CSX vs. Propane truck

[sigma693]

A propane truck burned for hours after colliding with a C-S-X train near Falkville this morning.Eddie Hicks, director of the Morgan County Emergency Management Agency said no one aboard the train was injured, but emergency workers could not get within 300 feet of the burning truck.The truck was carrying two-thousand gallons of propane. The train hit the truck at the Wilhite Road Crossing near Falkville, about 20 miles south of Decatur, at eleven-22 a-m The truck was pushed about a thousand feet before rolling and bursting into flames.Firefighters from nine fire departments sprayed the fire with a water fog to keep it from spreading. The fire went on so long that extra water had to be hauled to the scene.Rescue workers said the train pulled safely away from the fire.

[CANADIANPACIFIC2816]

KA - BOOM!!!!

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

[Anonymous]

Are the engine crew safe? Seeing something like that... must be very traumatic.

How did one of those BOMBS get onto the tracks anyhow? Did it stall? beat the train or what?

[wallyworld]

Another week, another wreck...

[sigma693]

The article didn't state how it happened.  I'm curious.   Also didn't state how the truck driver fared but the train and crew were fine and continued on their way.  BTW, It was in Northern AL.

[bnsfkline]

I hope it was an ugle-faced GE Locomotive that hit it. DOWN WITH GE!

[railfan619]

OK but to my understanding aren't propane trucks suppoed to stop at all railroad crossings unless they are marked exempt or out of service. So why did this truck not stop like it was suppoed to. To me it sounds like the driver maybe at fault for this one and if they do find him at. Fault for causing the accident. The county sheriffs and the NTSB and who ever else was on sence will charge him with failing to safely stop and. They will suspend his liscence for. I Beleave 90 days or longer but anywho everything from tanker trucks to school buses are suppoed to stop at all railroad crossings. And if we get caught for going over a crossing with out stopping and someone reports us we a get I beleave a 550 dollar ticket and a 90 day suspened licsence and also we can kiss our job bye bye.

[Datafever]

A quote from an article about the accident states:

The truck left the road before it reached the crossing and collided with the train at U.S. Highway 31 and Wilhite Road near Falkville at 11:22 a.m., according to a preliminary investigation by state troopers.

Sounds to me like the driver might have had a fatal heart attack or something.

[tdmidget]

Yeah and railfan 619 will get life on the spelling and grammar raps. I wonder as a former firefighter why they didn't follow the proper procedure and let it burn. Low life hazard and high probability of BLEVE ( boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion) calls for evacuation and let it burn. No time to play hero.

[Datafever]

As far as I know, they are letting it burn itself out.  Another quote:

Authorities say the fire is too hot to put out right now, so they are letting the fire burn itself out and monitoring the situation with automated, unmanned sensors.

[coborn35]

I hope it was an ugle-faced GE Locomotive that hit it. DOWN WITH GE!

Cuz of course if the locomotive was destroyed the crew wouldnt die right? Jackass.

Luckily no one was hurt, but it could easily gone the other way. God was looking over the crewman that day.

[tdmidget]

We're letting it burn out by having 27 fire depts haul water to it?

[Datafever]

I'm am not sure, because I am not there, but my speculation (for what it's worth) is that the fire trucks are keeping way far away and spraying water to create a "fog" that keeps the vicinity of the fire cooled down.  Perhaps there are flammable objects (such as buildings) that they are trying to keep cooled off to prevent them from also burning.  I do not get the impression that they are actually spraying water on the propane truck itself.

[ValleyX]

Had to be very terrifying moments for the crew.  Amen, Coborn

[Datafever]

I have still read nothing about the truck driver.  Reports are that one person was airlifted to the hospital, but it is possible that person was a passerby.

Two articles have stated that the truck ran into the train.  Normally the reports would have said that the train ran into the truck.  It is possible that the train crew were well past the point of impact, but the news reports are quite unclear on many facts. 

[Railfan1]

[zardoz]

Had to be very terrifying moments for the crew.  Amen, Coborn

About as terrifying as it gets in the cab!  Along with gasoline trucks, gravel trucks, lowboys....

[Murphy Siding]

I hope it was an ugle-faced GE Locomotive that hit it. DOWN WITH GE!

Cuz of course if the locomotive was destroyed the crew wouldnt die right? Jackass.

Luckily no one was hurt, but it could easily gone the other way. God was looking over the crewman that day.

      I was going to offer my disapointment with bnsfkline's comment, but I think you conveyed my thoughts pretty clearly.

[Datafever]

It has been confirmed that the driver of the propane truck was killed.

Also, the truck did not explode until 90 minutes after the accident, although the cab was burning when rescue teams arrived at the scene.

 

[vsmith]

Wow what a tragedy, driver might have swerved to avoid another car, leading him to vear onto the ROW, doesnt say whether the truck was upright or if it had rolled, it looks like an embankement next to the tracks. Its possible the driver was already unconscious, or if it rolled, already dead, when the train hit him. Either way the crew was able to stop and back away, not injured, but I'm sure there BVDs will just simply be tossed out. What a mess.

[railfan619]

OK I know some of my words were mis spelled but I was really. Tired last night when I wrote on the topic But I really did not mean to mis spell awhole lot of them. So there