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Train Derails Over Calif. Cliff
(AP) ^

Posted on 05/12/2002 8:16:53 PM PDT by Dallas

COLFAX, Calif. --

A train carrying non-hazardous chemicals derailed in northeast California and was partially suspended over a steep cliff Sunday night.

One of the train's 73 cars hung over a drop known as China Wall in a rural area away from people and homes, said Placer County Sheriff's Captain Rick Armstrong. No one was injured and authorities said the rail car was not in danger of falling.

One of the six cars that derailed contained non-hazardous byproducts and two were carrying an ammonia sulfate powder that is not dangerous by itself, Armstrong said.

The Burlington Northern & Santa Fe train was heading east when it derailed at about 2:30 p.m., said Michael Furtney, a spokesman for Union Pacific, which owns the tracks.

The California Forestry Department dispatched hazardous materials crews to the site, northeast of Sacramento.

"We've got people out there on the scene trying to secure all the cars and make sure none of them are leaking," Furtney said. "Given the location, it's fairly tricky."

Passengers on Amtrak's California Zephyr, bound for Emeryville from Chicago, were taken away on buses to continue their journey, said Tom Gambrel of Amtrak.

The voicemail box for a Burlington Northern spokeswoman was full Sunday.

The cause of the derailment was under investigation.

Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press


TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: derailment; railroads; railways; trains
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To: monday
"They are all related to Federal regulation of the Rail industry, and the consequent mis-management that this causes."

This is a common misnomer, with regard to r/r disfunction. I have worked in the railroad industry for 23 years, and i would love more than anything else to blame the feds for this....

But...

The true reason is that the cost of replacing and repairing our current infrastructure is so high, that our rail system limps along on a wing and a prayer. This is economics, pure and simple.

Most r/r's are so close to border line broke, that they can't in most cases afford to keep their infrastructures in pristine condition.

The lawsuits from car hitting train accidents all have payoffs to the lawbreakers that are usually always staggeringly in the millions of dollars.

The solution? For the life of me, I can't think of one, that is why the "great" European rail systems are completely socialized, having the governments paying for everything...not a workable solution here in this country.

By the way...I am not a Federal employee!!

21 posted on 05/12/2002 9:41:11 PM PDT by kevin
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To: dogbyte12
LOL...Cool...keep the shower movement alive!!
22 posted on 05/12/2002 9:42:44 PM PDT by kevin
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To: Dallas
Thanks for keeping us posted regarding this "cliffhanger".

(OK, I've now banished myself to the corner. :-)

23 posted on 05/12/2002 9:51:43 PM PDT by NotJustAnotherPrettyFace
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To: Dallas
This is a headline that sounds much worse than the story.
24 posted on 05/12/2002 9:51:55 PM PDT by monkeyshine
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To: Diddle E. Squat
Sometimes it isn't worth the effort.
25 posted on 05/12/2002 9:53:48 PM PDT by Carry_Okie
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To: monday
I'll bet the rail industry wishes they were subsidized to the extent the trucking industry is. If taxpayer dollars went to keeping up the rails there would certainly be a lot less trucks on the road and more extensive use of the rails.

Trucking companies always brag on the back of their trucks how much in taxes they pay. The truth is that that amount doesn't even begin to pay for the damage they do to the roads.

26 posted on 05/12/2002 10:08:07 PM PDT by Rockitz
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To: kevin
See post #26 for some affirmation of the rail industries' plight.
27 posted on 05/12/2002 10:10:43 PM PDT by Rockitz
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To: Dallas
Passengers on Amtrak's California Zephyr, bound for Emeryville from Chicago, were taken away on buses to continue their journey,

I once rode in a dome car of the (Western Pacific's) California Zephyr through the beautiful Feather River Canyon BEFORE the Oroville dam was built....My dad worked for Western Pacific RR.

