CSX Derailment in DC spilling chemicals...

The leak of sodium hydroxide (used in dish soap, detergents, etc per my understanding) has long been contained. 

I'd be curious to know what the cause is. That spot (which is, shall we say, a less than "great" neighborhood) is exactly where the crossovers are located as well as the switch to Union Station - a very heavily travelled section of track. I suspect there will be no MARC commuter trains into and out of Washington from Montgomery County/Frederick County MD and West Virginia on the Brunswick Line as they use that switch and crossovers as the only in/out of Union Station from the west at least for tomorrow. Amtrak 29/30, the Capitol Limited, terminated at Point of Rocks, spun on the wye and then went west to Pittsburgh. I'd almost guarantee this had to do somehow with the crossovers and/or Union Station switch as that is where the derailed cars are sitting. 

There would not have been pushers on this train. CSX is forbidden to use pushers alongside the WMATA tracks. WMATA is elevated here but drops to a shared ROW with the B&O/CSX Metropolitan Sub just west of here. 

Travelled through here twice or more per day, 5 days a week, for several years. I know the area very well. Of course, I hope the CSX crew is OK. Material things can be replaced, people can't!

Is it me, or it seems to me CSX had had some issues recently along this section of rail line?

CSX. We move tomorrow what should've been done today.

Dominic Mazoch posted:

Is it me, or it seems to me CSX had had some issues recently along this section of rail line?

It's you. This is the first issue (outside of the fools driving/walking into the path of the trains) in over a decade on this line. The last derailment on this line was in July 2002, caused by a heat kink, about 15 miles west of here. 

Maybe you're thinking of the Washington Metro, which shares the ROW in this area. Metro, on the other hand, is a REAL train wreck - in many ways!!!! 

I was listening to the Radio of 101.7 out of Meadville PA this afternoon while working on our layout and some reporter said that a CSX Train Derailed in DC and it had a leaking Ethanol Car, but there are no causalities. Outside of the leaking car, that's a great thing of no causalities. As I recall of a Trains Magazine within the year of them mentioning more accidents with Ethanol Cars is becoming more probable, but the new designed Ethanol cars are being made better then the past ones.

This was CSX train Q401, with 3 locos and 175 cars, going from Cumberland,MD. to Hamlet,SC.
3 tankers leaked to some degree, 1 sodium hydroxide, 1 calcium chloride, and 1 ethanol.
Up to 15 cars involved.
Amtrak will reportedly not run tomorrow, MARC Rail will terminate in Silver Spring,MD. Metrorail is expected to have full service.
Usual hysteria by media outlets and protest groups.
Photos forwarded to me by a source with connections to DC Fire/EMS, which had the situation under control quickly.

Washington Post has full updates/photos also.

From the photos I thought this was near the VA Tunnel but I see its on the Metropolitan Sub right above Union Station.  Really not even near the downtown of DC.  

3 engines and 175 cars? That is a lot of train for 3 power units.

Paul

ABC news called it a cargo train.  Funny I thought all these years wrongly that it was called a freight train

Railrunnin posted:

3 engines and 175 cars? That is a lot of train for 3 power units.

Paul

A lot depends on the tonnage of the train too, not to mention if there are no grades to be negotiated.

Sodium hydroxide is caustic soda-- it is really dangerous.  It is the stuff (once?) used to clean blocked sink drains in the home.

Given the sensitivity in Congress to the rail haulage of hazardous cargo through the District (D.C.) within sight of the US Capital (see pix above), I cannot imagine why CSX would ever have even considered placing both dangerous chemical and flammable fuel cars in the consist of a 175-car freight train on this sensitive route.  Has the length of this train been misreported?

It is clear, whatever the cause of the braking effort, the rear of this train ran into the front with clearly excessive force, and at the 70th car, the lateral forces caused cars to leave the rails and eventually accordian cross-wise to their path.  This occurred in a 30-mph zone (see pix)...

