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CP runaway grain car

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  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 24,858 posts
Posted by tree68 on Friday, January 17, 2020 12:50 PM

Lithonia Operator

Really, Larry, if that pedestrian bridge had come down, that could have been a huge disaster. Were any people on the bridge?

And were any trains in that block?

Is everything, including the 0-6-0, repaired now?

It's a miracle no one was hurt.

Don't know about people on the bridge - nothing was reported as such.  I'm sure they would have had their nerves rattled.  Anyone in the tower itself (one of two ways to reach the bridge from the station side) would likely have been injured.

There were folks on the platform waiting on an eastbound (I believe) Amtrak.  There is video of the collision that shows them scattering.  You might be able to find it with a search.

I don't know how close the Amtrak train was.  The video I mentioned above doesn't show any trains in the area.

The tender went to Buffalo for rudimentary/cosmetic repairs, and is, indeed, back.  The loco stayed in Utica and will also undergo cosmetic repairs.

The siding where the switch sits has now been completely isolated from the Suzie-Q yard.  The switcher probably prevented more destruction as it took a lot of the energy out of the hopper.  

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
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There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

  • Member since
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Posted by adkrr64 on Friday, January 17, 2020 11:16 AM

Lithonia Operator

Really, Larry, if that pedestrian bridge had come down, that could have been a huge disaster. Were any people on the bridge?

And were any trains in that block?

Is everything, including the 0-6-0, repaired now?

It's a miracle no one was hurt.

I don't know for certain there if were people on the bridge, but there most definitely were people on the platform near the bridge waiting for an Amtrak arrival.

After the accident, the 0-6-0 engine was separated from its tender and one of them taken off site for repair (can't remember which one). Both are back on the track near the station, but remain some distance apart. I think the tender still needs some repair.

Yes, it is very fortunate that nobody was hurt. Had the 0-6-0 not been there, the tower would have taken a direct hit from the loaded hopper car. The 0-6-0 went down a hero. The track from the Susquehanna yard to the station tower has since been severed, and a pile of ballast added as a buffer for good measure.

 

  • Member since
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  • From: I've been everywhere, man
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Posted by SD70Dude on Thursday, January 16, 2020 10:54 PM

This is eerily similar to a 1996 incident on CN in Alberta, in which three people were killed:

https://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-reports/rail/1996/r96c0172/r96c0172.html

Very lucky indeed.

Greetings from Alberta

-an Articulate Malcontent

  • Member since
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Posted by MMLDelete on Thursday, January 16, 2020 10:48 PM

Really, Larry, if that pedestrian bridge had come down, that could have been a huge disaster. Were any people on the bridge?

And were any trains in that block?

Is everything, including the 0-6-0, repaired now?

It's a miracle no one was hurt.

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 24,858 posts
Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, January 15, 2020 11:02 PM

At least nothing was lost other than the car.  Still a fail.

The Utica, NY, runaway (plastic, not grain) took out an 0-6-0 switcher and very nearly took out one of the stair towers at the station.

No skates or chocks in place when a 13 YO released the handbrake...

The car ran through a number of crossings, did a little street running, and crossed one more four lane street (where it clipped an auto) before running through a yard that somehow had all of its switches lined to take the car to the station.   Were it not for the switcher, the car probably would have gone through the tower and onto the occupied platform, or out over the CSX main.

The stair tower supports one end of the passenger bridge over the CSX main.  Had that come down, well...

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

NDG
  • Member since
    December 2013
  • 1,604 posts
Posted by NDG on Wednesday, January 15, 2020 10:46 PM

Lucky.

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Denver / La Junta
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Posted by mudchicken on Wednesday, January 15, 2020 10:10 PM

Switching fail (bottled air, bled air & bad coupling)or failure to apply derail on a downhill grade behind the switch engine? (been around too many grain elevators to know the agri-dummies get in trouble regularly after bleeding off railcar brakes)

BNSF lost a welder south of Denver in one such incident. (gravity works - sometimes not the way you want it to)

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
  • Member since
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  • From: Henrico, VA
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Posted by Flintlock76 on Wednesday, January 15, 2020 9:43 PM

Gotta keep those grain cars on a tight leash boys, they're not quite domesticated.

  • Member since
    December 2017
  • From: I've been everywhere, man
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CP runaway grain car
Posted by SD70Dude on Wednesday, January 15, 2020 9:34 PM

Transport Canada blurb:

Accident/Incident Type:UNCONTROLLED MOVEMENT OF
R/S
INCIDENT
2020-01-14 06:00 Classification: BEING ASSESSED
Province: Nearest Town/City:
BRITISH COLUMBIA FIELD
CP - CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY CO.
MOUNTAIN Subdivision Mileage: 5.60

CP - CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY CO.
DG Released: 0
Spur Name: Spur Mileage:
Injuries:
Fatal: 0 Serious: 0 Minor: 0
Occurrence Summary:
CP assignment 301-311 was switch 2 cars from Field yard track 2 to track 3 when the tail end car loaded covered hopper COER
355057 (wheat) ran westward uncontrolled on the main track for 5.5 miles. The car derailed at mile 5.6 Mountain Sub. No injuries. No
DG involved. Being assessed.

Greetings from Alberta

-an Articulate Malcontent

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