Derailment in Westford Ma 2-20-14

Reports from Westford Fire of a derailment in Westford involving propane cars. Possibly 15 cars total on the ground, unknown number of propane cars involved. SEPO most likely.

On the trestle over Bridge St near the Reservoir. 12 cars, 2 propane. They look to be all upright.

http://www.wcvb.com/news/train-carrying ... d=18339672" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Can you confirm that this was definitely SEPO?

MEC407 wrote:Can you confirm that this was definitely SEPO?

I cannot. There was a report on GuilfordRailSightings Yahoo Group by Jacob Mayo that it was SEPO. The two LPG cars were loaded so it could also be EDPO with loaded LPG from CSX at Rotterdam Jct.

Thanks.

Hi folks,
I posted a similar thought in the MBTA forum, but I wonder if Pan Am is going to operate some detour traffic via the Fitchburg Line to Boston and then up the Lowell Line/Wildcat to bypass the derailment site in Westford until it is cleared and the tracks are repaired. I know back in 2010 and again for one weekend last year Pan Am operated via the Fitch. I think high cubes are clearance restricted from this route, but wondering if they would try to run any other traffic this way. Would love to see a coal train through places like Concord, Waltham and Belmont. What does everyone think?

-mike

Various reports say there were only five cars off.
Were all re-railed by early afternoon. Trains are
moving through the area.

Apparently the Town of Westford is not too happy about not finding out about the derailment that happened Wednesday night at 11:00 PM until the fire chief drove by at 9:30 Thursday morning.

[quoteWestford Town Manager Jodi Ross, however, was not impressed. Ross she was "dismayed" Pan Am did not find this to be an "urgent matter." She said she was not notified until 9:30 a.m. when Fire Chief Joe Targ happened upon the area

Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/breakingnews/c ... z2tup06dNu" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
][/quote]

Why should the town or fire department have to be notified? There was no danger, no spill, no hazard to the community. Someone is just trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill. But I would think they would have been called when it came time for the re-railing, just incase something went wrong.

Apparently, according to that first article linked above, Pan Am called the police to have the town manager removed from the tracks, so I'm not really surprised the town is throwing a hissy fit.

Mikejf wrote:Why should the town or fire department have to be notified? There was no danger, no spill, no hazard to the community. Someone is just trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill. But I would think they would have been called when it came time for the re-railing, just in case something went wrong.

Any derailment is a potential hazard. I'd've liked it if PAR had called the Westford town offices and/or the Police & Fire Dept. Simply telling those whose job it is to watch over this kind of stuff makes their life much easier, and would greatly help them should anything escalate. I realize that this was a rather minor derailment, but it should be standard practice to alert those in the immediate area.

Mikejf wrote:Why should the town or fire department have to be notified? There was no danger, no spill, no hazard to the community. Someone is just trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill. But I would think they would have been called when it came time for the re-railing, just incase something went wrong.

If the derailment is on a bridge over a public way! Or if a road needs to be closed. Or if they need to offload hazardous cargo in a location that isn't a usual location (yard or siding).

Check out the comment from a reader at the bottom of the story. Idiots.

BandA wrote:

Mikejf wrote:Why should the town or fire department have to be notified? There was no danger, no spill, no hazard to the community. Someone is just trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill. But I would think they would have been called when it came time for the re-railing, just incase something went wrong.

If the derailment is on a bridge over a public way! Or if a road needs to be closed. Or if they need to offload hazardous cargo in a location that isn't a usual location (yard or siding).

Perhaps the road should have been closed off, but why keep the fire department there? I am a first responder myself, so I do have a clue here. The town manager was trespassing, that is what the police were called for. No need to evacuate for nothing. But like I said, when it comes time for the re-railing, then it would be time to call them in.

Mikejf wrote:...but why keep the fire department there?

Sure, that's not really necessary. But a simple call into the town authorities stating that a derailment has occurred at location X at time DE:FG seems like something that should have been done.