Harpers Ferry derailment on the Appalachian Trail
(Satellite)
General notes on Harpers Ferry
This report has seven photos of the derailment.
Pete Darmody posted two photos with the comment: "More from Harpers Ferry 12/21/19 and Cranemasters at CSX wreck." From the piers for an old alignment, we can see that it did not have an S-curve in its approach.
I read a comment that CSX was lucky that this happened around 2:30am and that no one was using the Appalachian Trail. The above photos show that some cars rolled over the trail on their way to the river. There were no injuries. The grain cars were empty. It comes as no surprise that CSX is saying that there will be an investigation.
The trail is now closed indefinitely. This is expected to impact the economy of Harpers Ferry because it will reduce the tourist traffic.
Posts seen the next day.
But this screenshot from panoramic drone view shows the seven cars is what was left after they removed the cars that did not get derailed. So stringlining while restarting the train after a stop is back on the table as the probably cause. If the entire train was empty grain cars, which it probably was since it consists of a lot of BNSF gain cars, the the fault is on the engineer, not train makeup. The engineer was pulling too hard on a S-curve to restart the train.
Dan Gurley shared a link with the headline: "CSX: Tracks affected by train derailment at Harpers Ferry crossing over the Potomac River reopened Sunday." Unfortunately, the link is a paywall for me. (The image is of the wreck, not the recovery so I didn't bother to include it.)
Stevie Knox Proving there was no meaningful damage to the bridge.
Pete Darmody posted two photos with the comment: "The CSX Shenandoah branch is back in operation: Rest of the derailment train sent through and Some minor track work remains but great job by Crane masters and Hulcher 12/22/19"
Railfan Rowan's video was Sunday morning, and it looks like Cranemaster had already loaded up one of its Mantis cranes (telescopic boom on crawler tracks) to leave the scene. The police allowed Rowan to walk to the river and at 6:34 he shows the destroyed walk path. The curve is still a wood trestle. It amazes me how much Class I railroads still use wood viaducts.
(new window, the link broke. Once again, it appears that a railroad is trying to hide the truth.)
Update Feb 24, 2020: Maxwell Fransen shared the following link.
Leonard J. Camarata Rough handling and excessive speed.
Chris Teal Leonard J. Camarata nope. Engineer pulled empty cars without releasing the brakes. His second major.
[I believe Chris because other reports indicate the train was stopped before the curve. Since it was a unit train, the usual reason for a stringline derailment, poor train makeup, does not apply.]
Four photos comparing a simulation with the real thing
I found a link to a Jasmine Minor video. That one was boring because it was just flashing lights on a fire truck. But if you scroll down there is a more interesting video. It shows that the road was closed as a precautionary measure and a parking lot for first responder's equipment. I wonder how long it took the 50 firefighters to conclude that there was no hazardous materials. Specifically, I wonder how long they blocked regular traffic from using this road.
Now I wonder what kind of hazard existed in the immediate area.
Lukas Irons shared the same WCPO link that Harris Douglas provided above.
James Nobbe Q576 was the train - local indications are a car 15-20 deep picked switch. AOKX sand car sticking up in air is propped up on and resting on top of the St Joe Switcher's power which was tied up in its normal resting spot at Trautman Yard just west of Cincinnati on the Indiana Sub, Indiana Sub occasionally sees Q254, and routinely gets at least one if not all 3 of Q504, Q574, and Q576. 254 is staying on LIRC and running via Indianapolis, while the 3 manifests are running via the LCL until tracks restored.
Dennis DeBruler Thanks for some information. Of course the only thing CSX PR is saying is "the accident is under investigation."
The parked train was on one of two CSX sidings by the Cargill grain elevator. In the video, I see that the Central Railroad Of Indiana (CIND) tracks are between the CSX tracks and River Road.
You can see some sidebooms (RJ Corman) on the scene. At 2:24 they lift and move a tank car a little bit. At 8:17 the videographer zooms out just in time to catch the extension of the counterweight for a lift and move. At 9:49 it looks like an excavator is helping three sidebooms get a move started. I like how at least some of the sidebooms are equipped with cutting torch tanks. At 12:12 we see that a coil car cover is ConRail. At 13:21, they are sliding a car on its side on the rails. Two ribbons of steel is not much friction. I used the slider to skip most of the autorack train.
