MARYSVILLE, Pa. — Six cars of a Norfolk Southern train derailed on the landmark Rockville bridge crossing the Susquehanna River early this morning (Friday, Dec. 2), sending at least one railcar onto a roadway below the bridge.
It was one of at least two NS derailments early today. The other, near Hanover, W.Va., involved five cars of a coal train.
The Marysville Fire Co. reported the incident on its Facebook page about 3 a.m. and said South Main Street would be closed for several hours as a result. WGAL-TV reports the railroad said no injuries were reported and no hazardous materials were involved.
The incident in Hanover was reported about 3:35 a.m. and has blocked U.S. Route 52. It reportedly crushed at least five vehicles parked at Hanover Wrecker Service adjacent to the tracks, WVNS-TV reports. No injuries were reported in that incident.
Be careful when you say “eastbound” (or west for that matter) on the Rockville Bridge. A train going compass east across the bridge will either turn right and become eastbound toward Reading, or turn left and go west up the Buffalo line. Same in the opposite direction, can go either way..
Reviewed a different video from WHTM, Harrisburg.
Train was Eastbound, derailed on connector from Enola to Rockville. Some cars were RBMN so I might guess train was from Baltimore via Perryville and the Port Road to Enola then thru HBG to go up onto the ex-Reading Company line to deliver the cars to RBMN at Reading, then continue to Allentown and Oak Island (Jersey City.)
It was not a megatrain as Amtrak does not allow them on the NEC* but may have filled out at Enola.
* I shudder at the thought of a megatrain on the 15 mph curve at Perryville.
Hmmmm. MT coal gon, megatrains, sharp curve. Stringline, anyone? Rockville Bridge is at a 90 degree angle to the lines on both sides of the river.
Marysville is on the West side of Rockville Bridge.
Can’t be putting too much blame on new engineers. They’re not running the trains. Computers and Wall Street are.
Since the car resting on the road is a bathtub gondola and there isn’t a pile of coal visible it is probably an empty going back up the old Harrisburg Buffalo line to the Central Pennsylvania coal fields.
Train symbol?
Not to worry using OTO will solve everything. LOL
This is a repeat of one that happened a year or so ago. That’s a tight curve on a slight grade. It takes skilled handling to pass over it, although it’s been there for a hundred years and the Pennsy never had the problem. Do any of these six-month wonders of engineers being trained on simulators have any on-the-job training in handling buff forces and slack action?
The stat to look for is derails per car mile.
Another thing to look at is the causes. Bad track, degraded maintenance, failed trucks, employee error (like leaving a switch open), railcar failure.
I would like to see what the data shows since the Class 1’s went to PSR style lengths in each consist. I also would like to see the stats for derails per employee hours. With so many reductions in staff across the board, I would wonder if inspections are below the norm.
I would like to see an in-depth analysis of dynamic train forces on the mega trains; buff, draft, inside and outside railhead forces on curves and grades during acceleration and deceleration.
Unit trains of one car type probably do not have significant deviations in dynamic forces. However, mixed manifests of multiple cars types and load types do have deviations in dynamic forces. The placement of blocks and car types within the blocks factor in as well. I recall the Canadian Safety Board determining a prior derailment on CN was caused by several long travel boxcars pushing an empty, short length tank car off the rail while the freight braked on a downhill curve.
Any thoughts from the Civil or Mechanical Engineers out there?
I asked the former employee of the TTC if they tested for this and for older cars. He said yes to older cars but didn’t answer me on effects of PSR on the items you mention above.
No. This happens but rarely gets on the news. Gotta check Google/DuckDuckGo but I’ve been to that location.
This week’s big pubic derailment. It’s getting sort of monotonous. Are railroads as they are now run a threat to piblic safety?
Three significant derailments this week; one on CP in Canada and two on NS here in the US. Have I missed any?