NS Derailment - CP-Altoona

Looks nasty... and that's gonna have some major impact on rail traffic today!

 

David

Where's the Muleshoe line when you need it!

and it doesn't look like any hazardous spills, either! unless there were autos on board and leak gas and oil. the media will not have much to chomp on here? 

Wonder if those auto carriers are full or empty?

I heard they were all new cars

Do you mean all new FREIGHT cars? Or, were all the auto-racks full of automobiles/trucks (obviously NEW, as I'm not aware that ANY used vehicles travel by auto=racks)?

There used cars now.

With 90+ trains per day on this line, you can bet that this will be cleaned up FAST! NS is already holding trains as far west as Fostoria, Ohio. They are also re-routing some trains over the former NKP to Buffalo, then via the Southern Tier to Binghamton. Not sure which route they will use east of Binghamton.

From Binghamton I would expect most detours to go down the old D&H (CP now) to Sunbury and then on the Buffalo line to Harrisburg.  Traffic heading to NY/NJ that can by-pass Harrisburg might cut off from the D&H at Wilkes Barre and run down the Lehigh to Allentown or even run the upgraded Eastern Tier from Binghamton into Northern Jersey.

 

I'm also thinking that some traffic will head down CSX and either up from Hagerstown to Harrisburg or continue on CSX to Baltimore.

 

Poppyl

if you look close at the bottom photo you will see the back end of a cargo van inside a rack that is upside down.  looks like it happened between the former alto and slope interlocking plants.[yes, at one time there was a tower at slope].-jim

Always hate to see a derailment like this. What a waste of resources. On moving used cars by auto rack, UP moved a couple trains full of used Hertz rental cars to LA for the Olympics, whenever that was.  It was good money because of the lack of damage claims. 

So far it looks like four trains have been rerouted on the Southern Tier -- two in each direction.  Westbounds are coming out of Harrisburg and Allentown.  I understand that the situation is still being worked in terms of additional diversions to the Tier overnight and into tomorrow.  Could be an interesting crew day tomorrow.

 

Poppyl

Most traffic that is not being held will detour via the Southern Tier to Binghamton, then CP and RBMN to Allentown thense NS to N. Jersey. 

There is a good chance that at least one (possibly more) westbound van will detour via the old Erie (now NYSW) via Gulf Summit to Binghamton....get your cameras ready!!!

Reports seem to vary as to accurate details.  One news report indicated 17 cars derailed with 9 auto-carriers carrying new cars.  Another report quoted 17 cars derailed with 9 auto-carriers lying completely off the tracks on their sides.  And yet another report quoted 27 cars derailed, 10 of them smashed in the wreckage.  Whichever details are accurate, it sounds like the damaged auto-carriers lying on their sides in the wreckage were carrying new cars with 2 gallons of gas in their tanks.  That was generally the extent of hazardous elements involved in the crash.

 

According to reports quoting NS officials, the 107-car freight train headed by 2 locomotives derailed on a cross-over track between two mains around 9:42am, but the exact cause was still under investigation.  At 5:30pm Saturday, a police official estimated another 20 hours of clean-up, while another report was quoted as "requiring days" to complete all the clean-up.

 

Interesting to read the variations of information reported.  Perhaps the fact that the freight cars were hauling automobiles/cars contributed to the confusion of accurately reporting the information relative to the word "cars".  

 

 

David

 

 

Hey David, did you read the first sentence in Form D's post above yours?  

I think it is really odd how many times "Southern Tier" has shown up since our little talk.

21M is already heading up the Eastern Tier to Bingo.  Another westbound container train out of Croxton is expected this PM.

 

Poppyl

Watching ATCS Monitor and it appears that Track 3 has been reopened. Two eastbounds have passed through. Per a message on Trainorders 22W was the first man through at 11:30 and 20K and 20Q are following behind. Track 1 should be opened in a matter of hours.

That's excellent news and timing -- considering one of the rails on what I though was Track 1 appeared visibly torn up in some photos (not here in this thread) I saw last night.

 

David

Just one of life's little ironies I suppose.   That and all the sophisticated railroad terminology!!!     To most folks in PA, NJ, CT and NYC, it's all "upstate NY".   

 

David 

Track #3 is open. Track 2 should be open sometime today. Track # 1 will be OOS for a few days needs some track work. 

 There goes part of my bonus  

All tracks back in service as of early this morning. Couple of switches need replaced (they've been straight railed) and the helper pocket needs rebuilt but we're rolling again.