Train Derailments & Accidents SPECIAL REPORT

coming up on this v12 production special train accidents and derailments first this dash cam video helps illustrate the importance of railroad crossing safety then a brave police officer runs toward danger after a major derailment in the middle of the night and the special train one company uses to make sure our first responders are prepared for emergencies on the railroad those stories and more are all next on this v12 production special [Music] [Music] hello and welcome to this v12 production special thanks for joining us today we're discussing a difficult topic train accidents and derailments railroads run through our cities towns and neighborhoods there's no question they are a critical part of our nation's infrastructure and economy they specialize in hauling large loads and those loads often include hazardous materials big accidents are rare but they do happen so we're going to look at several incidents why they happened the aftermath and cleanup and most importantly how you can stay safe around the tracks first dramatic dash cam video showing the true power of freight trains september 24th 2020 a rainy day in villarika georgia things seem quiet but this police cruiser is about to record something that happens far too often in the u.s up ahead the gates of a railroad crossing are going down and a truck can't quite make its turn a wider shot shows something else locomotive headlights rapidly approaching there's nothing the officer can do [Music] and with the trains brakes still squealing [Music] the first responders jump into action checking to make sure everyone is all right luckily no one was hurt this all happened at the intersection of highway 78 and south carroll road the scene is only about a hundred yards from the villareka police department these pictures posted on its facebook page show the aftermath it looks like the trailer was pushed at least 220 yards five days after the collision aside from the railroad employees examining the rebuilt crossing it looks like nothing happened here the crossing is well protected with lights gates and a bell and according to these reports posted on the federal railroad administration's website there have only been two accidents at this crossing up until now neither of those resulted in any injuries but the national data is a lot more alarming according to preliminary statistics gathered by the fra and posted on operation lifesaver's website in 2019 there were more than 2 200 vehicle train collisions in the u.s sadly those preliminary statistics show more than 290 people lost their lives fortunately those same stats show those numbers have been declining over the past several decades so what do you do if you see something like this happening or if it happens to you and keep in mind a lot of this is common sense but it's worth repeating first of all if there's immediate danger get to a safe location and call 9-1-1 if you don't see or hear a train coming find one of these blue and white signs these are called emergency notification system or ens signs they have an 800 number you can call along with the crossings number that you can give to the operator to tell them exactly where you are being prepared in the event of an emergency is important but preventing those emergencies altogether is even more crucial most of us should know by now that trains can weigh thousands of tons and take a long time to stop always expect a train when you're near the tracks and don't stop on crossings and remember trains are wider than the tracks so just because you're not stopped directly on the rail doesn't mean you're out of danger [Music] make sure you can completely clear the crossing as you approach it and of course more rail safety tips are available on operation lifesaver's website ultimately the majority of us will never see something like what happened here in person and while it's amazing all of this was caught on camera it's also a miracle that no one got hurt trains are powerful machines that can change or even end lives if they're not respected now i'm not affiliated with operation lifesaver but i think they're a great resource you can find updated grade crossing accident statistics on their website fortunately the train that hit the truck and the video you just watched stayed upright and on the rails the locomotives and freight cars in this next piece were not so lucky locomotives on the ground containers on their sides and debris everywhere this was the scene after a norfolk southern freight train plowed into a truck in duluth georgia it happened on the morning of june 17 2020. a tractor trailer somehow got stuck on this grade crossing the train couldn't stop in time it derailed after the impact firefighters got to the scene just after 9 30. this is what they found a dramatic picture courtesy of the gwinnett county fire department shows the leading locomotive it bore the brunt of the collision another shot shows firefighters moving in with a ladder according to fire officials the train crew and the truck driver all escaped with minor injuries another person who was trying to help moments after the accident also sustained a minor injury according to firefighters they found at least 20 rail cars derailed when they arrived and they say they found fuel leaking from one of the locomotives but it was isolated to the railroad right-of-way fire officials say 10 of the train's cars were carrying hazardous materials two of those cars derailed but no leaks were found it's hard to say what every one of these containers was carrying but in one of the pictures taken by gwinnett fire you