Firefighters are evacuating the surrounding area in Rosedale , Baltimore county MD due to a train vs truck. There was a Hugh explosion that still burning. Hazmat crews now on the scene.
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Originally Posted by GEF:
Firefighters are evacuating the surrounding area in Rosedale , Baltimore county MD due to a train vs truck. There was a Hugh explosion that still burning. Hazmat crews now on the scene.
Saw this on WBAL and the Baltimore Sun website. They said the shock wave from the explosion was felt in Pasadena, MD...some 15 miles away! Hope everyone is o'kay.
Watch it here: (30-sec commercial preceding it . . .)
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/new...n/52023808/#52023808
Alex
Another link (live coverage, so may not be active for long):
Here's a couple stories, with photos:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...osion-Baltimore.html
http://news.msn.com/us/train-d...osion-near-baltimore
Nothing funny about the incident but watching and listening to the local newscasters struggling with train terms and the whole concept of trains does provide some comic relief.
Looks like a trash truck collided with the train. Driver taken to John's Hopkins shock trauma. Fire still burning. Track looks like it was really ripped up.
What I want to know is where did the term "cargo train" come from? I always thought they were freight trains! 
New terminology...kind of like "lash up"?
Originally Posted by ChessieMD:
Looks like a trash truck collided with the train. Driver taken to John's Hopkins shock trauma. Fire still burning. Track looks like it was really ripped up.
Now that's interesting. Do you mean that the trash hauler drove into the side of the train? From information posted on Train Orders .com, it seems that there is a private crossing there, that is only used by trucks (trash haulers?).
Originally Posted by Hot Water:
Originally Posted by ChessieMD:
Looks like a trash truck collided with the train. Driver taken to John's Hopkins shock trauma. Fire still burning. Track looks like it was really ripped up.
Now that's interesting. Do you mean that the trash hauler drove into the side of the train? From information posted on Train Orders .com, it seems that there is a private crossing there, that is only used by trucks (trash haulers?).
That is how WBAL tv described what happened. CSX, however, just released a statement saying that the train struck the truck....so the "fog of war" is in effect. They are still saying it was a trash truck.
15 cars derailed. Driver of truck sent to Maryland shock trauma. Two buildings sustained damage. Terra folic acid and fluoride in cars 8 and 9 are burning. Firefighters letting fire burn itself out.
Jerry
Poor Hugh!
Jon 
Originally Posted by Allan Miller:
What I want to know is where did the term "cargo train" come from? I always thought they were freight trains!
New terminology...kind of like "lash up"?
It seems that many of the major news orgs. titled the story as "cargo train derails..."
Here's a video (after the 15 second commercial) from ABC-7 in NYC that shows one of the large explosions (go to the 2.00 minute mark) you might need to restrain your smirk towards the over-caffeinated and hyper reporter.
..."trash truck"...
..."lash up"...
Does Tony Lash still own his trash business in that area?
Originally Posted by Allan Miller:
What I want to know is where did the term "cargo train" come from? I always thought they were freight trains!
New terminology...kind of like "lash up"?
The Daily Mail is a British newspaper. It should have said "goods train." 
New reports say that the locomotive was equipped with a "dash cam". That should reveal a lot about what happened.
Thanks for the video Jerry! It's the first I've seen that actually shows the vehicle that caused this accident.
All the other coverage likes the fire and smoke for the wow factor.
One thing is still constant-mess with a train and the train wins!
Originally Posted by KOOLjock1:
Poor Hugh!
Jon
I don't know about Next Generation. But Bones fom the TV seriers has a line about modern news reporting:
It's Dead, Jim.
From what I can see, it seems like we have another bad incident caused by the railroad's stupid audacity of wanting to use their track at the same time the innocent truck wanted to go across. One news "source" made much over the fact that there have been three train accidents in the month of May. That's the ticket. Let's pass more laws against train movements of any kind . . .
All this reporting has nothing to do with journalism, which has been dead for at least a couple of generations, now.
