CSX coal train derails in Ellicott City, Md

[walt]

What will CSX do with the train crew? Is the crew going to get fired or punished in any way?

As things stand right now, there is no indication or allegation that the crew was in any way at fault. The train was being operated by an engineer-trainee but was running at the authorised speed of 25 MPH. It Appears that the emergency braking system activated automatically, and the crew has indicated that they saw or felt nothing wrong until the brakes activated. They never saw the women.

[sd80mac]

really??? what year are we in?

"From a hill above the historic Ellicott City train station, an annex of the B&O Railroad Museum, a steam shovel could be observed digging away at a large mound of spilled coal and dropping it into a dump truck."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/breaki ... ory?page=2

[Mike Doughney]

"steam shovel," also, "engines chugged over the bridge" in the Washington Post article quoted upthread; not the first time I've seen these descriptions. The half-century-or-older references made by reporters who weren't there for the event are an interesting cultural artifact. Trains seem to be generally considered antiquated by the public and journalists, connected in their minds with long-outdated technologies, despite PR efforts by the industry to show otherwise.

[MrBoh]

I drove through downtown Ellicott City for the first time since the accident this past saturday (I live 5 min away, but had been avoiding the area since the accident.) Not much evidence of what happened at first glanced, but did notice some coal residue on the road and under the rail bridge in the brush off the side of the road there was some coal left. Ballast is all new on the rail bridge. One parking lot is still closed as they are still hauling out some coal. A train passed over while i was down there, going quite slowly and a lot of blasts of the horn (probably workers still near the tracks further down the line.) Word from local businesses is that they plan to create a memorial garden for the two girls.

[CSX Conductor]

According to one report, the women's bodies were found, still seated, on the edge of the bridge, buried under the coal.

Perhaps if they were not TRESPASSING they would still be alive today. In original news reports there was talk that the 2 girls "Tweeted" and uploaded pics of themselves with their feet dangling from the bridge. If their families sue I hope the courts have enough balls to throw this one out right away.

[MrBoh]

You are correct, they had the picture on the news, feet dangling over the edge of the bridge with the road beneath them.

From what I recall of the area, most access to the track is restricted by either fences, steep embankments, or retaining walls. I believe if you go about 75-100 yards south/east of the bridge over MD-144 that the fencing ends, not so sure about what happens north of the bridge. I haven't heard anything on the local news about lawsuits, at least yet.

Drove through the area again yesterday, Sun Sept 4th, and the parking lot just north of MD-144 with the collapsed retaining wall looks to be partially reopened, the retaining wall is still collapsed but it looks like they have removed some of the debris and put up jersey barriers to hold it back. There were CSX personnel on the bridge over MD-144, but not sure what they were up to.