Train carrying space shuttle rockets derails

[D.P. Roberts]

CNN story: Train carrying shuttle rockets derails

I'm beginning to see a bias at CNN. Every time an accident happens that involves a train, it's the train's fault. For example, you need to read halfway into the story above before you read that the derailment happened because a bridge collapsed. Why wasn't the collapsing bridge the main part of the story?

Just yesterday, a mean old train hit a semi truck and destroyed it. The video clearly showed a semi parked on the tracks, but the story didn't really explain that part.

As a comparison- the headlines in Oakland a few days ago were that "a bridge collapsed". The cause of the collapse was that some guy drove his truck full of explosive material into a bridge support, watched it catch fire, and then left it there. Yet the headlines were very passive - a bridge collapsed.

It does explain why passenger trains have such a hard time finding funding, when they're presented as unsafe and accident prone. On the other hand, if reporting took a different slant, maybe Americans wouldn't look at trains in such a negative light.

 

[George Harris]

Yes, I also found it real interesting how understated the California story was. This was a single vehicle accident. Did the driver go to sleep? Yet on a multilane freeway with the best of the best for design features to idiot proof it as much as possible, we have a single hazardous material vehicle that manages to take down a bridge. This is doing by accident what it would take a terrorist group much time and planning to achieve by design.

Where what we have in the rocket booster, by the way go to www.meridianstar.com/local/local_story_123000738.html for a fairly factual article with a good picture, if you click on the picture and download it, you have a slow moving special load train that collapses a wood trestle into the swamp. Six injuries, apparently none life threatening, which amounts to the train crew and the monitors / guards for the loads. It appears from the picture that the bridge apparently went straight down. It was stated that some cars overturned, but they did not appear in the range of the camera.

George

 

[Dakguy201]

In other pictures I have seen of this site, the 2 locomotives and a silver, fluted side passenger car are on their sides. Real bummer for whoever owns that car.

 

[had8ley]

CNN story: Train carrying shuttle rockets derails
I'm beginning to see a bias at CNN. Every time an accident happens that involves a train, it's the train's fault. For example, you need to read halfway into the story above before you read that the derailment happened because a bridge collapsed. Why wasn't the collapsing bridge the main part of the story?

Just yesterday, a mean old train hit a semi truck and destroyed it. The video clearly showed a semi parked on the tracks, but the story didn't really explain that part.

As a comparison- the headlines in Oakland a few days ago were that "a bridge collapsed". The cause of the collapse was that some guy drove his truck full of explosive material into a bridge support, watched it catch fire, and then left it there. Yet the headlines were very passive - a bridge collapsed.

It does explain why passenger trains have such a hard time finding funding, when they're presented as unsafe and accident prone. On the other hand, if reporting took a different slant, maybe Americans wouldn't look at trains in such a negative light.

Oh, how true it is. You ought to go home ater a collision with someone who has tried to beat the train and read the morning headlines. "ENGINEER kills three at crossing." Not a way to get a good night's sleep.

 

[George Harris]

In other pictures I have seen of this site, the 2 locomotives and a silver, fluted side passenger car are on their sides. Real bummer for whoever owns that car.

We are way off the subject of Amtrak, but here goes:

This I have put together from several sources in addition to the Meridian Star article. For the booster units themselves, a good source is www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0705/02srbtrain/

The train was carrying the components of two solid fuel boosters that were to be used in the October 30 shuttle launch. It was a special train movement. This movement has used this route as their standard for some 30 years, so it was not the first time by a long shot for loads this heavy to go across this bridge. The train consisted of 2 UP six axle diesels, the ex Southern Railway 10 roomette 6 bedroom sleeper "Warrior River" which was used as living space for the escorts, and 13 additional cars which carried 8 booster segments weighing 300,000 lbs each, two nose cone segments, a clearance checking car in front, and maybe also behind, plus possibly a spacer car or two.

The sleeper is owned by the Promotory Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, and is used regularly (always?) for this move.

The train was going eastbound on the Meridian and Bigbee Railroad, which is a short line running between Meridian, Mississippi and Montgomery, Alabama. By extrapolation, not information, the train originated on Union Pacific, went to KCS somewhere, probably either Shreveport LA or Monroe LA, then to M&B at Meridian and was intended to go from it to CSX at Montgomery, and then to Florida East Coast at Jacksonville FL.

It was not on the Tombigbee River bridge itself, but on one of the shorter trestles in the flood plain of the river east of the main bridge. The Tom River bridge is a single track bridge with long wood trestle approach on the east end. It also carries Alabama state highway 114 as a single lane roadway on the trackbed.

The train had already crossed the main river bridge without difficulty. The trestle that collapsed was being or had just been worked on and this train was going over it while the bridge gang was standing off to the side.

 

[lostinphotoland]

After some research keyhole.com, it probably did go through Shreveport due to past history webshots.com

It appears the units are Union Pacific SD70's railran.net - I can't see the road numbers well enough to see which ones tuscaloosanews.com better/updated ones are at tuscaloosanews.com it appears it UP 3813 or 3873 was involved (best observed via photo 8). Both are in the flag paint scheme (I couldn't find a pic of the exact photo, but all in the series were flagged) trainweb.org

I'm curious why a) they (news agencies) haven't named a railroad responsible and b) why they haven't posted a derailment notice on their website.

I believe they were on CSX trackage, especially now after seeing the tuscaloosanews.com pics

(1st post didn't make it through)

 

[battalion51]

They were most definitely not on CSX trackage at the time of the derailment. The railroad they were on IIRC is a connector railroad between the KCS Meridian Speedway and CSX.

 

[George Harris]

I'm curious why a) they (news agencies) haven't named a railroad responsible and B) why they haven't posted a derailment notice on their website.
I believe they were on CSX trackage, especially now after seeing the tuscaloosanews.com pics

No. See my post above yours. It is on the Meridian and Bigbee Railroad, which now one of the Genesse and Wyoming short lines.

It is on the original part of the M&B which was built in the 1920's. Currently the M&B goes all the way from Meridian, MS to Montgomery AL, but originally the east end was Myrtlewood AL where it made an end to end connection with an L&N branch our of Flomaton AL. A few years back M&B purchased this line between Myrtlewood and Selma AL and the ex WRA branch from there to Montgomery. By the time of purchase, both were part of CSX.

The Tuscaloosa News article identifies the location very precisely as the Old Slough Trestle, a 600 foot long by about 10 foot high trestle between the east end of the Tombigbee River bridge and Myrtlewood. That gets the location down to with 3 miles, even if you are not a local. If you know the locality, it is sufficient to be exact.

George