can clearly see gatorade bottles all over the ground after the fire department finished its work the railroad moved in rj corman famous for handling situations like this was on the scene re-railing the rolling stock you can see their massive side boom tractors in action meanwhile holden contracting worked on the right-of-way tractor trailers stacked high with prefabricated track eventually began to arrive and a long line of dump trucks were on site with loads of ballast there's no doubt this accident got a lot of people's attention spectators lined the sidewalk traffic backed up on beaufort highway and a news crew was there to report live ironically all this played out right next to the southeastern railway museum a place well known to railroad enthusiasts from the air you can see just how big the scene was the locomotive up front ns1832 a recently rebuilt sd70 acc came to a stop about 300 yards from the crossing where the collision happened the engines behind it also derailed and some of these well cars and the containers they were carrying are nothing more than twisted metal now definitely a big job for the crews on the ground this footage was shot about eight hours after the crash the cleanup would likely go on into the night and the next day in the end this is a lesson in railroad crossing safety an example of just how powerful trains are and a stroke of good luck that no one was seriously hurt this was the scene three days later new track has been installed but there are still piles of twisted metal rolling stock has been pushed off to the side to get this busy main line back open oh and this looks like one of those gatorade bottles i mentioned earlier for all you die hard rail fans out there these pictures are going to be hard to look at but don't worry everybody inside was okay this is norfolk southern number 8099 the southern railway heritage unit on its side after a derailment in pittsburgh pennsylvania on december 12 2021 these dramatic images were posted on the pittsburgh bureau of fire's facebook page pittsburgh public safety said there were no injuries according to the pittsburgh post gazette the train derailed after hitting a rock slide in this picture the trailing locomotive seems to be in pretty bad shape but it's unclear how bad the damage to number 8099 was the southern heritage unit is a ge es44ac built in february 2012. norfolk southern revealed it that same year along with 20 other locomotives with paint schemes honoring its predecessor railroads it was all part of a 30th anniversary celebration of course the southern railway is a huge part of the company's history norfolk and western was merged into the southern in 1982 to form what we now know as norfolk southern number 8099 carries a paint scheme similar to those found on many of the southern railway's passenger diesels according to a special issue of trains magazine ns based it on the design applied to southern's alco pa passenger engines but this was not the first southern railway heritage unit number 4610 was revealed in 1994 but it would eventually be repainted of course 8099 fit in pretty well with southern 6901 an emd e8 that's currently on display at the southeastern railway museum in duluth georgia norfolk southern actually helped to restore this locomotive we'll see what becomes of 80 99 but let's also not forget that there were people inside of here when this derailment happened hopefully they're doing all right cleaning up accidents like these is a difficult job but there are companies out there that specialize in getting things back to normal after a derailment in our next story you'll get a good look at the men and machines that show up when trains go off the rails sunday morning on the southeastern outskirts of norfolk southern's inman yard in atlanta georgia at least two locomotives are on the ground it's unclear exactly when all this happened but it was likely on the night of january 4th or the morning of january 5th 2020. judging by the aftermath of the derailment it looks like the middle engine number 3082 snagged a switch causing its front end to follow one track and its rear to follow the other the engine behind it number 3331 also derailed in addition to jumping the tracks the train also took out some of the rails behind it two lines feeding the busy yard were now blocked and crews needed to free things up a blocked line could mean lost revenue for the railroad so with the damage surveyed and the clock ticking the cavalry was called in these massive side boom tractors are designed to lift huge loads and rj corman and holter services the companies that operate them specialize in responding quickly to scenes like this their first task re-rail 3331 and amd st 40-2 weighing 184 tons so with tractors on either side they got it in the air and after some careful maneuvering 3331 was back on the rails while this was happening the crew started work on 3082 this was going to be a bigger challenge all of its wheels were firmly on the ground it would also be another heavy lift 3082 is an amd gp 40-2 weighing in at 125 tons before the crew could make much progress it needed to roll the lead locomotive number 9706 a ge-9 out of the way from this angle it's hard to tell if 9706 was also derailed it looked like workers were putting a re-railer under its wheels before moving it but regardless of what was going on they got it rolling fairly quickly then it was back to work on 3082 the crew would need all four of its tractors to finish the job the workers would also need to be careful with more than 100 tons swinging in the air this is dangerous work but slowly they made progress