The derailment of a 149-car train on Norfolk Southern’s Fort Wayne Line: Defect detectors, wheel bearings, and damage
Norfolk Southern safety guidelines don’t require train operators to take action until wheel bearings reach a preset temperature, the report stated. Norfolk Southern requires train operators to immediately stop a train and remove affected car if the temperature goes over 200 degrees.
On hearing the alarm, the engineer “responded immediately” to begin bringing the train to a stop, Homendy said, but as the train decelerated, the wheel bearing failed.
“Roller bearings fail. But it’s absolutely critical for problems to be identified and addressed early so these aren’t run until failure,” said NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy at a Thursday press conference.
The next phase of the investigation will examine the train’s wheelset and bearing as well as the damage from the derailment, the NTSB report noted. Tank cars and railcars will be focused on by the agency along with maintenance procedures and practices.
Norfolk Southern train 32N, a 149-car, 9,000-foot-long train traveling east along the railroad’s Fort Wayne Line across Ohio, derailed near East Palestine just before 9 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 3.
A wheel on the 23rd railcar overheated rapidly as the train approached East Palestine, soaring to more than 250 degrees Fahrenheit above the ambient outdoor temperature.
The crew exited the train to check the bearing, and there was fire and smoke coming from it. Toxic chemicals were carried in 11 of the derailed cars.
Cited in the NTSB’s report was data collected by Norfolk Southern defect detectors, devices built along railroad lines with sensors that detect and report problems with signals and axles as trains pass by.
Three such sensors, also called hot-box detectors, were located along 30 miles of track near East Palestine. The wheel bearing recorded increasing temperatures.
Investigating the East Palestine Train Associated with the April 12, 2012, Derailment: Norfolk Southern Transportation Commission Investigation of the Decay-Rescued Case
Norfolk Southern also plans to review the results of the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation as well as use data to “figure out what we could’ve done better,” said Shaw, adding the company has already implemented new internal safety measures.
The train moves in line with safety regulations, investigators said. It was traveling at 47 miles per hour, just under the maximum speed limit of 50 miles per hour. Positive train control was working and has been for awhile.
The incident has prompted the Department of Transportation to consider new safety regulations, said Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Thursday during a visit to East Palestine.
“There are differences from railroad to railroad, from company to company, in terms of how they’re used. I think that’s another example of something that needs to be looked at to try to prevent things like this from happening again,” Buttigieg said.
The plastic placards marking cars with hazardous materials have also been identified as an area of concern by both Buttigieg and NTSB officials. The fire following the derailment melted the plastic placards, making it difficult for first responders to discern which trains contained dangerous chemicals.
The evacuation order was lifted on Feb. 8, five days after the derailment. Since then, residents have reported widespread concern about the safety of East Palestine’s air and water. Some say they’ve had headaches or things like that. The fish deaths were reported by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
After federal officials released an initial report concluding that this month’s toxic train wreck in Ohio was completely preventable, investigators will begin examining procedures, practices and design prior to the derailment that has sparked long-term concerns among hundreds of frustrated residents.
The preliminary report on the wreck of a train in East Palestine, Ohio, which residents have been complaining about feeling sick from, was released Thursday by the National Transport Safety Board.
This was preventable. There is no accident. Every single event that we investigate is preventable,” Homendy said during a news conference Thursday. The goal of the board is to make sure that this never happens again.
The investigators will review the train operator and company railcar inspection practices. The key to the investigation will be determining what caused the wheel bearing failure.
The manual detonations of tanks carrying toxic chemicals will be a key aspect of the investigation.
East Palestine residents complain about a train crash and the consequences for the EPA, the Norfolk Southern Railroad, and Stewart’s health after the February 3 incident
Since then, some East Palestine residents have said they are experiencing headaches, dizziness, nausea and bloody noses — a host of health issues they say they did not have prior to the crash.
The 149-car train operated by Norfolk Southern on February 3 had three employees on board: a locomotive engineer, a conductor and a trainee who were all in the head end of the locomotive, Homendy told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Thursday.
We are deliberative. We are the gold standard when it comes to investigations globally, and we are methodical in our approach,” Homendy said. If we see a safety issue that needs to be fixed immediately, something systemic, then we will not hesitate to issue an urgent safety recommendation.
EPA administrator Michael Regan said that the EPA has the authority to force Norfolk Southern to clean up the mess it has caused and pay for it.
Norfolk Southern plans to rip up the train tracks where it derailed in order to minimize the long-term impacts of chemicals on the land and water, according to its CEO.
Residents said officials dodged their questions, making them distrust the process even more.
The lifelong East Palestine resident told Shaw he felt his health had been threatened by the crash.
Is this the first time you have shortened my life? I would like to retire and enjoy it. How are we going to enjoy it? Stewart said that Shaw had burned him. You’ve made me angry.
Shaw declined on Wednesday to answer repeated questions from residents regarding the crash investigation and details about what could have caused the derailment, saying he was “prohibited” from talking about the probe.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/24/us/ohio-train-derailment-east-palestine-friday/index.html
Shaw: Going to work with the community leaders to help them thrive and to provide for their neighbors, and for their children as well as for their grandchildren
“We’re going to get the cleanup right, we’re going to reimburse the citizens, we’re going to invest in the long-term health of this community,” Shaw said. “I’m going to see this through, and we’re going to be here. We are going to work with these community leaders to help you thrive.