2007 Painesville, Ohio derailment

Infobox rail accident


caption =
title = 2007 Painesville derailment
date = 12:05, October 10, 2007
location = Painesville, Ohio
coordinates =
line = Erie West Subdivision
trains = CSX Transportation
cause = Damaged rails
pax =
deaths = 0
injuries = 0

The Painesville derailment occurred on October 10, 2007 in Painesville Township, Ohio. A CSX train with two locomotives and 112 freight cars declared an emergency at milepost 155.7 The train crew discovered that 30 cars in the middle of the train had derailed and were on fire. [cite news |last=Martin |first=Margaret |coauthors=Donna J. Miller |title=Train explodes and derails in Painesville |work=The Plain Dealer |location=Cleveland, Ohio |date=October 10, 2007 |accessdate=2008-09-13 |url=http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2007/10/train_wrecks_in_painesville.html] An evacuation order was put in place for fears that the cars carrying hazardous material could leak and catch fire. [cite news |title=Some residents in vicinity of derailment allowed to return home |work=The News-Herald |date=October 12, 2007 |url=http://news-herald.com/articles/2007/10/12/top%20stories/18912578.txt |accessdate=2008-09-15]

The train

The train was CSX freight train, Q380-09. The train had originated at Kansas City, Kansas on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. It was interchanged with CSX at Chicago. Lead locomotive was BNSF GE Dash 9-44CW #4836. Its destination was Selkirk, New York, near Albany.

Derailment

At 12:05 PM EST (4:05 UTC) while passing through CP 155, the train experienced an emergency brake application. The crew discovered that the mid section of the train was derailed and a large fire had erupted. The crew then informed the train dispatcher of the emergency. Several witnesses also called emergency personel. Fire Departments from 30 communities responded to the derailment. No action could be taken right away until officials discovered what hazardous materials were involved. Several roads were closed and everyone within a convert|0.5|mi|adj=on radius was evacuated. Laketran, Lake County's commuter bus service altered its fixed bus routes to assist with the evacuations.cite news |last=Klepach |first=Sandra M. |coauthors=Jason Lea and Michael C. Butz |title=Flames, smoke fill air after train jumps tracks |work=The News-Herald |date=October 11, 2007 |accessdate=2008-09-15 |url=http://news-herald.com/articles/2007/10/11/top%20stories/18905340.txt] Of the cars that contained hazardous material, six contained ethanol, one tanker contained liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), one contained phthalic anhydride and another contained biodiesel. [cite web |title=Painesville City Fire Department, Major Incidents |publisher=City of Painesville |accessdate=2008-09-15 |url=http://www.painesvilleoh.govoffice2.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={043DE5E8-32E4-4847-B800-445F024C8D07] Of the nine cars, three of the tankers containing ethanol leaked and ignited. The main fear was that the pressurized LPG tank car could explode, or "BLEVE", if heated by the fire.cite news |author=Associated Press |title=Chemical Cars Derail in Ohio |date=October 11, 2007 |publisher=ABC News |accessdate=2008-09-15 |url=http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3712958] Firefighters continuously sprayed water on the tanker to keep it cool. Rainy conditions that day also helped with the effort. After 3 days the fire was out, the threat of a explosion was gone and residents were allowed back home.

Effects

CSX was forced to detour all of its trains that utilized the Erie West Subdivision rail line. Several intermodal trains were detoured onto the Norfolk Southern line nearby. Amtrak also detoured its "Lake Shore Limited" trains onto the Norfolk Southern line. Other trains detoured onto former Baltimore and Ohio lines owned by CSX, and Norfolk Southern's Cleveland Line. Some trains were detoured across Ontario, Canada on lines owned by Canadian Pacific. On October 14, one track was reopened and rail traffic resumed. Several of the wrecked cars were scrapped on site, while others were rerailed and taken to Painesville Yard, where they remain as of current.

Suspected cause

The derailment investigation was handled by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and CSX. CSX stated in their own investigation that a broken rail caused the derailment. [cite news |title=Report: Crumbling Tracks May Have Caused Train Derailment |date=February 19, 2008 |publisher=WEWS-TV |accessdate=2008-09-15 |url=http://www.newsnet5.com/investigations/15347222/detail.html] The NTSB has not determined a cause and their investigation could take up to 2 years to complete. [cite news |title=Investigation into cause of Painesville train derailment could take two years |publisher=WKYC-TV |date=2008 |accessdate=2008-09-15 |url=http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=76858]

References