News: Train Detrailments

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Union Pacific Train Derails in Denison, Texas

A Union Pacific railroad freight train went off the tracks just south of the crossing in the 1800 block of Crawford Street in Denison. The train extended past Morton Street, blocking traffic there also.

''There’s no way to predict it. It’s occasional we’ll have some type of derailment, but it’s not a very frequent thing around here,'' according to Lt. Mike Eppler of the Denison Police Department.

No explanation of why the train came off the tracks was reported.

Austin Texas Train Derailment

Three DM&E locomotives derailed near Fourth Avenue and Fifth Place southeast in Austin, Texas. No injuries or hazardous chemical spills were reported. A railroad crew drove one of the engines back onto the tracks and the other two had to be hoisted back onto the trucks.

Some roads were closed and school buses rerouted as a result of the accident, according to Austin Police.

The section of the railroad tracks where the train derailed had already been scheduled for replacement, said city engineer Jon Erichson.

Freight Train Derails on Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Bridge

Mississippi River traffic under the Crescent Bridge between Davenport, Iowa and Rock Island, Illinois has been halted by the Coast Guard because of a train derailment on the bridge. Coast Guard Lt. Rob McCaskey said he was unsure when the river would be reopened.

Three railroad cars from a Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad freight train derailed on the bridge. Railroad spokesman Mike LoVecchio said the only people on the train were an engineer and conductor, and fortunately neither was injured.

The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad owns the bridge.

BNSF Train Derailment Under Investigation

The cause of a BNSF Railway train derailment that sent five railroad cars off the tracks and into a ravine near Beatrice, Nebraska remains unknown. The derailment occurred about four miles northwest of Beatrice, near the Big Blue River, according to Steve Forsberg, a spokesman for BNSF Railway.

Five railroad cars from the 110-car train derailed. The cars left the railroad tracks while crossing a 205-foot wood trestle bridge over the river. The derailed cars, which were loaded with corn, went into the ravine, but did not reach the water.

''There are generally three categories for cause of any derailment,'' Forsberg said. ''An issue with one of the cars, problem with the track or an issue with how the train is being handled. In this case, no determination has been made.''

No injuries were reported in the derailment.

Derailment Kills Two

Two employees of the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad Corporation died in a train derailment in Bettendorf, Iowa the early morning of July 14. One of the deceased men is the twenty seven year-old conductor, Andrew Reed. Reed was based out of Savanna, Illinois.

At the request of the family, authorities are not releasing the name of the locomotive engineer. He, too, was based out of Savanna.

A spokesman for the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad said the train was comprised of two locomotives and eighty three cars. The engineer and conductor were in the lead locomotive at the time of the derailment.

The train was southbound when it crashed into some stationary cars near the State Street Crossing. Emergency response crews did contain a small diesel leak. Most of the railroad cars were empty.

Declining to respond to questions about the speed of the train and the focus of the investigation, railroad spokesman Jeff Johnson said the focus on Tuesday is with family and friends of the men who died.

Southeast Texas Train Derailment

Two railroad cars hauling rocks derailed near Bon Wier, Texas. The train was east bound and operated by the Timber Rock Railroad.

The Newton County Sheriff’s Department said that the major highway intersection of U.S. 190 and F.M. 1416 was closed. Dispatcher Melanie Fowler said crews were expected to have the line cleared by Tuesday afternoon. No hazardous materials were involved, and no injuries were reported.

Newton County Sheriff Joe Walker said that one of the derailed railroad cars gouged a section of the roadway.

Train Derails and Explodes in Italy

At least 12 people are reported dead many more are injured after a freight train carrying Liquefied Petroleum Gas derailed and exploded in Viareggio, Italy, North of Pisa. The railroad cars jumped the tracks and crashed into homes, igniting the blaze.

Several of the victims died when their houses collapsed, and some people may be trapped under the rubble.

Officials say there is still a risk that other tank cars could explode.

The explosion happened shortly before midnight local time (2300 BST) when one railcar in the 14-car train, traveling from La Spezia to Pisa, came off the tracks near the station in Viareggio.

“Two buildings collapsed and burned down, there are others in a serious condition,” said Viareggio Mayor Luca Lunardini.

Several of the victims, including at least one child, died when their houses collapsed with the force of the blast. At least two other people are believed to have been killed on the road by the station. Many of the injured suffered severe burns.

Some 300 firefighters from all over the Tuscany region fought the blaze throughout the night, and approximately 1,000 people were evacuated from their homes.

“The emergency and danger are not over. The area has been sealed-off and search and rescue operations are ongoing,” said Guido Bertolasso of Italy’s Civil Protection Department.

The main railway line along the Italian Riviera, which runs through densely populated towns built between the mountains and the sea, remains blocked.

An official inquiry into the cause of the accident has already begun.

Police say the incident may have been caused by damage to the tracks or a problem with the train’s braking system. Railway unions are blaming old and obsolete rolling stock.

The train’s two engineers, who were only slightly injured, said they felt an impact about 200m (650ft) outside the station, shortly before the rear of the train derailed, officials say.

Conductor Killed in Alabama Train Derailment

Dustin Moles, 33, was killed late June 24 when the train on which he was working as a conductor derailed while delivering tanker cars. Albertville Assistant Chief Doug Pollard said the train was dropping cars at Progress Rail when the accident occurred.

The police department received a call about 11 p.m. that a train had derailed and the conductor was missing, said Pollard. By the time police and fire officials arrived on the scene the conductor, Moles had been found crushed between a tanker car and a pile of scrap metal. It took the Albertville Fire Department about four hours to free Moles. Pollard said it appears that the conductor was on a platform on a tanker at the back of the 75-car Alabama-Tennessee River Railroad train, guiding it in at Progress Rail, when the train came off the tracks and slid to the side.

Moles was a former Glencoe police officer, but left the department in October 2006 to take a job with the railroad.