(new window)
The accident happened near 190th Street crossing about 10 miles northwest of Menomonie, WI. UP continues to luck out with no hazardous spills and no injuries. Given that the accident happened around 4pm on a Sunday afternoon (1-12-2020), what are the odds that no ran into the mess that UP dumped onto the highway?
US-12 was expected to be open by Monday afternoon.
I saved a post that was viewable, but it was removed when I went to study it later.
This report has seven photos of the derailment.
Pete Darmody posted two photos with the comment: "More from Harpers Ferry 12/21/19 and Cranemasters at CSX wreck." From the piers for an old alignment, we can see that it did not have an S-curve in its approach.
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I read a comment that CSX was lucky that this happened around 2:30am and that no one was using the Appalachian Trail. The above photos show that some cars rolled over the trail on their way to the river. There were no injuries. The grain cars were empty. It comes as no surprise that CSX is saying that there will be an investigation.
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The trail is now closed indefinitely. This is expected to impact the economy of Harpers Ferry because it will reduce the tourist traffic.
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| NPS/T. Troxel (I presume this is the National Park Service) [The river looks rather shallow.] |
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| Jay Gillitzer posted Train derailment in Harpers Ferry WV. How’d ya like to run that rig on the bridge?? Not my photo or job. Looks like Cranemasters doing cleanup. Bud Lee That’s cranemasters for sure. According to his comment on a post, this is Zak Long's photo |
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| Bud Lee commented on Jay's post [I've never seen a Cranemaster jig like this before. Normally they use telescoping booms on crawler tracks. I wonder what they do when the outriggers are in the air because of a bridge or steep embankment. Can they clamp to the rail?] |
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| safe_image courtesy Erik Eastman, Susan Murphy shared a link [This article has over a dozen photos.] Al Snyder This happened right after they pulled away from having been stopped at a stop signal. If the engineer started pulling really hard before the brakes were released on the rear, it could cause string lining on the sharp curve that is there. Jeff Moser Funny we just had a train derailment by Harpers Ferry too...in Iowa...4 cars in the water.. |
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| Pete Darmody posted [So the cars have been removed and they are working on the rails? The trail was obviously smashed real good.] |
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| safe_image, Mark Ricker shared a link Steve Roberts derailments happen everyday somewhere... why is this one getting so much attention? [This article adds the information that the trains consisted of just seven empty grain cars. It would be hard to stringline a train that didn't have loaded cars behind empty cars. A video indicates that Hulcher arrived first but decided that just sidebooms and excavators couldn't do this job and that Cranemaster was needed.] |
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| Marc Dufor shared Tim Drone's post |
Dan Gurley shared a link with the headline: "CSX: Tracks affected by train derailment at Harpers Ferry crossing over the Potomac River reopened Sunday." Unfortunately, the link is a paywall for me. (The image is of the wreck, not the recovery so I didn't bother to include it.)
Stevie Knox Proving there was no meaningful damage to the bridge.
Pete Darmody posted two photos with the comment: "The CSX Shenandoah branch is back in operation: Rest of the derailment train sent through and Some minor track work remains but great job by Crane masters and Hulcher 12/22/19"
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Railfan Rowan's video was Sunday morning, and it looks like Cranemaster had already loaded up one of its Mantis cranes (telescopic boom on crawler tracks) to leave the scene. The police allowed Rowan to walk to the river and at 6:34 he shows the destroyed walk path. The curve is still a wood trestle. It amazes me how much Class I railroads still use wood viaducts.
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| Screenshot "the most damage" |
Update Feb 24, 2020: Maxwell Fransen shared the following link.
Leonard J. Camarata Rough handling and excessive speed.
Chris Teal Leonard J. Camarata nope. Engineer pulled empty cars without releasing the brakes. His second major.
[I believe Chris because other reports indicate the train was stopped before the curve. Since it was a unit train, the usual reason for a stringline derailment, poor train makeup, does not apply.]
