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54 train accidents since September???

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posted on Nov, 30 2005 @ 04:01 PM
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Trains, trains, and more trains. I think they need a little more attention than the menial local coverage they get. The way I see it, is either some one is messing with them, right under our noses, or they need to be shut down for good. Here is a list of train derailments for November. You would be surprised how many cary hazardous materials. Dangerous substances like molten sulfer. They never located the engine that pulled that train. Several of the others have no answers either. We hear about train derailments in other countries, so why is it these stories never go past the local news?

November 24 Momence, IL - 2 locomotives and 45 train cars. Alcohol began leaking article 1

November 22 Chicago - A Canadian train carrying hazardous material derailed

November 19 Oswego Co., NY - 28 cars derailed, hazardous materials on 6

November 16 Homestead, PA - 6 coal cars derail

November 15 Burket, IN train derailed

November 15 Jones, Ok - train derailed, molten sulfer in the tanker that overturned, “Firefighters could not locate the engine that had been pulling the train.

November 19 Wyoming - train derailed, 500 ft of track needed to be repaired

November 12 Ft. Hood, TX - train derailed damaged 11 tanks

www.kotv.com..." target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow"> November 11 Tulsa OK - train derailed and hit a bridge

November 7 Prosperity, SC - train carrying coal derailed.

November 5 Ft. Morgan CO - “derailment still under scope”

November 4 Harlingen TX - train derailed.

That is just November. In October there were, 17. There were 15 in September. Six of which were hazardous materials, and 5 coal. The list goes on and on. Is someone causing all this? It seems more than just a coincidence to me, but go figure I am a conspiracy theory nut. If no one is causing this however, there needs to be some serious looking into the train system. If they are that accident prone, then they have no business carrying hazardous materials.



posted on Nov, 30 2005 @ 04:06 PM
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Wonderful, I can't wait until they start transporting radioactive waste to the Yucca mountain complex/dump in Nevada from all over the United States.


Assuming they use rail



posted on Nov, 30 2005 @ 04:19 PM
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I just wanted to add this quote from the Star Tribune in Wyoming.



* LAST WE KNEW: Back-to-back train derailments in mid-May drastically slowed the flow of coal out of the southern Powder River Basin over the summer.

* THE LATEST: Another train derailment in the area on Saturday caused another disruption. Railroad and outside market forces have pushed Powder River Basin coal prices beyond $15 per ton.

* WHAT'S NEXT: Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific plan to increase coal traffic basinwide in 2006, while coal producers hope the additional volumes help them capitalize on high coal prices.


There is motive you got to admit that. If it is not carrying hazardous materials, it is carrying coal.

kinglizard > tell me your joking



posted on Nov, 30 2005 @ 04:27 PM
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Some more info on the Yucca Mountain Complex.


The nuclear waste is also planned to be shipped to the site by rail which raises concerns for many people over the possibility of rail accidents, sabotage or even theft by terrorists.

en.wikipedia.org...



Info from DOE



posted on Nov, 30 2005 @ 06:57 PM
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If they use rail chances are they will have escort to protect the material, besides, the containers that nuclear waste travel in are strong enough to withstand train derailments or head on collisions.



posted on Nov, 30 2005 @ 09:37 PM
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Here in Japan, the rail system goes through regular maintenance. A special train car travels the length of the line while each rail is checked for width, etc.

Why?

Living in a geo-active country, the ground moves a lot. So the rails need to be checked to see have they moved or not. If they don't, the trains could easily de-rail.

So, living in countries that are not as geo-active, one wouldn't check the rails that much, right? So if the ground moved you wouldn't notice until a train de-railed. Add to that the amount of water mains, gas mains, etc. which have been ruptured, it only adds up to one thing.