EdKing
Recent update from the AP
_____________________
Associated Press
May 29, 2013 07:07 PM EDT
Published: May 28 | Updated: Wednesday, May 29, 3:07 PM
ROSEDALE, Md. — Train operator CSX Transportation on Wednesday pointed to a hazardous chemical in a rail car as the source of an explosion on a derailed train near Baltimore that sparked a fire, rattled homes and damaged buildings. A company spokesman said officials still weren’t sure what caused the sodium chlorate to explode in the first place, but it ignited another chemical in a second car.
Authorities are continuing to look into the cause. Robert Sumwalt, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, said investigators were examining evidence on the scene and reviewing train video that might show the collision with a garbage truck that set off the incident. But he said they had not reached any conclusions.
CSX spokesman Gary Sease said the sodium chlorate in a derailed car near the front of the train exploded, igniting terephthalic acid in another derailed car. Sodium chlorate is used mainly as a bleaching agent in paper production. Oklahoma State University chemist Nick Materer said it could make for a potentially explosive mixture when combined with an incompatible substance such as spilled fuel.
Another chemist, Darlene Lyudmirskiy, of Spectrum Chemical Manufacturing Corp. in Gardena, Calif., said such a mixture would be unstable and wouldn’t need even a spark to cause a reaction.
“If it’s not compatible, anything could set it off,” she said.
Originally Posted by johnstrains:
Recent update from the AP
_____________________
Associated Press
May 29, 2013 07:07 PM EDT
Published: May 28 | Updated: Wednesday, May 29, 3:07 PM
ROSEDALE, Md. — Train operator CSX Transportation on Wednesday pointed to a hazardous chemical in a rail car as the source of an explosion on a derailed train near Baltimore that sparked a fire, rattled homes and damaged buildings. A company spokesman said officials still weren’t sure what caused the sodium chlorate to explode in the first place, but it ignited another chemical in a second car.
Authorities are continuing to look into the cause. Robert Sumwalt, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, said investigators were examining evidence on the scene and reviewing train video that might show the collision with a garbage truck that set off the incident. But he said they had not reached any conclusions.
CSX spokesman Gary Sease said the sodium chlorate in a derailed car near the front of the train exploded, igniting terephthalic acid in another derailed car. Sodium chlorate is used mainly as a bleaching agent in paper production. Oklahoma State University chemist Nick Materer said it could make for a potentially explosive mixture when combined with an incompatible substance such as spilled fuel.
Another chemist, Darlene Lyudmirskiy, of Spectrum Chemical Manufacturing Corp. in Gardena, Calif., said such a mixture would be unstable and wouldn’t need even a spark to cause a reaction.
“If it’s not compatible, anything could set it off,” she said.
Interesting, if the report is accurate. Sodium chlorate is not very common, at least not as common as sodium hypochlorite, which is common bleach. It is the chlorate in sodium chlorate that is the oxidizing agent. The common oxidation states for chlorine are:
-1, example is sodium chloride
0, chlorine gas
+1, example is hypochlorite which is common bleach
+3, chlorite
+5, chlorate which is being reported here
+7, perchlorate which is the stuff of solid rocket fuel and launches the space shuttle
Perchlorate (ClO4^1-) is the strongest oxidizer due to the chlorine being in the +7 state, but the chlorine is surrounded by negative charge and as such there is a fairly high energy of activation for reduction reactions. The reason for this is the structure around the central chlorine atom. The structure is tetrahedral where the 4 oxygen atoms surround the chlorine with bond angles of 109 deg.
Chlorate (ClO3^1-) on the other hand has the chlorine in the +5 valence state. The structure around the chlorine is trigonal planar where the central chlorine atom and three oxygen atoms are all in the same plane. The bond angles between the oxygen atoms are 120 deg. The structure means that there is a free path for electron transfer from above and below the plane. Thus, chlorate is very easily reduced and has a very low energy of activation. Thus, chlorate compounds often spontaneously react; hence, chlorate compounds are not very stable.
Just a very brief explanation.
Some more info about sodium chlorate. http://cameochemicals.noaa.gov/chemical/4469
NTSB briefing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?f...ge&v=sKyuaGbAYFY this security cam shows the trash truck crossing the grade with out stopping, the cab clears and the train hits the passenger side of the truck body. The train crew can not see or respond because the thick trees and vegetation obscure the train crews sight lines, it happens early in the clip, skip toward the end and you will see the explosion from the cam point of view,Gman.
