Small UP Derailment not too far from my town

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Hmmm...seems odd that the lead unit made it through the crossing and the trailing unit derailed, if ice and snow buildup in the flangeways was the problem.
 
Im supprised there was a diesel spill because of that lean. I figured they used an entirely closed system. Sans maybe a few vent hoses to let the gases in the tank out but still.
 


No, they aren't closed systems. They are not much different than a car gas tank. If you lean it over far enough, fuel will leak out of the filler pipe. No different with a locomotive. The small amount of spillage is probably due to the fact that the angle of lean wasn't very acute.

I'd be interested in seeing what the result of the investigation is. I know that the SP always used to run units with plows all facing forward in consists, in case the first unit's plow knocked debris under the engine that might derail a trailing unit. I notice this train had the trailing unit facing to the rear.
 
I'm thinking this pic is of the trailing unit and the leaning loco was the first one like stated in the story. I believe the pic was taken at the crossing. I could totally be wrong on this since I never got to the site myself to see but thats what I'm thinking.
 
UP2CSX said:
No, they aren't closed systems. They are not much different than a car gas tank. If you lean it over far enough, fuel will leak out of the filler pipe. No different with a locomotive. The small amount of spillage is probably due to the fact that the angle of lean wasn't very acute.

I'd be interested in seeing what the result of the investigation is. I know that the SP always used to run units with plows all facing forward in consists, in case the first unit's plow knocked debris under the engine that might derail a trailing unit. I notice this train had the trailing unit facing to the rear.
Click to expand...

I figured that much. Actually, automotive fuel systems are a fully closed system so in case of a roll over, the occupants arent burned alive just in case. As for the venting system, its baffled in such a way then in case it does happen, a check ball is there to close off the tube. I wont say its impossible not to have ever happened though. In a crash there are no rules and anything can happen but thats how its designed to work.
 
UPDATE: According to my dad who hauls crews for the UP this wasnt on the main line it was on a siding as they were coming to get those empty cars as mentioned in the story. The "crossing" there refering to is just a dirt road for the crew vans to get to the trains and pic up crews. My dad says there was alot of ice and snow covering those tracks. They hadnt really been cleared or anything since the first snow fall we had back in the middle of December.

The cars had been sitting there since November. Of course this is all coming from a engineer and conductor that you see in the pic. So there might be some embelshishment to the story..lol
 
Well, the story makes no sense since it said the front locomotive was leaning but it was pulling a forty car train. There are obviously no cars attached, unless they are out of sight behind the rear leaning engine . The headlight appears to be too bright to be a trailing unit. If the engines were going down the spur to pick up the cars, the number of cars seems irrelevant to the story. Once again, it seems as if the press is good at at scrambling the facts.
 
Guys. You are making a lot of assumptions here.
Since there are no cars, its possible that the cars have been moved which means the picture is several hours after it happened. The picture may be taken from the trailing end of the consist and the FRONT engine may be the derailed end and the trailing engine may be the one with the headlight on (which may have moved the cars then returned to rerail the engines). You are also assuming that the fuel spill was because of the units leaning, it might be because the fuel tank was punctured when the units derailed.
 


Indeed, we are all making assumptions. However, having worked a couple of derailments and wrecks, I know for sure that nothing was allowed to move until the NTSB and FRA inspectors arrived on site. It's hard to imagine that the trailing unit would have moved the cars and them returned to help rerail the engine but who knows? That's why I'd like to see the NTSB report when it comes out.
 
From what im getting from my dad from the crew that was on location...there was no cars with the train. They were going to retreve the 40 cars.. This was just two locos alone when this had happened.
 
It's not only possible but fairly common in places with dirt crossings and cold weather. Vehicles going across the crossing tend to clog the flangeway with dirt, rocks, snow, and ice. With the right conditions, this mixture can freeze to a hardness stronger than concrete. The first flange hitting it will tend to break it up but not before it slides up and over the track and then slides down the rail with one truck derailed, stopping when it hits another obstruction. This is one of the reasons so many railroads equip thier engines with pilot plows.
 
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