DC Metro train derailment

Sadly, this is common news to report these days. Ironic it came just after Metro unveils its new Track Geometry Car.... News reports from the helicopter show a section of track approaching a tunnel really out of whack and kinked to the side. My bet is on a sun kink with the sun and temperatures recently. 

Almost embarrassed to say I ride it 5 days a week 9 months out of the year....

At least everyone involved walked away from it that's good news.

Thats the way you feel even when the train gets you there.

Sadly, if no one dies, then its not really a big deal for the metro. Trains derail a couple times a year, and they keep raising the fares for the privilege of being inconvenienced.

Here is a link to the section of track I mentioned in my previous post. 

http://WTTG.images.worldnow.co...ges/18967780_BG1.jpg

Just finished watching the latest from the local NBC affiliate here in town. There were quite a number of families with young kids (very young in some cases) who all walked away. Quite scary for them but all are safe,

NBC just mentioned that the heat/sun kink IS the cause. Saw that coming from a mile away once they showed that shot from the helicopter. 

Good call. And in this heat it's no wonder. I remember the Amtrak derailment near Kensington a number of years ago was heat related. That may have been the Cap Limited?

John, 

Correct, that was Train #30, the inbound Cap. A Heat kink caused that accident. I remember going to see it a day or two after...quite a scene. It occurred just about 10 years ago to the day, I believe it was July 30, 2002. 

The Kensington crash occurred just a few miles from the site of the fatal 1996 crash, involving the outbound Cap. and an inbound MARC train at Georgetown Junction where the Georgetown Branch met the mainline. The MARC Train failed to acknowledge a reduce speed signal after a station stop and hit the Cap broadside right at the fuel tank on the F40. I also remember going to see the crash with my father and vividly recall looking at the charred remains of the F40, with the front truck on the ground (after it had been righted and I assume just prior to being cut up or hauled away). 

Photos and NTSB reports are available online for both accidents. 

Was this a 3-rail O-27 accident?  Why isn't this on the Real Trains board?

Glad to hear there were no serious injuries!!

Interesting personal note about the 1996 Amtrak crash in Silver Spring. My youngest son was born 2/16/96 which I believe was the day of the incident. He was delivered at Holy Cross Hospital and my wife's room was right over the hospital's emergency entry area. She heard all the ambulances and other vehicles coming in for hours after the crash. There was also a big snow later that evening that prevented me from getting back down to the hospital from up-county.

I'm not surprised. I used to commute daily on the Metro. Management was notoriously incompetent (political appointments), the system was underfunded, and what little maintenance money was available was sucked up by the overpaid, unionized work force.  The big deal when I left a few years back was that they couldn't get their escalators running. Escalators all over the system were breaking down and they'd sit there for weeks or months awaiting repair. An order of poorly engineered replacement cars from Spain didn't help matters either. 

A pity - the Metro, when it's running right, is fast, convenient, and comfortable. I quite liked it and was glad I lived a mile or so from a station so I could walk, thereby avoiding the hassle of crossing bridges into DC and finding parking when you get there. 

Is welded rail more prone to buckling than the old stuff?

Al

Al W.  Basically, YES. and in cold weather there can be "Pull Aparts" as the rail contracts due to extreme cold. It's because the fused length of welded rail is so long and expansion and contraction due to temperature variations cause these "heat kinks". It's a know problem and many RR's put up heat related speed restrictions in high temps as well.

SAM