Cab-view video of BNSF oil train derailment in ND 12/2013

[GonzoCRFan]

This has been floating around Youtube and Facebook the past few days, surprised nobody has posted it here. Pretty harrowing stuff to watch from the perspective of the oil train's crew

[eric220]

"We are everywhere."

Evidently railroadspeak for what the laymen might refer to as "F#CK!F#CK!F#CK!F#CK!F#CK!F#CK!F#CK!F#CK!F#CK!F#CK!F#CK!F#CK!!!!!"

[signalmaintainer]

I think I recognize the dispatcher's voice. He's been the BNSF Seattle Terminal first-trick DS for, oh, going on two years now. He was working the Minot East desk before that.

[Guilford Guy]

By the rulebook, when the air dumps on a train you're supposed to make an emergency broadcast, because 70 cars back you could have spilled stuff all over a parallel main track. Now, in practice this is rarely done, the air can dump for a variety of reasons, and if pressure comes back up, there isn't a break in the brakepipe and you're good to go. But this is exactly what happened here... seeing the passing train coming as the air dumped, the grain crew should have been more aware and made that emergency broadcast...

[signalmaintainer]

By the rulebook, when the air dumps on a train you're supposed to make an emergency broadcast, because 70 cars back you could have spilled stuff all over a parallel main track.

Yes, seems the grain train crew made an error. ...

[eric220]

To be fair, given the speeds and timing involved, I really wonder if an emergency broadcast when the air dumped would have been sufficient to stop the crude train in time.

[Specter3]

Looking at tge timing i doubt it. He may have been down in to the high teens low 20s but I dont think he would have been stopped. Would that have made it dramatically different? Possibly.