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Several train derailments have occurred on Dahlgren Junction Industrial Track in Stafford Date published: 7/9/2010
By KELLY HANNON Two earlier freight train derailments occurred on the same rail line where three railcars carrying coal overturned in Stafford County on Tuesday, but industry and federal rail officials do not view them as a pattern. When asked if several derailments within a 10-year span on the same track indicated a pattern, Robert Kulat, a Federal Railroad Administration spokesman, said no. "No, it's not a pattern. Derailments can happen for any number of reasons," Kulat said, "and two over a decade is not very much. Now having said that, we inspect the track." Improvements to railroad track, additional employee training, and new technology have led to lower rail accident rates this decade companywide, said Gary Cease, a CSX spokesman. "We've reduced derailments in the last five years by over 50 percent," he said. The Federal Railroad Administration's safety database shows CSX had two reportable derailments in the vicinity of Tuesday's incident, in Stafford's Ferry Farm area. Three railcars toppled over on a 100-car freight train heading east. Coal spilled out of three cars. The industrial track passes by a coal-fired power plant. A July 15, 2001 derailment also occurred on the Dahlgren Junction Industrial Track, which runs from CSX's main freight line in Fredericksburg east to Sealston in King George. That derailment occurred within a mile of Tuesday's incident. In 2001, eight railcars on a CSX coal train derailed, causing $20,000 in damages to the track and structures and $26,263 in damage to equipment, according to the federal accident report. The derailment was caused by a broken rail. No injuries were reported. The temperature at the time was 86 degrees. Less than a half-mile from the 2001 accident, on July 20, 2005, nine railcars on a CSX freight train derailed due to missing or defective cross ties, according to the federal accident report. That derailment caused $118,940 in equipment damage, and $20,00 in track and structural damage. The temperature at the time was 93 degrees. CSX resurfaced the railroad track in the area of the derailments in 2006, and new ties were added, according to the federal agency. That was the last significant infrastructure upgrade in that area, Cease said. CSX has finished repairs to the section of railroad track damaged Tuesday.
on that stretch of track, Maybe the low speed limit is a safety consideration.
the coal-powered power plant and probably vulnerable to
high temperatures like we have been seeing.
If CSX has to put more money into the track - they likely are
going to have to charge the power plant more, who in turn
will have to get more for their electricity. Since that plant
is a dispatch plant - if the price it charges is less
competitive, it may not operate as often...
so.. if the track is substandard and needs
upgrading..ultimately us folks who buy electricity will be
footing the bill eh?
What a laugh. The track use to be a 25 mph max. speed until CSX got ownership of it. Instead of properly maintaining the track, they let it deteriorate and put it at 10 mph. They fix it when a derailment happens. And only that portion. Who are they trying to kid.
When the operator limits the train speed to 10 mph they are
saying they do not have much confidence in the track. Calling
it Class 1 track sounds like an strange to me.
I bet it's the work of the same people that faked the moon landing.
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