stopping periodically to relocate their equipment for the next lift and as a freight train passed on the main line workers moved the old gp-40 down the tracks preparing to set it down for the final time at this point it was just a matter of inches before 3082 was back on track after moving 9706 one more time crews were just about ready to wrap things up now the moment of truth using their booms and winches they slowly aligned the engine's wheels and just like that 3082 was re-railed all in all it took about an hour and a half to get these engines rolling again probably just another day at the office for these skilled workers now it's time for maintenance away teams to move in and start repairing the track getting things back to normal for a business that never stops never sleeps and is always on the move [Music] modern technology definitely helps clean up crews get the job done but what happens when you don't have heavy machinery to help you get the wheels back on the rails well that's what spectators and the train crew of a restored steam engine found out during an excursion run [Music] from the air you can see southern railway number 630 heading into somerville georgia just 15 minutes later she was derailed packed gravel at a crossing likely caused her front wheels to come off the tracks with a crowd gathering the train crew went to work they pulled re-railers off the tinder and wedged them under the wheels and after pushing the crowd back they were ready to re-rail the 113 year old locomotive their first try was unsuccessful [Music] and with temperatures soaring into the 90s they tried again with no luck a third try she was still on the ground then things started to get interesting [Applause] [Music] after some precision moves by the engineer and a little muscle from the men on the ground [Music] [Applause] 6 30 was finally back on track [Music] [Applause] with steel wheels on steel rails she was ready to head back to tennessee leaving the crowd with a history lesson on the challenges faced by railroaders of times past [Music] it's always interesting to watch people step up and solve a problem that's what the folks who re-railed that steam engine did and the police officer in our next story also stepped up in a big way we got diesel fuel spilled everywhere there's cars derailed it's a major derailment a frightening 9-1-1 call we need help we in the way in the river we're taking on water in the engine we can't get out the person on the phone a csx conductor describing a very scary situation it was running 40 when we hit the hole the track was gone washed out this was all happening in lillburn georgia in the early morning hours of sunday october 11 2020. heavy rain had just moved through much of north georgia and now a csx train was off the tracks and some of its cargo was beginning to ignite meanwhile the crew was just trying to get out of the cab oh my god sir what's going on something just blew up they've got to get us off this thing there's cars exploding now luckily help was on the way a lil burn police officer finishing up an off-duty job heard a report about an explosion he quickly learned a train was on the ground when he got to this crossing on main street he immediately took off running down the tracks as he got closer he told his dispatcher what he saw i can see a certain certain part of a train i'm not sure exactly what it's at but i can see like heavy flames then he started calling out for the train crew hey where you at brother hey are you the conductor yeah he knew he had to act fast i'ma try to help him out and remember before the officer got there these crew members were in the dark and didn't know what could be surrounding them i got you i got you guys i got your brother and i'll give you a hand okay so just the two of you guys it was only a matter of time before this scene got even more dangerous yeah that was a huge explosion so let's get the hell out of here man there's a lot of red fluid here that fluid red dyed diesel fuel but despite what they had just experienced and the hazards all around the two crew members appeared to be okay i got two conductors with me both are consciously breathing we're trying to make headway back away from here now the officer began to tell dispatch what other first responders could encounter just be advised uh for the training conductor he advised there's a lot of asthma material on the train and the train itself was massive that train is over almost almost two and a half two and a half miles amid the chaos the officer was still a comforting voice well i'm here for you brother whatever you need man just let me know finally they made it back to the crossing the officer's kindness did not stop when they got there yeah brother fortunately the engineer and the conductor only had minor injuries but who was the person behind the badge and the camera this man wilburn senior police officer ahmadinejanovic thanks to him a really bad accident didn't turn into a tragedy and through it all he remained calm professional and most of all caring it's that frightening feeling man where you're like you want to get there in time make sure it's not too late nobody's definitely looking after you brother [Music] what that officer did is something the train crew will never forget our first responders risk their lives to keep us safe and they have to be prepared for the worst case scenario well that's where this train comes in if there's an emergency situation on the railroad our first responders have to have a game plan that's where this train comes in it's operated by norfolk southern and travels around the company's rail system