Much has been written and reported about the serious derailment and fire that has upended the lives of the residents of East Palestine, OH and the surrounding area. So much, in fact, that discerning the accurate from the conjecture is nearly impossible. The NTSB has asked for patience while they go about their job of figuring out exactly what happened. In a series of tweets NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said that "Nothing is more important than accuracy at a moment like this, which is why the NTSB is deliberate in our approach to investigations" and "anyone speculating about what happened, didn't happen, or should have happened is misleading a suffering community." 

In the wake of the derailment there has been much discussion about the wayside hotbox detectors used to inspect the trains for such things as overheated wheel bearings. Under FRA supervision, NS inspected the wayside detectors in the area of the incident and all were found to be operating as designed. NS then initiated a cautionary inspection of all the hotbox detectors on its entire system. This inspection is on top of the normal inspection conducted every 30 days.

CSX also conducted a system wide cautionary inspection and calibration of its hotbox detectors in the wake of the incident. CSX normally inspects its detectors every 2 weeks, but calibration is not routinely tested during those inspections.

On February 23, the NTSB released their preliminary report.  A preliminary report provides a factual summary of the incident but offers no conclusions as to probable cause. Those will be provided in the final report which is usually published about 12-24 months after the incident. At a press briefing held after the report was released, NTSB Chair Homendy announced that the NTSB will hold a rare investigative field hearing this spring in East Palestine at which time they will question invited witnesses. 

You can view the preliminary NTSB report here.
 

Last month we told you about the Federal Rail Administration's Transportation Technology Center near Pueblo, Colorado. The TTC has served as the government's rail testing facility since 1982. Until October, 2022, it was operated by the Transportation Technology Center Inc. (TTCI), a subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads (AAR). Late last year, Ensco Inc. replaced TTCI as the operator of the facility under a new government contract.

Well, the TTC now has some capable competition! At its Annual Research Review back in March, 2022, the AAR announced that the Transportation Technology Center Inc. group that had previously operated the TTC has been renamed "MxV Rail" and would soon be back at work in a newly constructed facility.  MxV takes its name from the formula for momentum: mass x velocity.

It consists of a team of more than 300 employees including 110 mechanical, civil, industrial and electrical engineers and metallurgists. This group will continue their work at a new multi-campus testing facility constructed near the existing TTC at the PuebloPlex outside of Pueblo, Colorado. The center opened in the fall of 2022. Facility construction included the building of 4 new test tracks including a 5.8 mile long High Speed Loop (HSL). This loop will support a vast array of freight and passenger rail programs, including the AAR's M-976 truck testing (to evaluate service worn trucks and perform tests and measurements to assess their dynamic performance), performance testing of new technologies, and qualification testing for rolling stock at speeds up to 110mph on straight track and 70mph on curves.

MxV Rail's Senior VP - Operations, Shawn Vecellio, stated that "this new facility is the chance of a lifetime for our team of railroad experts and specialists. We took the best aspects of our old test loops and designed track not only capable of supporting today's rail industry but also an ideal test bed for proving tomorrow's transportation innovations."

Besides the test tracks, the new facility includes an impact wall capable of handling speeds up to 30mph (versus 20mph at the TTC), metallurgy and calibration labs, and a reimagined Security & Emergency Response Training Center (SERTC). The SERTC covers over 100 acres and uses about 85 various current industry revenue cars and tankers creating real-world scenarios intended to provide the most realistic and highest level of training.
 

This is all part of MxV's plan to establish a new footprint for its multi-campus operation designed for training, laboratory research and on-track testing. The team moved some $100 million worth of assets from its old home at the TTC to the new locations to support all facets of its operations. The development at PuebloPlex provides an opportunity for MxV Rail to "create an independent, cost effective and fully confidential operation with the flexibility to expand its offerings to suit the evolving needs of the railroad industry."

In June, 2022, it was announced that MxV Rail and the United Kingdom's Global Center of Rail Excellence (GCRE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together to advance rail technology and innovation worldwide. The agreement will enable the two organizations to collaborate and share technical expertise relating to design and engineering, commercial planning, procurement, safety requirements and operational best practice.

MxV intends to continue and expand on the work it previously did at the FRA's TTC. It will be interesting to see how the FRA's Transportation Technology Center and the MxV Facility will work towards the improvement of railroad technology, equipment and safety going forward.

The greater Kansas City area is a busy rail hub, second only to the greater Chicago area. Santa Fe Junction is at the center of Kansas City's rail action. It straddles the border between Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri. The junction is operated by the Kansas City Terminal Railway (KCT). KCT is jointly owned by a number of railroads, principally BNSF and Union Pacific. It was originally created after floods in 1903, 1904 and 1908 inundated what is now called the West Bottoms area of Kansas City and forced the temporary closure of the Union Depot which was located there at the time. In fact, the original Kansas City Union Depot was located just a few blocks East of our cameras at Doc's Caboose in the West Bottoms area.

When the KCT was created it was jointly owned by the 12 trunk railroads operating in Kansas City at the time. Those railroads joined forces to build the new Kansas City Union Station and to control the tracks, switches and bridges in the area.

