Re: Train Derailments and Explosions 2013
December 17, 2013 - Tuesday - Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Freight train Derailment
http://wnep.com/2013/12/17/train-derails-dumps-coal-in-luzerne-county/
HAZLE TOWNSHIP — It will take days to clean up the mess in one part of Luzerne County after three railroad cars carrying coal derailed Tuesday. Reading and Northern Railroad officials were on scene investigating after the train went off the tracks.
Other train news:
December 15, 2013 - Sunday Boston, Massachusetts Small fire forces 200 riders from Blue Line train
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2013/12/15/small-fire-forces-riders-from-blue-line-train/SAQ2tuMje8rTeAkn6fba3O/story.html
A Blue Line train was evacuated just after midnight on Sunday when a small fire started on the tracks inside of the Aquarium Station tunnel, according to an MBTA spokeswoman. The fire was started by a spark emitted from an insulator on the rail and was very minor, MBTA spokeswoman Kelly Smith said. When firefighters responded to the scene, power on the tracks was turned off while they extinguished the smoldering rail, according to Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald. Nearly 200 passengers were evacuated from the train, he said. The MBTA provided shuttle busses for Blue Line passengers though the end of service and trains operated on a normal Sunday schedule in the morning, Smith said.
December 15, 2013 - Sunday Veles, Macedonia Passenger train and Freight train collide
http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/site/?pageid=event_desc&edis_id=VI-20131216-41954-MKD
Police in Macedonia say a passenger and a freight train have collided near the central town of Veles and several carriages have derailed. At least two people have been injured. Veles police spokeswoman Anita Stojkovska said the passenger and freight trains collided around 5:55 p.m. (1555 GMT) Sunday near Veles, 56 kilometres (35 miles) south of the capital, Skopje. Stojkovska said "a prosecutor and an investigation team are at the scene." Rail traffic from Skopje to the southern town of Gevgelija, at the border with Greece, has been suspended. A man with head injuries has been admitted to a Skopje hospital. Staff would not say whether the injuries are life-threatening. Another person, slightly injured, was admitted at the same hospital.
December 14, 2013 - Saturday Labrador City, Canada Passenger train - lost power
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/12/14/nearly_300_stranded_for_hours_in_labrador_in_freezing_cold_after_train_loses_power.html
LABRADOR CITY, N.L.—The Canadian Red Cross says 270 passengers huddled together for warmth in freezing temperatures for about eight hours Friday after the train they were travelling on lost power in western Labrador. The Red Cross says the Tshiuetin Rail Transportation train — which was travelling from Schefferville, Que., to Sept-Iles, Que. — was stopped about 65 kilometres east of Labrador City when it would not restart. The passengers, including children and seniors, used a few blankets and huddled together for hours as temperatures hovered around -30 C. After several attempts to fix the train’s electrical problems were unsuccessful, the passengers were evacuated around 4 p.m. and taken by bus to a high school gymnasium in Labrador City to arrange lodging. Some people were taken to hospital as a precaution, but no injuries were reported. Most of the passengers stayed in mining camp bunk houses in Labrador City and Wabush, N.L., while others were bused to similar camps in Fermont, Que. The railway was making arrangements to fly the passengers to Sept-Iles, Que., on Saturday.
December 12, 2013 - Thursday - Waverly, Virginia Amtrak Passenger trains hits vehicle
http://www.fireengineering.com/ap-news/2013/12/12/amtrak-train-collides-with-vehicle-in-virginia.html
WAVERLY, Va. (AP) — Authorities say an Amtrak train has collided with a vehicle in south central Virginia and there are injuries. Virginia State Police spokeswoman Sgt. Michelle Anaya says in a news release that the accident occurred on Route 40 in Waverly around 6 a.m. Thursday. Anaya says there are unknown injuries and a medical flight is heading to the scene. Amtrak spokeswoman Christina Leeds tells The Associated Press in an email that the Northeast Regional train 174 was traveling from Norfolk, Va., to Boston with 46 passengers on board. Leeds says there are no reported injuries to the passengers. She says the train will continue its route when authorities release it. Troopers are investigating the crash.
December 06, 2013 - Friday - Nyack, New York Freight train hits car hauler truck
http://nyack.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/train-car-carrier-collide-in-nyack-neighborhood
The train is carrying flammable liquids, believed to be crude oil. The car carrier was heading eastbound when it attempted to cross over the tracks. There are no crossing gates at the location. Two of the five cars on the carrier were totaled. The three other cars and one motorcycle had minor damage. EKO Transport of Jacksonville, FL owns the car carrier. Sgt. Cummings said the unidentified tractor-trailer driver was ejected from the vehicle and first responders found him conscious and moving although incoherent. He was taken to Nyack Hospital with a cracked pelvis and other severe injuries. The train engineer and assistant were not injured. He said the force of the collision between the northbound train and the tractor-trailer pushed part of the tractor-trailer 300 to 400 yards down the tracks.
December 05, 2013 - Thursday - Carteret, New Jersey Freight train derailment
http://www.myfoxny.com/story/24141594/2-cars-of-freight-train-derail-in-nj
CARTERET, N.J. (AP) -- No evacuations have been ordered after two tanker cars carrying a flammable liquid derailed from a freight train in New Jersey. Conrail spokesman John Enright says one car is leaning and the other overturned. Enright says the tankers were not compromised and are not leaking.
December 05, 2013 - Thursday - Berkeley Hills tunnel, San Francisco Train breaks lock while in tunnel
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Smoking-BART-train-stuck-in-East-Bay-hills-tunnel-5034506.php
The beleaguered BART system suffered another high-profile breakdown Wednesday when the emergency brakes on a train speeding through the Berkeley hills tunnel locked up, filling the cars with fumes. The fumes, which some passengers mistook for smoke, prompted several riders to seek medical treatment after being stuck onboard the crippled train for an hour, officials said. BART officials said a short circuit caused the train's emergency braking system - technology from the 1980s - to engage, which is relatively rare, having happened just three times this year, BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said. Late in the day, BART officials were still investigating the cause of the incident, which occurred about 8:30 a.m. after the westbound Pittsburg/Bay Point-line train, packed with 700 passengers, pulled out of the Orinda Station and entered the 3.2-mile tunnel. When the brakes locked up, she said, they released a small amount of light smoke - or dust - but also a strong odor. Battalion Chief Melinda Drayton of the Oakland Fire Department said the noxious fumes were brake dust. BART also switched on a ventilation system in the tunnel that causes gates to lower at the Orinda portal. When the tunnel was cleared, one of the gates failed to lift automatically and needed to be raised by hand. That forced BART to run alternating trains on a single track, slowing them even more.
December 02, 2013 - Monday - Nashville, Tennessee Freight train hits dump truck
http://www.wsmv.com/story/24115291/train-collides-with-dump-truck-in-bellevue
NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) - No injuries have been reported after a freight train collided with a dump truck Monday afternoon in Bellevue. The crash was reported about 3 p.m. near Scarcroft Lane and Gloucester Lane. Further information has not been released.