Areas that were previously geo-stable have become more active. The ground is moving more than it has in the past, and the powers that be wish to keep it covered up. We can only speculate why.



posted on Nov, 30 2005 @ 10:18 PM
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And how many trains went with no problem? Probably over 3000 uneventful transits this month alone. When you look at the information without anything to compare it to it may seem like a lot, but believe it or not, it isn't.

And the reason it doesn't make nationwide news is probably one or more of a few reasons... No one or very few people were injured; a derailment in a rural area won't harm much. The leaks were contained or not that bad; a leak is a leak, no matter what the size. For all we know it could have been a gallon an hour.

Plus, as WestPoint23 stated, the stuff is fairly well constructed... Even the rail cars that arn't carrying radioactive material. You hear about the horrible stuff in lesser countries because their cars are either overloaded, connected improperly, or poorly constructed.

[edit on 11/30/2005 by cmdrkeenkid]



posted on Nov, 30 2005 @ 10:24 PM
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I don't know if it is it terrorism or just human error for all those cases, but I think human error plays the bigger role. A few weeks ago in South Florida, an entire family was killed because of malfunctioning signal and a father's impatience to wait for the all clear.

Our train system is extremely vulnerable as it meanders thru our communities carrying all sort of stuff that could be used against us in one form or another. But I can't really see any solution to this issue. It would be too costly and really is I think it's a job too big for this government to enforce more rail safety than what is currently out there.

But thanks for tracking this Mrs. D



posted on Dec, 1 2005 @ 02:28 PM
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One of the biggest problems are that most class one railroads only do maintance 2 to 3 times a yaer on the main lines and evean less on the secoundary and branch lines. You you figure the ammount of weight that are on the rails and the number of trains that run everyday. theings are bound to happen.

There is a city in Ohio that see's more then 120 trains a day trough the same junction.

If you do the math it all adds up.

Major class 1 railroads try to keep there maintace down to as little money as they can.

Zintac



posted on Dec, 1 2005 @ 03:35 PM
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I am sure that geo-activity could play a big part. I still think that our trains are a big threat. Most people don't even think of it. I never thought of it until I found out the details, and we had a huge train derailment here in my town about 10 years ago. Luckly there were no hazardous materials. The point is, that trains carry hazardous materials, and lots of it. They carry many things that quite a few people in this country depend on. Here are a few more examples of what I am talking about. This time I started at the begining of the year. There are plenty every month that fit these same discriptions.


Investigators said a manual switch on the main line was open, which sent the train into a parked train. A 3-man railroad crew was responsible for the switch. Over five thousand people in a one mile radius around the site were immediately evacuated, and as of 1/12/05 only a few could return home. These people had to abruptly leave their houses and live away from home more than a week. In 2003 there were only 25 derailments compared to 119 in 1980. The disaster so damaged a textile mill that eventually 350 people had to be laid off. The accident was eventually blamed on the 3-man crew, who were all fired, although it was never proven that they failed to return the switch to its proper position.



January 7



The worst train disaster since 1999 occurred when a man parked his Jeep Cherokee on a train track in Glendale, CA, doused it with gas and watched as two trains collided, killing 11 people and injured almost 200. The man allegedly wanted to create a "horrific tragedy" to impress his wife. A total of 20 people died in train accidents in January


January 26




ROCHESTER - Authorities are investigating the apparent sabotage of railroad tracks that could have triggered a train accident


www.kstp.com...



A train derailed in San Marcos, TX leading to the evacuation of about 200 residents within a 1000' radius. The residents were not allowed to return home until the next day. The tracks had just been inspected days earlier. The derailment left investigators puzzled because all the track conditions met Federal standards, the train was only traveling at 25 mph and no external cause could be found


Feb. 12



About 20 of 69 train cars derailed in Bancroft, MI, exploding a propane tank and forcing the evacuation of the town. The force of the blast shook houses about a mile away. There was hazardous material being hauled but fortunately it was not released. There was a 2nd derailment here in the fall, and a third recently. A local resident said, "If this was a 1- time thing, you might think, yes, accidents do happen, but maybe something should be looked at to see if it is a problem in this area." He went on to say that the railroad does a good job of checking on things, but something is wrong. The local fire chief said, "It seems like they are doing a lot of work right here to keep it up, but I just don't understand why this happened. It's the 2nd 1 within 6 months...I talked to the conductors, and they said they were driving along, and all of a sudden, they felt a tug. They have no clue." Another resident said, "I'm still shaking. It was horrible. It was really scary. It was like slow motion. We saw a big fireball."