The famous Kansas City Stockyards were also located in the West Bottoms area. The Stockyards, located just North of Santa Fe Junction, can trace their history to 1870 when a group of railroad executives fenced off a five acre area and built small stock pens. The area grew to 18 acres just one year later and accommodated 100,000 animals. At its height in the 19th century, the Stockyards covered more than 200 acres, had a daily quota of 170,000 animals, employed 20,000 people, received stock from 35 states, shipped stock to 42 states and represented over 90% of the city's industrial output.

The Stockyards experienced a flood in 1903 and a fire in 1917. A major 1951 flood in the area saw the closure of many packing plants. Changes followed with some farmers cutting the stockyards out of the picture completely and shipping directly to buyers. Labor strife added to the Stockyards' woes. The last cattle auction was held in 1991 ending a 120-year run.

Santa Fe Junction is a maze of rail lines that connect the many rail yards in and near Kansas City. The central point of the junction is Tower #3 which was built to control the original interlocking. The actual Santa Fe Junction is made up of the ground level tracks comprising a set of 4 diamonds with 2 East/West tracks and 2 North/South tracks.

Crossing above the junction from Southeast to Northwest is the Kansas City Highline of which the Highline Bridge is a part. The current Highline bridge was constructed between 1916 and 1919 as part of the overall program to move the Kansas City Union Station to its present location. The Highline Bridge is a rarity in that it is made up of dual tracks on both the upper and lower decks. The truss sections that make up the bridge were mounted on jacks so they could be lifted above flood waters but this system was disabled in a 2005 bridge refurbishment program.

The Kansas City Highline was originally constructed to carry passenger trains efficiently above the busy freight tracks below and was used by such railroads of the time as Missouri Pacific, Chicago Great Western, Rock Island and Union Pacific. These days the bridge handles freight traffic on both levels. The Highline provides Union Pacific with a connection between its huge Armourdale, Armstrong and 18th Street Yards complex to the North and UP's Kansas Sub to the West and the Falls City Sub to the Northwest. It crosses the Highline Bridge on the upper deck.

Crossing the Southwest quadrant of the junction is the Argentine Connection Flyover (the Flyover) which carries the BNSF Southern Transcon across the junction via the BNSF Emporia Sub. It was completed in 2004. The Emporia Sub runs into the BNSF Argentine Yard located about 3 miles west of Santa Fe Junction.

BNSF and UP are the most commonly seen trains here along with the occasional Kansas City Southern or Norfolk Southern train. The KAW River Railroad, established in 2004, operates a shortline switching service for the railroads and businesses in the Kansas City area. It is operated by WATCO.

We are grateful to our host, L & W Supply (originally Holmes Drywall), for allowing us to have an excellent view of much of the junction. You can watch all the action here!

USDOT Issues Railroad Safety Call to Action

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg recently sent a letter to Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw calling for "an end to the rail industry's vigorous resistance to increased safety measures." He continued, saying that "Norfolk Southern and your industry must demonstrate that you will not seek to supercharge profits by resisting higher standards that could benefit the safety of workers and the safety of American communities." Buttigieg stated that NS should focus on "supporting, not thwarting," efforts to improve the standard of US rail safety regulation.

Buttigieg told the CEO that the USDOT is "doing everything in our power to improve rail safety and we insist that the rail industry do the same."

The USDOT's Call to Action includes a number of steps intended to improve rail safety. These include such things as protecting workers from reprisal when they spot and report safety issues by joining the FRA's Confidential Close Call Reporting Program. The program allows railroads and employees to report unsafe events without fear of reprisal from the FRA or their employers.  Thus far Amtrak and a number of commuter and short line companies are part of the program but not a single Class I railroad participates. The Call to Action also calls for requiring tank car owners to expedite the phase-in of safer DOT-117 tank cars in advance of the 2029 Congressional deadline as well as providing proactive advance notification to state emergency response teams when railroads are transporting hazardous materials in tank cars through their states instead of expecting first responders to look up this information after an incident occurs.

USDOT will also: continue the process of advancing the Train Crew Staffing Rule which requires a minimum of 2 crew members for most railroad operations; initiating a focused safety inspection program on routes over which high-hazard flammable trains and other trains carrying large volumes of hazardous materials travel; using funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law available through a number of programs to fund projects to modernize, improve tracks and eliminate at-grade rail crossings and take other steps to improve rail safety.

USDOT would also like to see Congress increase the maximum fines that they can issue to rail companies for violating safety regulations. Currently, the maximum fine that can be imposed for even the most serious violations that include fatalities is $225,455. USDOT is also calling for Congress to modernize braking regulations and increase the use of electronically controlled pneumatic brakes and to increase funding to expand hazardous materials training for first responders.

These are just the highlights of this Call to Action issued by the USDOT as outlined in their fact sheet  on the subject.

Awhile back, new CSX CEO Joe Hinrichs promised Tony Cardwell, President of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (BMWED), that he would lead the charge in improving the "dysfunctional relationship" between the railroads and their employees. Hinrichs has started to deliver on that promise.

