PUEBLO, Colo. — A broken rail is believed to have caused the derailment of a BNSF coal train near Pueblo on Sunday that led to the death of a truck driver on Interstate 25, according to preliminary findings of the National Transportation Safety Board.
The Colorado Sun news site reports NTSB investigators determined the broken rail was just east of a bridge that collapsed as a result of the derailment, falling onto a truck below and killing the driver. Some 30 cars of the 124-car train derailed, with a half-dozen or more ending up on the northbound lanes of I-25 and spilling their coal across the highway. I-25 remains closed and could be for several days, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement on Monday [see “One killed in coal-train derailment …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 15, 2023]. BNSF is saying derailment cleanup could be completed Wednesday, after which the Colorado Department of Transportation will assess what repairs are needed to reopen the highway.
NTSB investigators are continuing to work to determine why the rail broke and why signal systems did not alert crews to the problem, the agency said. The NTSB generally releases a preliminary investigation report — establishing basic facts of the incident — within 30 days, but can take up to two years to complete a final report addressing causes and recommended actions.
The Associated Press reports BNSF has not said when it last inspected the track where the derailment occurred and did not immediately respond to questions or requests regarding inspection information.
Seems I was wrong in speculating the bridge collpase caused the derailment. I wasn’t sure but that was my first guess. Me bad!
Charles, when you posted no one knew what caused it. You chose the bridge at the time. When I saw the truck, I thought the same, so I went to the Colorado bridge database instead.
There is a siding turnout just north of the bridge. Was the break in the rail at the turnout?
Or it was in in the process of becoming a broken rail and this train was the one that finished it off. I once reported a possible broken rail due to hearing what sounded like going over a rail joint where there was none. The mow crew that repaired it informed me they had a difficult time finding the break. Fortunately it was right next to a milepost so easy for the location id. The break was such a fine one. Don’t know if it was on top of a tie plate.
The break in the rail could have been on top of a tie plate, in which case the signal wouldn’t have shown restricted as the electrical current would pass from one end of the broken rail, across the metal tie plate, and on to the opposite side of the break. I found one like that one time on the eastbound main while riding on a work train ballast car dumping rock on the westbound main.
Of course, it is very important to know at what intervals track inspections are carried out by BNSF Railway.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün