HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. — A CSX freight train derailed on a bridge over the Potomac River derailed early Saturday morning, sending two cars into the river and damaging part of the bridge. An attached footbridge, part of the Appalachian Trail through the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, was knocked down.
Seven cars derailed, the Washington Post reports, in the accident about 2:30 a.m. The railroad says no one was injured. The cars involved were empty grain hoppers.
The National Park Service reports the footbridge is closed indefinitely, meaning park visitors will be unable to cross between Harpers Ferry and the C&O Canal towpath, and from Harpers Ferry to the Maryland Heights trail.
Other portions of the park are also closed because of the proximity to the accident.
The train had 105 empty grain hoppers going to Brunswick, MD from Kraft Foods in Winchester, VA. Per one of the local CSX fan pages, the stopped train had received a green signal to go through the switch from the Winchester branch onto the eastbound main track. The branch has a sharp”S” curve just before the bridge.
The current speculation is that the air to release the brakes had not reached the rear of the train prior to the locomotives throttling up. That in turn caused the train to string line going onto the bridge.
Some railfans complain they don’t know what CSX stands for but it’s really quite simple. C: Crash S: Smash X: eXplode
Other sources have stated that the covered hopper cars were empty. And, yes, an empty train can be stringlined under certain circumstances. i.e. Brakes stuck, brakes not completely released, improper brake handling, trainline leakage causing an undesired application of brakes, etc.
It really won’t take much actual work to repair the footbridge. But it will be a lot of paperwork to get it done. I doubt if the steel on the girders was even damaged. Just the added on walkway.
It will be interesting (probably sad) to see the outcome of the accident. The foot bridge which is very popular as both part of the Appalachian trail and the national park. It is both very scenic and a great Rail Fan spot!. I crossed it this summer while visiting the area. The bridge that the accident is on is the branch to Winchester VA and not part of the CSX (Former B&O) main from Point of Rocks to Cumberland.
I could easily seeing CSX and the Park Services deciding the potential hazards of the crossing to not be worth fixing and re-opening. The line is less frequently used and maybe closing the bridge to pedestrians at night and allowing traffic to pass only during those closed hours might be a reasonable compromise.
How long was the train and where were the de-railed cars in the consist.? Was DPU involved? I can’t wait for the answers to those questions.
It sure looks like stringlining. I saw a 360 degree drone shot and looking down on it with the sharp curve I would almost bet it stringlined.
Mr MacFarlane. “The cars involved were empty grain hoppers.” The article does not mention anything about the train, other than it was a freight train.
I walked across that footbridge years ago on my Harpers Ferry vacation. Didn’t see any trains though. I hope the footbridge is rebuilt when and if the main bridge is rebuilt. IIRC the footbridge is part of the Appalachian Trail.
Did you not read the article, it was an EMPTY grain train, which means that all the cars are of the same relative weight and make up…string lining in this case is probably the farthest from the cause. I see no reason for the bridge and attached trail bridge not to be repaired by CSX, since it was obviously their train that damaged it. Since it’s attached and not actually part of the railroad bridge there is no hazard other than the potential of a derailment while people are walking on it, but since it’s a lightly used line that’s rather a moot point.
It’s a huge footbridge which is heavily trafficked by people every day.
That’s a huge Footbridge!! Made for what. Sasquatch, elephants, politician’s egos? Do they pay fees?
The bridge that has the footbridge attached is the one for the branch that runs along the Shenandoah River so it is possible that the train stringlined into the river.
Stringlined into the river?