educating firefighters paramedics police and other men and women who risk their lives to keep us safe in november of 2021 members of the atlanta fire department and other agencies around metro atlanta were here to tour the contest and receive training you can see this is one of the most specialized trains on the railroad it was revealed in april of 2016. all the cars have special paint schemes and are pulled by ns number 5642 an electromotive division gp 38-2 the boxcars here have been converted into classrooms while the tank cars have platforms where first responders can get a good look at fittings and valves they can even go inside one of the tank cars keep in mind these things can hold more than thirty thousand gallons they are much bigger than the tanker trucks you'd see on the highway the flat cars also have things seen all the time on the rails these days shipping containers of course you'll see containers like these hauled by trucks trains and ships now the locomotive up front often gets the most attention from rail fans and the general public number 5642 is definitely unique but like everything else here it's something that first responders can climb up on and look at first hand engines like this have huge diesel fuel tanks and among other things first responders would need to know how to shut a locomotive down in the event of an emergency that's likely one of the many things they would learn when this train shows up according to norfolk southern's operation awareness and response website classes include safety around the railroad understanding rail shipping documents tank car identification tank car valves and fittings locomotive emergencies and responding to railroad emergencies there's no doubt first responders are receiving a lot of training here but hopefully they'll never have to use it the atlanta fire department responded to this next accident from 2020. we've already seen what happens when a train slams into a truck but this is the aftermath of a train hitting another train the tracks on norfolk southern's main line in northwest atlanta georgia are open for business but the remnants of a derailment are still all around it happened on the night of sunday november 15 2020 now i'm about a week late to this accident scene so i don't know the exact circumstances of what happened but let me tell you what i do know the signals at this location what the railroad calls cp bridge were knocked down the old signal bridge is sitting here on the side of the road crews also laid down new track repaved the crossing and replaced one of the crossing signals it looks like the power is out here too some of the trackside equipment is being powered by generators and how about this sd60e ns6997 it clearly took a beating from the news reports i saw it ended up on its side those reports also indicated one person was injured but there were no fatalities let's hope that person made a full recovery even though this footage was shot a week after the incident there was still twisted metal all around one of the locomotives massive three axle trucks was upside down beside it meanwhile freight car wheels were still sitting in the grass here and this box boxcar likely flattened by the cleanup crews was sitting in an open area where rail fans often stand and watch trains this spot next to parrot avenue is popular among railroad enthusiasts much of the traffic that rolls by is headed into or out of norfolk southern sprawling inman yard which is only about one and a half miles away there's no doubt this is a busy area it's probably a challenge for crews to get in here and clean this up with all the train traffic that passes by ultimately railroads are essential and the trains have to keep moving more than a month after this incident the railroad had the locomotive and its trucks loaded onto flat cars according to the website ns-9.com the engine is currently in storage in altoona pennsylvania this unit is known as an sd60e it was rebuilt by norfolk southern and features the company's custom wide-nose crescent cab and hopefully this one will be able to pull freight again someday [Music] our next story is about really big loads and how railroad workers prevented a potentially dangerous situation railroads specialize in hauling large loads but there are some things that are oversized even by their standards these cars are called high and wides and today two of them were sitting at norfolk southern's inman yard hooked up to the head end of ns186 but there was a problem the boxcar behind the second high and wide had some kind of issue near the car's coupler this meant 186 was stuck blocking one of the tracks that runs through the yard until a solution could be found i'm not exactly sure what was in these cars but if you look at the reporting marks on the first one you can see it's associated with a pretty major customer tbcx indicates this car belongs to boeing a little internet research says its numbers indicate the type of plane it's carrying parts for so this one would have components for 767. the car behind that one had canadian national marks and looked like a larger version of the boeing rolling stock but at the moment all that didn't matter the crew needed to find a way to safely solve this problem carmen were on the scene assessing the damage ultimately the decision was made to couple the boxcar back up to the train and set it out for further repairs keep in mind this is a busy rail yard next to an active main line and trains are constantly on the move this southbound rounded the bend as crews were looking at the damaged boxcar it had a high and wide of its own a heat exchanger