28 posted on 05/12/2002 10:20:25 PM PDT by lewislynn
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To: Diddle E. Squat;kevin
An article I read on FR this morning was saying a train wreck in England was caused by someone removing bolts from the points on the track.Sabotaged with some difficulty according to the article.

What are the points on a track?

29 posted on 05/12/2002 10:22:01 PM PDT by Free Trapper
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To: Diddle E. Squat
As a railroad employee, why do you think the media is all of this sudden deciding to cover derailments and train accidents....both nationally and internationally? It's kinda like the media feeding frenzy over shark attacks in FL last year...
30 posted on 05/12/2002 10:49:30 PM PDT by Frances_Marion
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To: Free Trapper
The 'points' are the pieces of track at a switch that move to divert the train from one track to another.
31 posted on 05/12/2002 10:53:16 PM PDT by WSGilcrest
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To: monkeyshine
Yeah, it is......

If I'd have read the story before I posted it......I wouldn't have posted it under breaking news.

32 posted on 05/12/2002 11:01:01 PM PDT by Dallas
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To: WSGilcrest
Thanks,I thought so but couldn't remember for sure.

It would take some effort to take the bolts out of one,not the kind of thing to just fall off.;o)

33 posted on 05/12/2002 11:02:53 PM PDT by Free Trapper
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To: Hoosier Patriot
Riding that train
High on cocaine
Casey Jones you better watch your speed
Trouble ahead Lady in red....

I blame the lady in red.
34 posted on 05/12/2002 11:10:46 PM PDT by ganesha
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To: Dallas
73 cars headed East toward Reno. Just saw the news, said the ammonia sulfate (fertilizer) wouldn't be a hazzard but would take a while to clean up. From the photos it looks like the frontend of a boxcar may be poking over the edge a bit but not hanging down a cliff. Appears a left turn was being negotiated and some cars squirted off to the right. Perhaps a rear pusher engine was cranked up a bit too high. Colfax is about 20 min. east of here.

"Well, they gave him his orders at Monroe, Virginia saying 'Steve, you're way behind time',
This is not thirty-eight, but ol' ninety seven, you must get her, in Spencer, on time".....

35 posted on 05/12/2002 11:22:21 PM PDT by budwiesest
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To: Dallas
A train carrying non-hazardous chemicals

... yeah right... and would they tell us immediately if they WERE hazardous.... would the authorities do ANYTHING right now to alarm the public... LOTSA train accidents... and LOTSA lights on a power substations all over the country, 24-7...

If folks want to believe at least a few of these are genuine accidents... it is their choice... but after a while... we have to consider, this makes for a LOT of derailments, compared to a similar frame of time in most years... I would say the arabs are hoping to get lucky and derail a train with SERIOUS chemicals on board, near a residential area... and soon.

It also appears that they have been relatively unsuccessful to date. I suspect they are trying to learn new job skills... to attack our infrastructures more effectively. Cheifly they would be analyzing our "response teams" and methods...

It's time to open the refugee camps... and prepare muslim sympathisers for deportation to the islamic hell-hole of their choice. America is too big, for the puny muslimaniac religion... it is time for them to go back to eating the sand, and sleeping with the scorpions they apparently inherited their character from.

36 posted on 05/12/2002 11:22:55 PM PDT by Robert_Paulson2
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To: Dallas;MarkWar
On the right track bump.
37 posted on 05/12/2002 11:36:22 PM PDT by Dr. Eckleburg
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To: Robert_Paulson2
Bump for lots of common sense.
38 posted on 05/13/2002 12:52:17 AM PDT by Dr. Eckleburg
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To: budwiesest
Are you in Auburn, CA?
39 posted on 05/13/2002 5:35:43 AM PDT by Not gonna take it anymore
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To: Diddle E. Squat
There was a washout this morning in Missouri from Spring floods. Gonna blame that, too, on terrorism?

Cloud seeding from cropdusters? ;-)

40 posted on 05/13/2002 6:22:34 AM PDT by StriperSniper
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