A cut of cars ran away downgrade on BNSF Railway’s Slaton Subdivision in the Texas Panhandle on Sunday morning and collided with the lead locomotive of a westbound train, demolishing its cab.
The crew was warned ahead of time and was able to move to safety. Images online showed a flatcar carrying steel pipe crashed into the lead locomotive. One of the pipes pierced the cab.
BNSF confirmed that nine cars, carrying pipes and plastic pellets, derailed at 1:45 a.m. on Sunday. The line was reopened on Monday.
The incident, which occurred near Post, Texas, is under investigation. Post is about 40 miles southeast of Lubbock.
I saw the photos, but now can’t seem to find it
I saw some pictures of the accident, and if the crew hadn’t been notified and able to get out of the cab to a safe location they wouldn’t have made it. The cab was totally destroyed.
Curious to know where these cars were parked. On the main? On a siding with no derail set? On a yard track somewhere? Did they run through a closed switch without derailing? Were the air hoses closed at each end so there was pressure in the pipe keeping brakes off? Is a puzzlement.
Something like this happened in Avon/Indianapolis around 2008. The cars went east from Big 4 and hit a stopped train. I can’t remember how much warning the crew had. They did have serious injuries as I recall.
BNSF’s Owner is Warren Buffett, the billionaire and often refereed to as the “Omaha Oracle.” He is the owner of BNSF but he leaves the operation of the railroad to the railroad folks, same as with all the other companies he owns. He will hold management responsible but he makes no bones that he is an owner investor and not a hands- on owner. He has other key members of Berkshire Hathaway for that function.
This accident was not due to greed per se. It was due to mechanical failure or lack of adherence to company and railroad safety protocols which allowed the cars to run away in the first place. The NSTB will have the answer in due course and then we will all know what happened. In the meantime. as Dr. Ustun has pointed out, we can all be glad that no one was killed or injured.
How many of these accidents are due to railroad owner and executive greed?
Good one! With zero knowledge of the cause of this particular incident, you managed to promote your agenda!
How about BNSF abandon all trackage and liquidate the company? That would eliminate not only “executive greed” but all possible accidents. Put all that freight on trucks.
Fortunately, this time the cab crew were quite lucky!
Dr. Güntürk Üstün