made by thermal engineering international after that train passed it looked like the car men had come up with a temporary fix so the crew could get the boxcar out of their train now it was time for a trip to the yard's rip track r.i.p repair and place getting there would mean going through a series of turnouts that started about a half a mile away and remember every movement has to be carefully coordinated the engineer and conductor were in constant contact with the yard tower meanwhile this employee in the pickup made sure the temporary coupler fix held together no doubt this whole scenario was making a long day even longer for the train crew to come in uh set that car up to the south end of the wrist all right want the airfare fit in the car there's no telling if the train crew would actually make it to their final destination before their shift ended now it was time to back into the yard this meant going through several switches the conductor checked each one to make sure they were all aligned properly a good idea with such precious cargo after about 30 minutes they had the car set out and it was time to head back to the rest of their train that took another 15 minutes 26 minutes after that and after conversations with the yard tower the road foreman and dispatch it was finally time to depart inman the dispatcher said they would only get a few miles down the road before being held again at a signal hurry up and wait just another day on the railroad but a problem was solved safely and that's all that matters observance employees can spot problems as rolling stock passes by but railroads also use special automated equipment to detect issues and alert train crews csx equipment defect detector it's an odd thing to hear while listening to railroad radio traffic a robotic voice transmitting to a passing train but these unusual devices serve a very important function as its automated broadcast says this is called a defect detector the one here is located in tucker georgia and this train is about to pass over it so let's take a look at the different pieces of hardware in use here first are these hot box or pot bearing detectors so-called hot boxes referred to overheated journal boxes used on older rolling stock with plain bearings they contained oil-soaked cotton or rags that could catch a car on fire if the oil leaked or dried out modern equipment uses roller bearings and this piece of technology here shoots up an infrared beam to measure how hot each one is these infrared eyes are on each side of the track now there's another reader here that's not part of the defect detector this piece of hardware uses a radio signal to read the automatic equipment identification tags on freight cars these tags help the railroad and its customers track shipments as the end of this train passes over the spot you can also see these metal flaps or cones sticking up on either side of the rails they detect dragging equipment if something hits them a circuit is broken and the automated voice will broadcast it over the radio this one is sprung and returns to its upright position if it's hit there's also an axle counter here it does just what its name suggests and it can help the crew find where the problem is on their train i believe this works by generating a magnetic field that the wheel flange interrupts fortunately there was nothing wrong with this train but the robotic transmission was not what i was expecting no defects axle count malfunction total axle two six niner end of transmission sounds like it finally got the axle count at the end here's one more train passing over this detector in the opposite direction detector file post five six four point zero no defects no defects total axle five seven eight end of transmission no defects and no malfunctions on that one believe it or not automatic defect detectors have been around since the mid 20th century but the seaboard airline was the first to use equipment that verbally transmitted its results over the radio oh and by the way this right-of-way is x seaboard airline of course this was just one of several advancements that spelled the end for the caboose and the vigilant crewman who sat inside and watched over the train defect detectors aren't flashy and are fairly nondescript but they're just one of the many tools the railroad uses to get the job done survivors of tornadoes often describe them as sounding like freight trains well i can only imagine what this freight train derailment sounded like to the folks living on this road in middle georgia the early morning hours of monday august 16 2021 rail cars of all types are on the ground in oconee georgia according to the washington county sheriff's office this westbound norfolk southern train derailed around 1am they say approximately 32 cars came off the tracks on central drive blocking the road fortunately no injuries were reported this information and these dramatic images were posted on the washington county sheriff's office facebook page in this picture you can see covered hoppers stacked on top of each other and it looks like at least one of the cars in this train came open spilling its contents we can see this was a manifest or mixed freight train the photos show tank cars several box cars and covered hoppers there is also heavy machinery working to clear the accident this picture shows an excavator and a side boom tractor big machines for a big cleanup [Music] accidents don't just happen on freight and passenger railroads occasionally transit systems have derailments too and this one happened in 2019 at one of the world's busiest airports hartsfield jackson atlanta international