Posted on 09/25/2004 11:03:26 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
For the third time this year, freight trains carrying hazardous cargo collided in San Antonio, this time causing no spills, leaks or casualties but frightening nearby residents, shaking telephone poles like tuning forks and raising the specter of what-if.
At 11 p.m. Friday, a runaway string of 50 rail cars rolling backward from a northbound train struck an 80-car Union Pacific train nearly broadside just east of Brackenridge High School.
The eastbound Union Pacific train was pulling 14 tankers of sulfuric acid and five tankers of sodium hydroxide, or lye.
Both substances are hazardous and potentially deadly.
Five cars were punctured and one leaked magnesium chloride, a bitter crystalline salt used to replenish electrolytes in the body. But the substance is not toxic or flammable, a fire official said.
Informed of the close call, County Judge Nelson Wolff said the wreck was yet another example of the railroads' cavalier attitude toward local residents.
"I'm frustrated," Wolff said.
Neither railroad is friendly to proposals for rerouting rail lines that carry hazardous cargo around the city, as was recently done in Brownsville with a $47 million investment, he said.
"The first thing is, they're getting a lot more freight to haul. The second thing is that San Antonio has never been a priority for the railroads because San Antonio has never had a lot of outgoing freight.
"The third thing is that all the lines lead right through the heart of the city," Wolff said.
The wreck occurred just two blocks east of where the rail line crosses the San Antonio River south of the high school, where a collision May 3 sent two locomotives and 12 rail cars into the water and onto nearby South St. Mary's Street.
Four tanker cars that stayed on the tracks that day were carrying highly explosive propane.
Later, on June 28, a collision just outside the city limits in South Bexar County left three people dead and 49 injured, mostly from the toxic fumes of chlorine gas.
The runaway cars in Friday's collision came from an 81-car Burlington Northern Santa Fe train and apparently were detached by hobos who were trying to get off the train and may have hit the brakes to slow it down.
Each rail car has its own set of brakes.
The resulting string of cars — most of them brand-new empty boxcars — rolled downhill for about 2 miles before running into the Union Pacific train as its 30th car rolled by a switch between South St. Mary's and South Presa streets.
The Union Pacific tankers carrying hazardous cargo were farther to the rear.
Had the cars from the other train been detached seconds or minutes later, a worse disaster could have occurred, agreed Union Pacific spokesman John Bromley.
Sulfuric acid is harmful if inhaled and corrosive if it comes into contact with eyes or skin.
Sodium hydroxide also is extremely corrosive and reactive. If inhaled or ingested, it can cause severe burns to the mouth, throat and stomach, leading to scarring of tissue or death.
"The railroad police did an extensive search, and what they found was consistent with train riders trying to use the brakes to slow the train down and get off," Bromley said.
The wreck occurred near the same spot where two engines and 12 rail cars derailed in May into the nearby San Antonio River. Three people were injured and 5,600 gallons of diesel fuel spilled out.
"There was a lot of screeching, breaking, bumping, sparks and then the impact — boommmmm," wrote Roland Castanuela, of the 100 block of Vitra Street.
Railroad officials had no idea how fast the cars were moving down the track.
"We had a whole view of it," said Albert Hernandez, who lives next door to Castanuela with his fiancée, Harley Reese.
Less than 100 yards from the switch where the collision occurred, Hernandez and Reese said they were in their living room watching TV when they began to feel their duplex shake.
"I felt the walls shaking while it was happening — it was right at 11 p.m. — and we opened the front door and we saw it all right there. We saw the biggest part of it," Hernandez said.
"The telephone poles looked like rubber, the wires were bouncing all around and the sparks were flying," he added, explaining the effect of a rail car that took out a utility pole and temporarily caused a power outage to the surrounding neighborhoods.
"I had a panic attack. I was scared," said Reese. "The Lord kept it all over there, and no one got hurt."
Burlington Northern Santa Fe officials at the wreck scene would not consent to be interviewed, and corporate media contacts did not return repeated phone calls.
Union Pacific crews and contractors went to work clearing the wreckage immediately after it was determined there was no hazardous chemicals to slow things down. They were rebuilding the track and switch by 9 a.m. Saturday.
