# Bomb Caused Train Crash That Killed 26



## MrFSS (Nov 28, 2009)

UGLOVKA, Russia (AP) - Russian officials opened a terrorism investigation Saturday, saying that a homemade bomb planted on the tracks of the high-speed Moscow-to-St. Petersburg route caused a derailment that killed at least 26 people and injured dozens more. The head of Russia's Federal Security Service, Alexander Borotnikov, was quoted by the Interfax and RIA Novosti news as saying that an improvised explosive device equivalent to 15 pounds (7 kilograms) of TNT had detonated when the train passed over it Friday night. Remains of the device were found at the site of the crash, Borotnikov said.

*Full Story Here*


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## ALC Rail Writer (Nov 28, 2009)

This sounds like it could have been a lot worse than it turned out--


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## MrFSS (Nov 28, 2009)

Another *Story* on the subject.


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## Bob Dylan (Nov 28, 2009)

MrFSS said:


> Another *Story* on the subject.


Points out how fortunate we are in this beautiful land! Hope that this doesnt give ideas to the crazies, whether foriegn or homegrown, IIRC a few years ago some Tim McVey types in Arizona (yes John McCain, Amtrak runs through your state!)derailed the SWC but dont believe anyone was ever caught?

Weve had lots of threads about Homeland Security, both station and train, but this is such as vast land with tracks going through miles and miles of nowwhere, just hope that the railroads ,Amtrak and HS are ever vigilant when it comes to our raillines!Im sure some of our members, active and retired have info on this, we dont need to live in fear like the wing nuts want us too but as the railroads all stress: Safety is Job One!


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## birdy (Nov 28, 2009)

15 pounds of TNT equivalent. Some reports describe it as "high speed train" but it sounds from the context that they really just mean "express" train, otherwise they would have mentioned how fast it was going at the time of the blast.


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## sunchaser (Nov 29, 2009)

It is listed as the Nevsky Express in the article, and according to this link, it is the fastest running train between Moscow & St Petersburg.

I hope they catch those responsible.

My heart goes out to all the injured, the families, and all the others affected by this cowardly act.


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## the_traveler (Nov 29, 2009)

jimhudson said:


> IIRC a few years ago some Tim McVey types in Arizona (yes John McCain, Amtrak runs through your state!)derailed the SWC


I don't recall anything with the SWC. Did you mean the SL derailing west of Phoenix (back in the old days when it actually went to Phoenix)? :huh:


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## ALC Rail Writer (Nov 30, 2009)

I would hope so, I don't recall an incident where somebody bombed an Amtrak LD train and derailed her.

In the "Sons of the *****" incident, correct me if I'm wrong, but despite most of the cars derailing (caused by removing a section of rail and bypassing the fault system) only _*one*_ person died.


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## PRR 60 (Nov 30, 2009)

birdy said:


> 15 pounds of TNT equivalent. Some reports describe it as "high speed train" but it sounds from the context that they really just mean "express" train, otherwise they would have mentioned how fast it was going at the time of the blast.


It was going 200kph (130mph).


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## jis (Nov 30, 2009)

PRR 60 said:


> birdy said:
> 
> 
> > 15 pounds of TNT equivalent. Some reports describe it as "high speed train" but it sounds from the context that they really just mean "express" train, otherwise they would have mentioned how fast it was going at the time of the blast.
> ...


It has also been reported in various News media at least in the UK that the final death toll is likely to go up as high as around 40. Given the speed the toll is relatively modest.

BTW 200kph is a shade under 125mph (124.247 or so).

As I understand it, the derailment was near Bolgoyo in Tver district, which is a major stop where even the international Leo Tolstoy stops, though I don't know if the Nevsky Express stops there. I have passed by the spot of the derailment many years back (2001) on my way from Helsinki to Moscow and back on the Leo Tolstoy. It is indeed a very remote area, and on the way back we were running through a very heavy blizzard (almost a Doctor Zhivago-esque scene), which made it seem even more remote than the very remote that it already is.


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## Green Maned Lion (Dec 1, 2009)

The derailment was the Sunset Limited, and there is an excellent story by the exceptional author Niagara Rainbow 63 about that derailment on Stories Online.


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## George Harris (Dec 2, 2009)

Green Maned Lion said:


> The derailment was the Sunset Limited, and there is an excellent story by the exceptional author Niagara Rainbow 63 about that derailment on Stories Online.


And who done it has never been determined. the "sons of *****" have never been heard of before or since.

It had to have been someone who knew something about how railroad signals worked, but that would include almost everybody here and at least a couple million other people, so that is fairly meaningless. (Something like the statement after the Tim McVeigh explosion, "We are looking for someone who has access to diesel fuel and fertilizer in quantity and is unhappy with the government handling of the Waco standoff." The first part would be almost the entire rural population in this country plus anybody working for a landscaping contractor and the second had to include at least half of them. Sheesh, what a precise analysis.)


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## amtrakwolverine (Dec 2, 2009)

off topic the SSL derailment while never proven seams that it was either a former RR employee or someone doing a act from the old west days and tried to derail and rob a freight train. the people out were the derailment occurred believe strongly in the credo of mind your own business and refused to help the police. the only person that came forward just said that someone broke his fence.


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## George Harris (Dec 10, 2009)

amtrakwolverine said:


> off topic the SSL derailment while never proven seams that it was either a former RR employee or someone doing a act from the old west days and tried to derail and rob a freight train.


Robbing a freight train seems highly unlikely given that the even at that time freight traffic on the line was somewhere between minimal and none. Also: what would they be intending to steal? Would there be that much in the way of stealable commodities hauled on that line?


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## amtrakwolverine (Dec 10, 2009)

George Harris said:


> amtrakwolverine said:
> 
> 
> > off topic the SSL derailment while never proven seams that it was either a former RR employee or someone doing a act from the old west days and tried to derail and rob a freight train.
> ...


i was just quoting what i heard on this 2 part mini series called why trains crash on TLC.


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