There is no reason to expect that this train exceeded 30.  In other words, with a train of such length and nature, an accident like this can happen any day under normal operating conditions.  Or is unintended brake application so rare that no one has ever experienced one?

Does anyone know how long such consists have operated through the District on CSX track?  Or is this a first? Or two trains combined because of engine failure enroute?

--Frank

Mike W. posted:

From the photos I thought this was near the VA Tunnel but I see its on the Metropolitan Sub right above Union Station.  Really not even near the downtown of DC.  

No, not near the Virginia Avenue tunnel but be assured that the anti-tunnel improvement crowd jumped all over this. Some coverage today in the Wash Post. Moot in my book as they lost in court several times and the construction is well underway. 

SJC posted:

 CSX is forbidden to use pushers alongside the WMATA tracks.

I'm no railroadman. Is there something inherently dangerous about "pushers?"

Frank:

If your question is how long has CSX handled hazmat through DC; the answer is since there has been a CSX.

For hazmat shipments originating in the chemical coast area of north Jersey or even up into the Montreal area, the CSX lines that pass through Washington are the most direct route to the southeastern U.S.

Moving hazmat through the District is not unique.  You would be hard pressed to find any rail route handling hazmat that does not pass through major population centers here in the U.S. or Canada.  

Yet, despite the number of hazardous shipments daily moving through our major cities, transport of hazmat by rail is infinitely safer than moving it over the road.  The AAR has, for some time now, noted that something like 99.99% of hazmat handled by rail moves safely and without incident.

Curt

I sold caustic soda, it should be respected but not all that dangerous.   Bleach is liquid caustic soda with chlorine in it. The chlorine is the dangerous one.

Terry Danks posted:

SJC posted:

 CSX is forbidden to use pushers alongside the WMATA tracks.

I'm no railroadman. Is there something inherently dangerous about "pushers?"

 

Not that I know of but my railroading experience involves the local 2 foot gauge park railroad and the local tourist railroad (standard gauge, full size equipment, about 8 miles of track).

WMATA (Washington Metro) shares the old B&O/CSX ROW with CSX in several areas. WMATA runs down the middle with the CSX tracks on each side. Chain link fences separate the two. Back in the 19080s I believe a Chessie/CSX train using pushers pushing way too hard managed to derail a train causing it to break through the barrier and end up on the electrified Metro ROW.

Found this from a CSX employee I asked "You can't shove while against the Metro track. It is in the rule book. Back in '86, they piled 'em up at Takoma Park while shoving a train. The wreck entered the WMATA row." In addition, this area of the derailment, helpers are not needed. Once you get west toward Gaithersburg, Burnsville, Pars Ridge, etc you REALLY need all the help you can get!

Speaking of the section where metro runs between the CSX main...was the CSX line stretched or did there used to be enough B&O tracks there to fill that width?  Also, this got me looking at Pot Yard.  I see on historic aerials that the yard is full in 1980.  So why no need for a yard as reportedly more freight moves on rail now than 1980.  Is it all about connections....and no longer need those transfers?  Plus what was 4 RR is now 2.

I take the VRE often and have never seen a 100 car plus train, one time I counted a 90 car train(it gets boring on a train sometimes) and I have never seen pusher engines on any trains. Lately the CSX traffic on that line has been light lately. I often would see at least three CSX trains in resent years,  now I am lucky to see one on my way from Union Station to Fredericksburg.

John, I keep my boat just downstream from the CSX bridge over the Occoquan River.  Believe me, there are many freights daily.

RJR posted:

John, I keep my boat just downstream from the CSX bridge over the Occoquan River.  Believe me, there are many freights daily.

I am sure there is however during rush hour there has not been as many, I am always looking for them.

The news has a live video. You can see a car derail and the others pile up.  Looks like it happend at the interlocking near the Rhode Island Metro Station.  Perhaps its time to install flush-frog switches on all main lines.  BTW I had a layover at Reagan Airport in 2009 and saw one freight train after the other in the old Pot Yard area.