CSX Derailment in Ellicott City Md.

[asarge]

http://www.wtop.com/46/3001454/2-dead-in-Ellicott-City-train-derailment

Not good.

[johnhale]

Gut feeling, the two people who were on the bridge "around midnight" at the same time as a derailment in an area where CSX has never had an issue.... sounds fishy. I bet they were involved in the cause of the derailment.

[davefoxx]

Is there any chance that putting the train into emergency to avoid hitting two individuals on the tracks could cause a derailment?

DFF

[Philip H]

Is there any chance that putting the train into emergency to avoid hitting two individuals on the tracks could cause a derailment?

DFF

Out there - yes.  Unfortunately.

[John]

That derailment is right at the old historic Ellicott City train station ..

[asarge]

Something does seem a little fishy about them being out on or near the bridge but I guess we'll find out. It just does seem like to much of a coincidence though.

[asarge]

Now being reported that the 2 killed on the tracks were 2 female college students.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Yep, apparently they had tweeted about being on the bridge too.

That area is very curvy, and throwing it into emergency, coupled with CSX's legendary maintenance standards, could definitely have been a factor.

It wouldn't surprise me if correlation IS causation in this case. If so, I hope the property owners can recoup some of their losses from the guilty parties' estates (or life insurance policies).

Talk about reckless...

[Chris333]

The train crew said they saw and felt nothing before the train's emergency braking system kicked in, suggesting the train operators did not brake because they saw the teens sitting on the bridge.

[CoalPorter]

Something does seem a little fishy about them being out on or near the bridge but I guess we'll find out. It just does seem like to much of a coincidence though.

Hi, i was watching this out in California on one of the local stations
and wondered if i could see "America's oldest trains station" off to the side?
Is that it. I have never been there, but i have been close.

They also said two 19 yo women were killed?

[Chris333]

Good overhead photos here (once you get through all the crap)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/two-killed-as-csx-train-derails-in-ellicott-city-overnight/2012/08/21/91075334-eba2-11e1-9ddc-340d5efb1e9c_gallery.html#photo=16

[asarge]

Apparently somebody at the NTSB said the event recorders were working so they will get useful info.

[Mark5]

Hi, i was watching this out in California on one of the local stations
and wondered if i could see "America's oldest trains station" off to the side?

Correct.

[sirenwerks]

This happened just down the street from my home. It woke me up and the emergency vehicle radio chatter kept me up after. That area of Ellicott City is now quite popular with the younger crowd and it's likely the girls were drinking. The bridge is completely accessible if you go up around the station/museum and walk the tracks back to the bridge, but it sounds doubtless they were doing anything nefarious.

The OML was one of the first lines laid in the US and doesn't seem to be on CSX's list of top priorities. That area used to be double track until hurricane Agnes wiped out most of the second track. I rarely see any upkeep going on (actually I have never seen a track crew); but the line sees maybe two or three trains a day and they're not hotshots, usually coal/coke trains or mixed freight, and because of the snake-like quality of the line these are in constant braking mode or slow acceleration up the grade.

It is worthy to note, however, that rains soaked the region so much that one significant stone wall was pushed out by the land behind it not too long ago, just a block away from where the accident occurred. Basically, an entire hillside reclaimed the parking lot at its base, right next to the station. I would speculate the roadbed and surrounding lands suffered from the same soaking and even more recent rains may have contributed to questionable track conditions.

Given how the town and rail crossing are situated - an old narrow Main Street tightly packed into the valley perpendicular to the rail crossing, which parallels the river - any derailment around Main Street is going to create havoc. Yet, train crews traveling that line should be use to pedestrians, as it's situated in the Patapsco River valley and runs through most of Patapsco State Park; and many hikers and youth walk the rails, cross the bridges (TrainCat makes a model of the Ilchester bridge just down the way from where the accident occurred), and explore the tunnels. I don't know how many times in my teens I hiked along the tracks from Main Street to the Thomas Viaduct or up to the Marriotsville Road crossing just to have something to do. It's just not unusual to see people on the right-of-way, even if it is trespassing, and the train crew likely wouldn't think much of someone sitting trackside and react harshly.

It screwed up my morning commute, which takes me down Main Street and under the CSX bridge towards Catonsville, and BWI rail station. Unfortunately, I have been too busy with work to get down to look at the clean-up.

Bryan B.

[Smike]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/22/us/maryland-train-derailment/index.html



"The crew aboard a train that derailed near Baltimore, killing two young women and disrupting service at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, did not apply the emergency brakes just before the accident, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
 
The air brakes were automatically triggered, agency spokesman Jim Southworth said Wednesday, noting that a possible rupture in an air line may have caused the emergency braking.
 
But Southworth said the investigation was just in its beginning stages.
 
He added that the train -- with two locomotives and 80 cars -- had been traveling about 25 mph when it jumped the tracks.
 
The first 21 cars behind the locomotives derailed."