CSX was the first Class I railroad to reach agreement with any of its unions on the provision of paid sick leave for their membership. The agreement provides employees with 4 sick leave days per year at full pay. In addition, up to 3 personal days may be converted to sick leave for a total of 7 sick leave days annually. Also, unused paid sick time may be contributed to the employees' 401(k) retirement account or can be paid out at the end of each calendar year. The unions who have agreed so far are the BMWED, the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen (BRC), The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) and the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers (NCFO).  

Union Pacific followed the lead of CSX and reached similar agreements with the NFCO and BRC. Those agreements  were announced on February 20th.

On February 22nd, Norfolk Southern reached an agreement with its BMWED members which mirrors those reached with the other railroads.

Before the NS agreement was announced on February 22nd, the Surface Transportation Board praised the CSX and UP agreements saying, in part, that these "types of  collaborative efforts to tackle ‘quality of life’ issues should result in the further strengthening of our national rail network by promoting both retention of existing workers and providing incentives for potential new hires." The STB continued saying that "Rail labor is the backbone of our national rail network, and it is therefore imperative that the rail labor force be strong, vibrant, and healthy.”

On February 23rd, BNSF announced it to had reached agreements with two of its unions. Those unions are the Transportation Communications Union (TCU) and the NFCO. The agreements pretty much mirror the others.

The 4 railroads are confident they can reach similar agreements with the remainder of their labor force.

OCTA Hopes April will See Resumption of San Clemente Passenger Service

Weather woes continue to plague the track stabilization project currently underway near San Clemente, CA. The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) originally hoped to resume daily passenger service through the area sometime in February. However, several weeks of bad weather have further delayed that daily passenger service which is now not expected to resume until sometime in April.

Additional slope work is being completed on the hillside above the tracks. The original cost of the project was estimated to be $12 million however that cost has now risen to approximately $13.7 million.

OCTA continues to investigate both long and short term ideas for protecting the tracks in this area. OCTA Chief Executive Officer Darrell Johnson says that long term options include relocation of the rail line inland away from the problematic coastal route although an exact inland route has not yet been identified.

You can find more information and updates about the project here.

NTSB Opens Public Docket of Amtrak Empire Builder Derailment in Montana

Ever wonder what is involved in an NTSB train derailment investigation? On February 21st, the NTSB released its public docket on the fatal derailment of the Amtrak Empire Builder near Joplin, MT. on September 21, 2021.

The public docket, viewable here, consists of more than 3,100 pages of documentary materials. The information within the docket contains such important factors as readout and analysis of the train event recorder, interviews with train crew and passengers and the pre-trip mechanical inspection reports for the locomotives involved. It also contains information such as the mobile phone records of the Amtrak crew and FRA track inspection reports.

NTSB's public docket is basically a repository for all public information regarding the NTSB investigation. It offers no conclusions as to cause or fault, and the NTSB stresses that "no conclusions about how or why the derailment happened should be drawn from the information within the docket." But careful examination of the docket can yield some clues.
 

For instance, just before derailing the Empire Builder ran through a misaligned section of track on a curve (shown in the above image). The misalignment was visible from the on-board front facing camera of the Amtrak locomotive although, passing at track speed, it was overlooked by the engineer who was busy sounding the horn for a crossing, checking a signal and watching his speed. Amtrak's engineer did feel the misalignment as the locomotive passed over it. The misalignment was also visible in the video recordings from 2 freight trains that had passed ahead of the Empire Builder. The freight crews did not notice the misalignment either. About 15 seconds after hitting the misalignment the Empire Builder went into emergency.

The NTSB will issue a final report some time in the future which will contain analysis of the factors present, its conclusion as to cause and recommendations based on that analysis and conclusion.

Spring River & Rail Weekend - April 27-29, 2023 - Check in to your hotel and get acquainted on Thursday evening and then enjoy a day of railfanning on Friday followed by Nostalgia Night at the Amtrak Depot Friday night. On Saturday there will be a Train Show and Mini Meet and an Operation Lifesaver Demo. There will also be speakers at 3 different locations. General admission is $2.00 (children under 12 free). 
 

April 29, 2023 -  Ashland Train Day - Join us for a day of fun, friendship and trains! Virtual Railfan will be at the Depot (next door to Cross Brothers). We're planning an informal get together for dinner at the Iron Horse on Friday night and a buffet style dinner in the Depot on Saturday night.  For further info and to register please fill out the form here.
 

Strasburg Railfan Days - September 23-24, 2023 - Join us for another great weekend In Strasburg! The weekend will start with a Meet & Greet on Friday afternoon followed by a Wine & Cheese Train excursion ride to Paradise and back in the evening.  On Saturday we'll meet and ride the SRR to Groff's for a picnic lunch. More details to follow.
 

Fall River & Rail Weekend - September 27-29, 2023 - Join us for a weekend of fun and friendship as we gather together once again in Fort Madison where the river meets the rails. More details to follow.