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| safe_image Harpers Ferry, W.Va., footbridge is closed indefinitely after December train derailment[When I read about this derailment, I was afraid that CSX would refuse to replace the train bridge because of "safety issues." And when I this headline, I was afraid that my fear had come true. CSX got the tracks restored within a day, but NPS is still studying the trail repair. CSX will cover thec ost for repairs. 100s of thousands of hikers use the trail each year. The article says "trail advocates fear that hikers may turn to heavily trafficked U.S. Route 340, which has narrow shoulders and no pedestrian facilities." But if you look at the US-340 Bridge, it has a trailway on one side. But zooming out, that is to get the hiker from the southwest to the northeast side of the Shenandoah River. The wrecked trailway is needed to get the hikers across the Potomac River. Looking at the map some more, the risk is that they will stay on US-340 and then use this bridge to get back to the trail. There is a shuttle service, but there is a concern about the willingness of hikers to use it.] |
Four photos comparing a simulation with the real thing
CSX blocked River Road in Cincinnati, OH
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| Harris Douglas posted This derailment just happened on River Road in Cincinnati. It’s on the CSX line into Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Harris Douglas Here is a link to the story: https://www.wcpo.com/.../pd-train-derailment-closes-river... "Lanes have reopened after a derailed train shut down River Road between Bender and Darby Roads for hours on Sunday morning. Fifty Cincinnati firefighters responded to the crash near the 5400 block of River Road at about 5:25 a.m. Officials said eight cars from a moving train and 10 cars from an idle train had derailed, with most of the cars empty at the time of the crash. No one was injured." |
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| Cincy Fire & EMS Our Hazardous Materials Firefighters continue to operate on River Rd. No hazard exists outside of the immediate area. |
Now I wonder what kind of hazard existed in the immediate area.
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| Cincinnati Fire Department via NYdailyNews (source) [No new information, but the photo is of the non-public side.] Devin Kern Quentin is that car on the right one we always see in the yard that says “Refuse”!? Quentin Johnson Devin Kern yep Nick Hesse That Refuse car has also made its rounds through our yards here in Iowa. James Michael Franklin It seems cyclical. The heads slack off on MOW ,and when it falls apart ,they find the money to come fix it ! Darin Long James Michael Franklin your are right. Wonder how much money they truly waste by having to pay for wreck clean up and the damages caused vs. just doing normal maintenance. Fernando A Gomez James Michael Franklin it is all about money, the road master don’t want to spend the money, because of the budget, but if it is a derailment it comes from another budget, it is aggravating to deal with it. Just games. Chris Althouse Darin Long. Derailments are tax right offs. Matt Overstake Signal department’s fault. Chris Lajcin Matt Overstake I know some of the circuit designers and checkers that did a ton of work in and around Queengate. It wouldn't surprise if it was a signal issue. Especially after the same group designed a false proceed at Fostoria. [I wonder if this is why I saw a photo of a CSX train parked just feet from the diamond that had a NS train on the other track a few years ago.] Holt Collier Crash. Spill. Xplode Bryan Lee Wonder if this derailment will be posted as much as the Harpers Ferry one? |
Lukas Irons shared the same WCPO link that Harris Douglas provided above.
James Nobbe Q576 was the train - local indications are a car 15-20 deep picked switch. AOKX sand car sticking up in air is propped up on and resting on top of the St Joe Switcher's power which was tied up in its normal resting spot at Trautman Yard just west of Cincinnati on the Indiana Sub, Indiana Sub occasionally sees Q254, and routinely gets at least one if not all 3 of Q504, Q574, and Q576. 254 is staying on LIRC and running via Indianapolis, while the 3 manifests are running via the LCL until tracks restored.
Dennis DeBruler Thanks for some information. Of course the only thing CSX PR is saying is "the accident is under investigation."
The parked train was on one of two CSX sidings by the Cargill grain elevator. In the video, I see that the Central Railroad Of Indiana (CIND) tracks are between the CSX tracks and River Road.
You can see some sidebooms (RJ Corman) on the scene. At 2:24 they lift and move a tank car a little bit. At 8:17 the videographer zooms out just in time to catch the extension of the counterweight for a lift and move. At 9:49 it looks like an excavator is helping three sidebooms get a move started. I like how at least some of the sidebooms are equipped with cutting torch tanks. At 12:12 we see that a coil car cover is ConRail. At 13:21, they are sliding a car on its side on the rails. Two ribbons of steel is not much friction. I used the slider to skip most of the autorack train.
(new window)
3 photos
Georgia Drone Pros, LLC posted nine photos with the comment: "Putting a Norfolk Southern locomotive engine being lifted and put onto a flat bed to be hauled off. That was derailed back on the tracks to a flat car in Perry,Ga."
James Hagan Does Pioneer Railroad still operate that line? I'm guessing they do and were leasing that NS Locomotive.
Dave Liverett Damn. Brand new locomotive too...