Freight was expected to be moving through the tracks by 6 p.m. and all three tracks were expected to be open by 10 p.m.
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tbower@express-news.net
We must assume they want to do harm.
______________________________________________________________
[This is the story in the Houston Chronicle]
SAN ANTONIO -- The rear 50 cars of a freight train detached and rolled backward for two miles near San Antonio, smashing into another train, a Union Pacific spokesman said.
The Burlington Northern Sante Fe and Union Pacific trains collided about 11 p.m. Friday, derailing about 25 cars from both trains and spilling magnesium chloride from one car. There were no reported injuries and no one was evacuated from their homes.
Union Pacific spokesman John Bromley said unlawful riders on the eastbound Burlington Northern Sante Fe train may have pulled a brake lever, detaching the cars that hit the Union Pacific train.
Magnesium chloride is neither flammable nor toxic, said Randy Jenkins, district chief of the San Antonio Fire Department.
"We're not looking at a major environmental concern, and we're not looking at any health hazards," he told the San Antonio Express-News for today's online edition.
Trespassers are common on trains, Bromley said, and regular riders know how to stop a train.
"It's rare they're looking to harm anyone or anything," Bromley said. "I think they just wanted to get off."
It's the city's third train derailment this year. This is the second time this year Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe trains have collided in the area. Previously, a Union Pacific train derailed near the location of Friday night's derailment.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2814655
Throw the bums in prison for 500 years and the problem will be solved.
Illegal aliens?
Perhaps. But they could also be terrorists who are now using the Mexican border, and quite easily from what I read and hear.
I'm puzzled, though--wouldn't uncoupling cars on a moving train cause all the brakes along the entire train to get automatically thrown pretty quickly? Or did whoever uncoupled the cars cap the brake lines to prevent that from happening?
They need to patrol the trains much more carefully.
Northbound train. So they are Mexican illegals bailing out in a nice big warm place where they'll be swallowed up. Or maybe some islamofascists from abroad. Who knows? G'mint ought to police the borders, don't you know.
Northbound train. So they are Mexican illegals bailing out in a nice big warm place where they'll be swallowed up. Or maybe some islamofascists from abroad. Who knows? G'mint ought to police the borders, don't you know.
You're more informed than me.
I don't know.
There is a good chance you are correct.
Maybe snipers with rubber bullets or rock salt?
Or maybe I'm stuck on the sniper theme? It's late....
Dogs could work the trains.
Brake Pipe
The pipe running the length of the train, which transmits the variations in pressure required to control the brake on each vehicle. It is connected between vehicles by flexible hoses, which can be uncoupled to allow vehicles to be separated. The use of the air system makes the brake "fail safe", i.e. loss of air in the brake pipe will cause the brake to apply. Brake pipe pressure loss can be through a number of causes as follows:
* A controlled reduction of pressure by the driver
* A rapid reduction by the driver using the emergency position on his brake valve
* A rapid reduction by the conductor (guard) who has an emergency valve at his position
* A rapid reduction by passengers (on some railways) using an emergency system to open a valve
* A rapid reduction through a burst pipe or hose
* A rapid reduction when the hoses part as a result of the train becoming parted or derailed.
Could "brand-new empty boxcars" have anything to do with it?
I've seen illegal aliens hop off of box cars in Casa Grande, AZ.
The fact that they were empty should make the brakes work better. Train cars are supposed to have brakes that turn on when they lose air so that they won't roll downhill if they are accidentally detached. Maybe someone who knows more about trains than me can comment on how this happened.
Thanks
Sorry, I have this Doctor Evil thing going here, time to go home and get some sleep.
But really, it's a thought, I think that the people board the trains as they move slowly, so it might be very dangerous for dogs. After all, they can scent them out, but working a moving train of box cars just seems a little too much.
They will calmly bribe, obfuscate, deny, and also murder when it suits them...they are not held accountable for their shameful disregard for safety and the prevention of such incidents
This incident is one more of many that will be blamed on mythical causes...as posted above several times, a rolling disconnect should cause immediate braking of the loose rolling stock...so in conclusion, place the blame where it truly belongs...on the railroad - the rolling stock - the sleeping driver. ! .
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