The above quote was on a website I was reading into. The news station that the quote came from no longer has this story on line, because it is from the first of the year. If anyone needs it, I am sure I can email the new station for the story. If I am not allowed to post it, I will delete it. I just thought it was an important quote. Here is the website where I am getting this info.

[edit on 1-12-2005 by mrsdudara]



posted on Dec, 1 2005 @ 04:24 PM
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In a town near where i live in texas...Gilmer?? i believe. I cant remember exactly but 3 trains derailed within 2 miles of each other in a very short time period, after the rails had been supposedly "fixed" I think at least 2 of them were carrying chemicals wich is sort of irrelevant. Interesting to me none the less.



posted on Dec, 2 2005 @ 03:03 PM
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Having worked on rail design for a few years (ick BTW) I can tell you from some experience that many, many factors can influence the derailment of a train car.

The rails that the train is riding on are subject to fluctuations in temperature (thermal expansion and contraction) and can increase dramatically in length. Most new rails are 1/4 mile sections and the rails can grow about a 1/2 an inch on a very hot day.

With that each rail has another rail in front and behind it so as the rail "grows" in encounters resistance from the adjacent rails that are also expanding and subsequently the rails meet resistanceso they can only expand in the direction of least resistance, that being side to side or up.

Either scenario forces the spikes upward, loosening plates from the ties and allowing the rail to fluctuate a bit. Rail crews inspect the rails looking for these problem areas and will fix them as needed.

TO make a long story short (too late) some of these problems may not be discovered and for whatever reason may fail. Whew, now I need a nap...

To make matters even more interesting, switches may freeze if the heaters are not maintained properly or become jammed or inoperable for whatever reason. Throw in the occasional quarter on the rail (or 55 gal drum
) and the occasional car, truck or bus and damage to the rail can do wonders for rail safety.

Anyhoo, in a large nutshell the rails are subjected to all types of abuse and failures will occur (it would be interesting to see how many of those accidents were on certain rail lines to see if there is a pattern or not).

I have seen the thermal expansion of rails and what it can do, its pretty scary. A 1/4 of track snapping free (yes SNAPPING free) like a huge bullwhip and wiping out anything in its path. All sorts of damage will breed from that little oops.



posted on Dec, 2 2005 @ 03:16 PM
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Taken from www.csx.com in a press statement that CSX released back on August 11, 2005.


As part of its long-term growth strategy, CSX Corporation (NYSE: CSX) today announced plans to expand capacity on its existing rail lines between Chicago and Florida, and between Albany, N.Y. and New York City. Company officials made the announcement during an investor and analyst conference at the New York Stock Exchange.

"These investments will enable CSX to meet demand for freight service to the rapidly growing Southeast while continuing to improve service in the populous Northeast," said Michael Ward, chairman, president and CEO. "We're delighted to add even more service capability to our excellent rail network at a time when demand for transportation services is at record levels."

Construction is expected to begin in early 2006 and includes the installation of rail sidings, signals and other infrastructure improvements to facilitate the movement of more freight with improved service and reliability. In addition, the company will make infrastructure improvements to other parts of its 22,000 mile rail network.