Scott Jordan shared
Ken Jamin At one derailment, a side boom operator was trying to recover a boxcar that had slid down an embankment. He had it part way up when it started sliding down the hill again as he frantically tried to keep from losing control of it. The towing wire was as tight as a guitar string when somebody hollered, “Hey!! Lookit that! That ol’ boy’s tryin’ to bait-cast that side boom!! Hold ‘im, boy, hold onto him!!” When the operator finally got it stopped, there was smoke rising from the drum brake on the winch!!!
Steven Muir 8 idiots watch 1 huge idiot standing underneath a suspended load....wow...speechless.
Ken Jamin As an FRA inspector I’ve been to a more than a few off these “goat ropings” and I never ceased to be impressed by the skill of the side boom operators but I always observed them from a safe distance.
Ken Jamin Those side boom operators are artists and can make a pull or a move within @an inch of where you need them.
Georgia Drone Pros, LLC posted a video of the loading of a wrecked locomotive
Norfolk Southern locomotive engine being lifted and put onto a flat car to be hauled off..
ET44AC machine is 75 feet long, 16 feet tall and weighs 426,000 pounds.
Dave Lynn What happened to the crew on that? I hope they are ok!
William Shoe Dave Lynn it was running a a DPU (Distributed Power Unit) midway back, the crew was at the front on the lead engine so no injuries. Only thing hurt was the pockets of NS if at all.
Ernest Kyle No trucks under is so its about 60 tons lighter
Brad M Johnson A T4 no less. Couldn't they have wrecked literally anything else?
An earlier video shows they needed all of that gravel to get the locomotive back up the embankment to the track.
Jan 31, 2020: 13WMAZ has an update The train was carrying hazardous materials about 3-4 cars back from those that fell off the track. The article has a photo gallery.
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No injuries. But CP was real lucky that no one was in the parking lot of the Buffalo Bill Museum. And that the cars zigged towards the river rather than zagged towards the businesses along Route 67. And that the leaking chemical wasn't flammable.
"The train derailed at Jones Street behind the Blue Iguana restaurant." [WQAD]
Video of some sidebooms in action soon after the derailment
(new window) "On 01/03/20 a little after 11:00 AM Canadian Pacific train 475 from Kansas City to St. Paul, hit broken rail in LeClaire, IA on the Davenport Sub derailing 24-25 cars."
This source also indicates a 2' piece of broken rail. Our winter has been rather mild this year. I wonder why the rail broke. "150 cars, about 10,000' long." The leaky car was caustic, 3082. Only three of the 24 cars had a load.
Someplace I read it took 12 hours to get the mainline open again. The businesses were allowed to open 4 hours later. (The derailment happened at 11:00am, and the evacuation order was lifted aaround 3:00pm.)
The content concerning BNSF derailing into the Kootenai River has been moved to here.
Georgia Drone Pros, LLC posted nine photos with the comment: "Putting a Norfolk Southern locomotive engine being lifted and put onto a flat bed to be hauled off. That was derailed back on the tracks to a flat car in Perry,Ga."
James Hagan Does Pioneer Railroad still operate that line? I'm guessing they do and were leasing that NS Locomotive.
Dave Liverett Damn. Brand new locomotive too...
Scott Jordan shared
Ken Jamin At one derailment, a side boom operator was trying to recover a boxcar that had slid down an embankment. He had it part way up when it started sliding down the hill again as he frantically tried to keep from losing control of it. The towing wire was as tight as a guitar string when somebody hollered, “Hey!! Lookit that! That ol’ boy’s tryin’ to bait-cast that side boom!! Hold ‘im, boy, hold onto him!!” When the operator finally got it stopped, there was smoke rising from the drum brake on the winch!!!
Steven Muir 8 idiots watch 1 huge idiot standing underneath a suspended load....wow...speechless.
Ken Jamin As an FRA inspector I’ve been to a more than a few off these “goat ropings” and I never ceased to be impressed by the skill of the side boom operators but I always observed them from a safe distance.
Ken Jamin Those side boom operators are artists and can make a pull or a move within @an inch of where you need them.
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| 7 [So much gravel on one side, and so little on the other. Will they clean out that drainage ditch by the road before they leave?] |
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| Ken Jamin commented on Scott's post Here's a kitted-out sideboom, up close and personal. Note the hand tools, torches on the other side, slings for lifting. I think the "bird cage" around the operator is for moral support because I don't think it would do much if a load or wire slips or breaks under load. The red boom indicates this one is from RJ Corman. Hulcher has yellow booms. |
Georgia Drone Pros, LLC posted a video of the loading of a wrecked locomotive
Norfolk Southern locomotive engine being lifted and put onto a flat car to be hauled off..
