TOPOCK, Ariz. — Derailed cars of BNSF Railway train that derailed Wednesday night were carrying corn syrup, the railroad reports, correcting initial reports from the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office that hazardous materials were on board.
CNN reports that BNSF spokeswoman Lena Kent told the news network that the derailment occurred about 7:40 p.m. near the Arizona-California state line and that no injuries were involved. Kent said approximately eight railcars were involved. A BNSF customer advisory placed the accident site about 11 miles southeast of Needles, Calif., on the Seligman Subdivision and did not have an estimated time for reopening the main line.
A sheriff’s office spokeswoman said no spills from the train had been reported. The railroad said the cause of the accident was under investigation.
The derailment impacted operations of Amtrak’s Southwest Chief on Wednesday night. According to the Amtrak Alerts Twitter feed, the westbound Chief that departed Chicago on Tuesday was terminated in Winslow, Ariz., while the eastbound Chief that departed Los Angeles on Wednesday was cancelled between Victorville, Calif., and Gallup, N.M.
With all the derailments, is it possible that we have reached the limit of train size with current practices and equipment technology?
Corn syrup is hazardous….
To your health
Someone not doing a very good job training first responders in that area. Tank cars carry things other than hazardous material stuff. Probably no red placards.
In my career I went to fire, police and sheriffs and had sessions to explain that type of stuff in my territory. Get to the conductor as quick as possible as he has the information on everything in the train. If you see the engineer and conductor running away from the train pick them up and rapidly drive safely away.
I’ve been retired 16 years so maybe that type of training isn’t done anymore but should be