I know this for a fact that both CSX and Norfolk Southern have been doing some major upgrades around my area. CSX just put in a new set of signals on my end of town. The signals, which are of a cantilever type style, span both tracks that run through town. Plus, I read an article a few months back that said Norfolk Southern has started to clear tunnels on their major routes in both the Southern U.S. and the Mid-Atlantic Region. This is due to the fact that N.S. is wanting to increase the amount of intermodal traffic, i. e. double stack trains and auto parts trains, because of the demand for products to be at their destination on time.



posted on Dec, 2 2005 @ 03:17 PM
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In order to say that its an unusual amount, you'd need to look at what the usual amounts of accidents are.


Originally posted by kinglizard
start transporting radioactive waste to the Yucca mountain complex/dump in Nevada from all over the United States.

Still better than the alternative. Eventually that stuff has gotta come out of the sites they are at now and be transported on the rails. And notice, all those derailments, but the containers that hold these materials haven't split open and caused catastrophes.



posted on Dec, 2 2005 @ 03:44 PM
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You have a very good point there Nygdan. Those containers are built to withstand forces that would pulverize a human. For example, rail cars are actually built to crash in an accordion style manner. This is done to minimize the amount of damage to the surroundings.



posted on Dec, 2 2005 @ 03:54 PM
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Originally posted by woodwhite
I have seen the thermal expansion of rails and what it can do, its pretty scary. A 1/4 of track snapping free (yes SNAPPING free) like a huge bullwhip and wiping out anything in its path. All sorts of damage will breed from that little oops.


OMG
And they are going to be transporting nuclear wast via snapping railroad way. Good, ok, hmmmmm anyone else scared about this?


Nygdan, you said:

but the containers that hold these materials haven't split open and caused catastrophes.


A train leaked styrene in Cincinnati, Ohio. It caused the evacuation of local schools and neighborhoods. The mayor declared a state of emergency. The leak spewed a plume of white smoke 40' to 50' skyward.

August 29

Now lets think about how that would have turned out had it been the nuclear waste. Im sorry, I have train tracks all around here, I dont want that kind of risk taken with my family.



posted on Dec, 2 2005 @ 05:46 PM
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One of the freight trains I saw go through here on Wednesday had about 10 tank cars on it. The products that were being carried in the cars varied from chlorine, to petroleum, to corn starch. It just shows the common person that a variety of chemicals can go by your location on any given day. And if the first two chemicals were to leak out, that's why they have the Haz-Mat teams, either the chemical plant's or the fire department's team.



posted on Dec, 2 2005 @ 06:55 PM
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Originally posted by mrsdudara
hmmmmm anyone else scared about this?


Honestly, no, I'm not. As others and myself have stated, the cars are designed to be nearly indestructable. I saw one where they accelerated one of the containers (this one on a flatbed truck) to 20 Gs and impacted it with a wall. The truck? Desintigrated. The container? Not a scratch.

There are much better things to worry about, in my opinion.



posted on Dec, 2 2005 @ 07:19 PM
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20Gs and not a scratch? Well Ok, since you put it that way, I guess it is one of the safer routes. BUT it better have bodyguards riding with it.
I remember before we went into Iraq the trains ran at a certen times every night. Every once in a while they would have these strange signs up. One night, (2 o'clock AM train) We were awoken by a spotlight shining through our bedroom window, and the loudest helecopter sound I have ever heard. I seriously dont know how my husband and I didnt wet the bed. Turned out to be an apache. It was protecting the 2 am train. I just happen to live somewhat close to the tracks and have a cemetary in our back yard. Not to mention one of the Nations ammo plants is only a 20min drive away. I could seriously go the rest of my life without ever being woke up like that again.

Anyway back on track (hhhaaaa slap leg) I finaly found a site that shows how man accidents/incidents there are each year.


[edit on 2-12-2005 by mrsdudara]



posted on Dec, 3 2005 @ 12:16 PM
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I've seen military shipments go rolling by here before. The only security that these movements would have is the caboose on the rear of the train. I guess I am on one of the safest routes in the entire country. (CSX's Allegheny Division, Kanawah Subdivision)



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