monitor the Ohio river as we speak.

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

Another comment I keep hearing from reporters is "they are using brakes that date back to the Civil War!" The fail safe air brake system used in railroading was patented by Westinghouse in 1869, not quite the Civil War, which ended in 1865 but close enough, I guess. There have been many improvements over the years. The railroads also use dynamic braking. The traction motors on the locomotives are used as generators, and the heat generated is dissipated through resistors and fans on the roof.

I don't think a brake failure caused this accident, and in any case old does not equal bad. After all, the railroads are still using wheels, which date back to 4500–3300 BCE.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

One report said it was a broken axle.

I've always wondered about the maintenance of all those cars. Who's responsible. I was surprised to see that there are rail-side monitors to check the wheels as the trains go by. Still, it's hard to imagine such a system working. As the bad wheel goes by, that box has to identify the car and send a report somewhere.

Freight trains recent doubled in length. Why? It saves money. I bet you didn't expect that.

I wonder if anyone calculated how much gas is burned by cars idling while a long freight train slowly passes by. I always shut my car off, but I'm the exception.

Yes, railroad crews are not treated very well at all, and striking makes them look bad. As long as CEOs and stockholders make enough money, anything goes.