[Parley Baer]

“Leaving a train of estimated $8,000,000 value unattended seems like a poor carriage of fiduciary responsibility”

From what I read the train was “supposedly” tied down while they were waiting for another crew to take over. Obviously the train got loose and rolled down hill into the community where the derailment and disaster took place.

[Paladin2]

So was the train left with the locomotives on the front and the cars in the back? Or were the locos pulled and run off to somewhere where they weren't blocking the path of the cars? (The train was east bound and left off toteh west of town.

Were the train brakes used to the point of getting quite hot just before having the manual brakes put on at least some of the cars at the tie down location? If so, do cooling manual brakes on rail cars have a reduced braking force as all of the components cool down over the next hour or two?

How much did the Nantes FD screw with the locomotive that was on fire? The others? The rest of the train? The Nantes FD were the last authority at the top of the hill.

[Rodamala]

I am not seeing anything as to cause... was the power still coupled to the unit train? If not, the cut of cars would have had to have had the air bottled up before the cut... not likely.

I do recall seeing a video of the inferno... and in the foreground was the end on the unit train with End of Train device blinking away.

So... where was the power. I could dig around on the railfan boards, but would rather not. I have enough crude oil unit train derailments to contend with at the moment.