A BNSF train with 103 loads of North Dakota crude derailed near Galena, Illinois. Some of the cars ruptured and caught fire.
BNSF crude oil train derailment
Stuart
Original Post
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It is only March 5. Is the 3rd or 4th time this has happened in 2015? It seems as if an oil train derailment along with a fire or major spill is becoming a monthly event.
This is not good. Perhaps they should run shorter trains and run them slower.
Joe
So many other things are carried in tank cars across the country without incident...Ethanol...all types of chemicals like ammonia, etc...
And a lot of the rails follow the rivers , Not good.
Wow another one...uh boy not good.
Does anyone make a model of the 70,000 gallon tank car they mention?
Dang! I wish they would quit doing this! Not just for railroad reasons, for which there is a long list...like safety of the crews...but because it wastes resources we are short
of, and drives up our fuel prices, providing another excuse for artificial, wild, and capricious price increases. And provides excuses to make getting those resources
harder, which will immediately translate into higher prices.
Originally Posted by colorado hirailer:
Dang! I wish they would quit doing this! Not just for railroad reasons, for which there is a long list...like safety of the crews...but because it wastes resources we are short
of,
Short of? There was an article in the Chicago Tribune just a day or so ago, that the U.S. has so much oil, that the industry is now seeking out ways to STORE THE EXCESS!
I do agree that these "oil spills" are certainly wasteful, and damage the environment in the process.
and drives up our fuel prices, providing another excuse for artificial, wild, and capricious price increases.
They do that anyway, and then have the news media "explain" to us dummies that; 1) they are doing maintenance on the refineries, so supplies of gasoline are down, 2) there is a labor strike going on with the union folks who work at the refineries, 3) they are reformulating the gasoline for the summer blend (remember they told us all the same thing every fall too).
And provides excuses to make getting those resources
harder,
And now it appears that the Keystone Pipe Line is dead, since you know who vetoed it.
which will immediately translate into higher prices.
With the current surpluses and reducing demand, that will be hard to explain.
Apparently the tank cars involved are of the new, improved design, which still split open.
New tank cars involved in Galena wreck
Perhaps the answer needed to reduce the hazard in these crude oil trains is to have a buffer car between each tank car. (Flame suit on).
Stuart
Originally Posted by Lima:
Does anyone make a model of the 70,000 gallon tank car they mention?
Nobody. Not even in 1:1 scale.
Biggest tank cars ever made were experimental 8-axle whale-belly cars that held 63,000 gallons (GATX 96000) and 50,000 gallons (UTLX 83699). The latter actually ran in revenue service. Both were relegated to museums, but the UTLX 83699 fell victim to a hurricane storm surge. The car wasn't damaged, but it floated onto an adjacent property and the museum couldn't raise enough $$$ to move it back to their own grounds, so it was scrapped in-place.
Maximum tanker size is about 35,000 gallons. I don't know if anyone makes the current crop of crude-oil tankers in 'O'--I suspect nobody, otherwise multiple someone-s would be assembling/have assembled endless-looking trains of them, with photos or video close behind.
---PCJ
Looks like this might be the problem....picked switch (unless they used power to track cars away from the flames and didn't care that the switch was damaged....unlikely since it would risk an additional spill).
Although it seems odd that if they picked the switch the cars would be pile up west of the switch (eastbound train).
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Speculation serves no purpose. It's up to the investigators to determine.
Rusty
Perhaps Canadian shippers should be required to reduce the amount of explosive-prone stuff they add to the crude.
Tony
Up on "The D & H Bridge Line"
Originally Posted by ALCO Fan:
Perhaps Canadian shippers should be required to reduce the amount of explosive-prone stuff they add to the crude.
Tony
Up on "The D & H Bridge Line"
Where does the stuff come from that the Canadian shippers add to the crude?
The Keystone pipeline could have prevented this accident, pipelines are a cheaper and safer way to transport liquids and gasses. The opposition was all political,environmental concerns were addressed in the pipelines original environmental statement and the subsequent environmental statements. Now we have to live with the decision.
The crude coming from North Dakota is different from the crude coming from Canada. The Canadian crude is very thick and needs special chemicals or heat to make it flow.
Because of the nearly 50% drop in crude prices the oil and gas industry has started massive layoffs of upstream (exploration and production) personnel, this is going to cause an eventual shortage and will result in much higher prices in a couple of years due to lack of supply. Think $7.00/ gal. + tax.
We are also going to become more dependent on foreign suppliers like our old friends Iran and Venezuela.
Douglas
Don't believe that nonsense!
The Keystone pipeline would not have prevented these accidents. It is meant to take Canadian crude down to refineries in Texas, which then would be exported. Any crude being shipped to the east would not have used the Keystone pipeline at all.
Stuart
I'm so far out of the loop now but. what restrictions if any are put on these unit trains?
Speed? inspections? number of cars? I don't like them going through my back yard as well. Does this stuff surge inside the tank cars?