it seems like every few seconds another plane takes to the sky but below the air traffic this marta train is grounded after jumping the tracks it all happened tuesday january 15th as this out-of-service train left airport station and headed to a nearby yard according to marta a preliminary investigation found four of the train's six total cars successfully crossed over an interlocking switch but the final car did not follow the proper route which resulted in the derailment marta says several trains had crossed the same set of switches earlier in the day without incident luckily no passengers were on board when the accident happened and the operator wasn't injured but atlanta's transit provider was left with a big challenge fortunately the airport is the southernmost point on the line and buses could be used to shuttle passengers to the next station by wednesday morning crews had opened one track and that evening they removed the four unaffected cars throughout that time workers were carefully planning how they would re-rail the other two unlike many passenger and freight railroads much of marta's system operates on elevated lines meaning they would need a tall crane to be brought in to get the cars back on track and by thursday morning part of the airport's parking lot was being cleared so the crane could move in the two cars each weighing in at 80 000 pounds were ultimately re-railed and removed later that evening our final story takes us to gwinnett county georgia where a police officer jumped into action after witnessing a train hit a truck full of power tools now you may hear some information that i told you earlier in this special but trust me it's worth repeating a quiet day in beaufort georgia the silence is only interrupted by freight trains passing through town but things were a little different on the afternoon of september 2nd 2021. just after 2pm this would be the site of something that happens far too often in the u.s a railroad crossing accident and this is the body camera video from the gwinnett county police officer who witnessed it all the body cam's audio begins after he gets out of his cruiser the train's brakes are still squealing the officer immediately makes sure everyone is all right was everybody out of the cab yeah okay go down to that in a check on the train conductor before the impact he was trying to prevent all this from happening but it was too late i was right there i was trying we were trying to get the railroad stop but they were already two coming yeah we told them and we called them as soon as you called us but again they were two already two coming down so luckily no one is hurt but this is a huge mess and what's actually on the ground here well look closely and you'll see all kinds of milwaukee power tools that stuff must be tough if it can survive being hit by a train but all joking aside was this accident preventable well there are signs all around here telling trucks to stay away also this crossing has lights gates and a bell so what happened according to the motor vehicle crash report the truck driver said he was following his gps which led him through the intersection here at little mill road and west chadburn avenue as he tried to cross the tracks his trailer became lodged on the crossing that trailer was split in half and crews now had the task of getting the rails and road reopened about 28 minutes into the body cam video a skid steer loader arrives to start piling up all the tools an hour later they're dumping the debris into a stake bed truck [Music] then we can see a heavy wrecker on the scene removing part of the trailer [Music] an hour and 32 minutes in you can see a northbound intermodal train passing the crossing as the southbound that hit the truck is rolling away [Music] hey i'm here later the back half of the 18-wheeler is lifted into the air then it's time for a whole lot of paperwork two days after the accident when this video was shot it looks like nothing happened here you can see all the crossings warning devices in action as this southbound passes by [Music] [Applause] according to the usdot crossing inventory form for this crossing the typical speed range over the crossing is 50 to 60 miles per hour a loaded freight train at those speeds would take a long time to stop so what do you do if you encounter a problem at a railroad crossing first of all if there's immediate danger get to a safe location and call 9-1-1 if you don't see or hear a train coming find one of these blue and white signs these are called emergency notification system or ens signs they have an 800 number you can call along with the crossings number that you can give to the operator to tell them exactly where you are according to the motor vehicle crash report the driver of the truck in this case was issued citations by the police but the real story here is that everybody walked away uninjured look you've heard me say it a few times here trains are very powerful machines in my opinion railroad safety is all about common sense using good judgment and staying alert railroads are critical and fascinating part of our society i encourage you to share this video with your friends and family it's truly remarkable that some of these accidents were caught on camera but i think there's a lesson to be learned from each incident i hope you learned something and enjoyed this special thanks for watching and i'll see you next time [Music] you

Channel: V12 Productions

Views: 1,242,254

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Id: CDwxUuZlTMg

Length: 42min 26sec (2546 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 27 2021