ET44AC machine is 75 feet long, 16 feet tall and weighs 426,000 pounds.
Dave Lynn What happened to the crew on that? I hope they are ok!
William Shoe Dave Lynn it was running a a DPU (Distributed Power Unit) midway back, the crew was at the front on the lead engine so no injuries. Only thing hurt was the pockets of NS if at all.
Ernest Kyle No trucks under is so its about 60 tons lighter
Brad M Johnson A T4 no less. Couldn't they have wrecked literally anything else?
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| Mark Gregory commented on a post We Built them in Erie pa. I have made many parts on them as Tool&Die maker then later worked high crane maintenance in the plant. Here’s one being put on temp trucks to roll out to paint. |
Jan 31, 2020: 13WMAZ has an update The train was carrying hazardous materials about 3-4 cars back from those that fell off the track. The article has a photo gallery.
(new window)
CP needs sidebooms in LeClaire, IA
No injuries. But CP was real lucky that no one was in the parking lot of the Buffalo Bill Museum. And that the cars zigged towards the river rather than zagged towards the businesses along Route 67. And that the leaking chemical wasn't flammable.
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| Scott County IA Emergency Management Agency posted
UPDATE: At 11:03am, dispatchers at the Scott Emergency Communication Center received the call of a train derailment in LeClaire, Iowa. First responders were dispatched to the scene at 11:04am and LeClaire Police Department, LeClaire Fire Department, Bettendorf Fire/HAZMAT, Scott County Sheriff’s Office, and Scott County Emergency Management Agency responded at the scene. They arrived to a multiple car derailment. Canadian Pacific Railroad (CP Rail) was notified of the incident. Liquid was found to be running from one of the rail tanks. According to HAZMAT responders and environmental specialists with CP Rail, there are no indications that the chemical has or will impact the Mississippi River. There is not a public safety or health risk associated with the spilled chemical.
The situation continues to be monitored. Public safety officials closed US 67/Cody Road and Eagle Ridge Road to prevent traffic entering the area. Initial evacuations of the immediate area were made; however, at this time, business are beginning to reopen. A mobile command center has been established on site. Responders continue to coordinate efforts with CP Rail. CP Rail has mobilized multiple responders to the scene and are already beginning cleanup and remediation efforts.
Officials expect US 67/Cody Road and Eagle Ridge Road to open up by 3:00 p.m.
Don Gerdts Heard broken rail. Couldn't get 'er backed down in time. 40MPH Track Speed. Chris Althouse Don Gerdts . Should of gotten a Indication? Eric Slekovac Not if it broke under the train. Ted Curphey shared |
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| WQAD screenshot from a newscast video @ 1:15 "Hazmat crews determined that an unknown chemical that came from the train wasn't a threat to the public or the river." [If the chemical was unknown, how did they know it was benign? They did clean it up.] |
(new window) "On 01/03/20 a little after 11:00 AM Canadian Pacific train 475 from Kansas City to St. Paul, hit broken rail in LeClaire, IA on the Davenport Sub derailing 24-25 cars."
This source also indicates a 2' piece of broken rail. Our winter has been rather mild this year. I wonder why the rail broke. "150 cars, about 10,000' long." The leaky car was caustic, 3082. Only three of the 24 cars had a load.
Someplace I read it took 12 hours to get the mainline open again. The businesses were allowed to open 4 hours later. (The derailment happened at 11:00am, and the evacuation order was lifted aaround 3:00pm.)
BNSF probably needs more than sidebooms in the mountains
The content concerning BNSF derailing into the Kootenai River has been moved to here.
UP had about 35 cars leave the rails and 18 of them piled up near Menomonie, WI
The accident happened near 190th Street crossing about 10 miles northwest of Menomonie, WI. UP continues to luck out with no hazardous spills and no injuries. Given that the accident happened around 4pm on a Sunday afternoon (1-12-2020), what are the odds that no ran into the mess that UP dumped onto the highway?
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| safe_image from Ted Gregory share |
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| Steve Hoffman/Facebook via WKOW |
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| Monomonie Fire Dept. via WCCO |
Censored
I saved a post that was viewable, but it was removed when I went to study it later.
Feb 8, 2020: BNSF piles up 20-25 coal cars
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| Screenshot (source) [The tracks were open at 10 mph in about a day, but cleanup is expected to take 2-3 weeks.] |
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