Another Oil train derails, catches fire.

An ABC article says these were NOT the newer double shielded tankers that are suppose to be coming on line.

 

Much as I hate to say it and not start a thread flame war, I think pipe lines are better choice for this volatile liquid, if you can just get hose cranky environmentalists ( you know, the ones that worry earthworm population will decrease or suddenly have two heads, or the land over the pipe will over heat and add to global warming etc) on board.

Now just why would you believe ABC? Why not wait for an ACCURATE statement from BNSF as to the make-up of the train consist.

 

It has gotten to the point, with our national news agencies, that if they report that the sun raises in the east and sets in the west, excuse me but, I'll just check that myself this evening at sunset.

Here is a link to an article in "Railway Age", which is an industry trade publication:

 

http://www.railwayage.com/inde...dakota.html?channel=

 

For more information on the DOT-117 Tank Car Rule, here is a link to an article in "Railway Age", which is an industry trade publication:

 

http://www.railwayage.com/inde...ome-controversy.html

 

For more information on the proposed DOT-117 Tank Car Rule, here is a link to an article in "Progressive Railroading", which is an industry trade publication:

 

http://www.progressiverailroad...tankcar-class--44361

 

For more information on the proposed DOT-117 Tank Car Rule, here is a link to an article in "Railway Gazette", which is a international industry trade publication:

 

http://www.railwaygazette.com/...s-are-tightened.html

 

GNNPNUT

 

According to the news this evening, this is the 8th oil train accident this year.  This is an average of 2 every month given that this is the first week of May.  

 

The railroad industry is going to have to find a way to prevent these accidents or it won't be in the oil shipping business very long.   The industry has been fortunate that this hasn't happened in a city.

 

Joe

If you take away the loopholes about whats used to thin it out for shipping and use American pipe I would be for the pipeline. but not knowing how toxic the additives are makes me skeptical.

This kind of thing is not new, but the drama that the media creates about it is.  Frankly, I think if far more useful to put the reporters to honest work (like digging ditches) than to try to reinvent the railroads. 

Sadly, this has indeed happened in Canada, in the town of Lac-Megantic, QC, with the tragic loss of nearly 50 lives due to a runaway oil train that had been parked for the night.

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...-a-tragedy-1.2934592

 

Ok, My 2 cents. I think oil will always be carried by rail to some extent. We also need new pipelines, the ones now in use are old and have leaks we do not hear about. It is only a matter of time before there is a major pipe leak. The pipeline industry is taking lines offline and installing inserts, but this is a slow process. Also pipes do not run everywhere oil is needed. We will see oil by rail for some time to come.

   

The best solution for using tank cars is to place the tank inside of a boxcar. This was done years ago to transport milk and I own a Kline boxcar with that contains a tank inside.

Placing a tank inside a boxcar wouldn't help.  Boxcar sheet meat is thinner than tank car metal.

 

Milk car tanks are a different animal.  Milk is non-volatile the last time I looked.  Tanks in a milk car are lower in capacity than today's oil tank cars and other than surrounding the tank insulation, the box on a milk car was there more for esthetics.

 

Rusty

 This derailment is another situation where all the facts are not known.

 The news media are trying to report on a subject of which they have little knowledge. Unlike some stories where they have a political ax to grind this one involves facts most reporters are unfamiliar with.  For example did the oil explode or is it just burning?

  There is a lot of media hype about oil train wrecks. Incidents like this one would not have attracted any interest just a few years ago.

  Until the Keystone pipeline is built about a million barrels of oil a day will have to be transported by rail. Rail is more expensive and more dangerous than pipe. The oil must be transported because most drivers would find it inconvenient to drive to North Dakota every time the need a fill up.

 I lived and worked in the oil patch in Louisiana  and Texas. Pipelines run all over the place and seldom cause problems. The usual problem is caused by contractors digging into the pipeline with construction equipment. Crude oil pipelines seldom cause

long term damage if they leak, product pipelines(carrying gasoline and other refined products) are another matter.

  The pipelines in Texas have to consider endangered species such as the Houston Toad and Atwater Prairie chicken but they have not hurt the environment. Similarly damage to aquifers are minimal because oil is lighter than water and floats. If spilled it can be cleaned up easily in most cases.

  The oil coming from the Bakken area of north Dakota is different than the oil being shipped from Canada. The Canadian oil is very viscous and requires chemicals to thin it into a liquid or it must be kept at a higher temperature. The crude from North Dakota does not require this treatment.

 What I want to know is what caused this accident and what can be done to prevent another one.

 

Douglas

TP Fan, good talking points!

I'm a bit surprised that the conspiracy theorists haven't jumped all over this.

The Keystone Pipeline has nothing to do with the trains carrying North Dakota Bakken crude.  It is for carrying Canadian crude to refineries in Texas.  Almost all of the oil from North Dakota is for refineries in the northeast.  Until someone proposes building a pipeline from North Dakota to the northeast tank trains will remain the only method of transporting the oil.

 

Stuart

 

 

Simply my observation but, the recurring derailments are happening on the same three railroads; BNSF, CN and CSX.  And, based on shipper derailment notifications I receive from our Class 1 railroads, these same three railroads seem to be having a disproportionate number of derailments over the past year.  I would place the frequency of these "not big news event" type derailments at one every couple of weeks.

Either these three are incredibly unlucky or they aren't doing something in the same manner as their less derailment prone counterparts.

Curt

There is much discussion about the integrity of the tank cars. Granted they could use improvement. But don’t you think the first thing that should be suspect is the track. I have seen some track with ties so deteriorated, I wonder why a train does not derail when using it.

I see CSX in the DC area working the rails a good bit of the time, maybe because they are in the capital area and do not want a bad PR incident happening so close to the law makers.  When I travel near the NS lines their road is picture perfect. I have been in this area close to five years and have not see one derailment. I hope it continues like that. 

I probably missed this, but what in particular caused the derailment?

That is the $64,000 question? But, the FRA and NTSB take forever to issue results of derailments, so not much information has been made public concerning the last 4, 5, 6 or more derailments. Maybe next year?

This is in reply to Stuart,

The Keystone Pipeline has nothing to do with the trains carrying North Dakota Bakken crude.  It is for carrying Canadian crude to refineries in Texas.  Almost all of the oil from North Dakota is for refineries in the northeast.  Until someone proposes building a pipeline from North Dakota to the northeast tank trains will remain the only method of transporting the oil.

 

 

The pipeline was originally proposed to carry both areas, one branch would go to Canada the other would go to North Dakota. The pipeline was intended to join other pipelines in Stillwater, Oklahoma, unfortunately it has not yet been built.

 

  The Bakken oil is going to a lot of gulf coast refineries as well as Oklahoma and Texas. Only a small portion is carried to the east coast or the northeast.

  If you need references I can dig them out for you from oil industry publications.

Douglas

 From the BNSF website:

At approximately 7:30 am CDT today, a BNSF train heading eastbound experienced a derailment of six tank cars at Heimdal, N.D. The BNSF train consisted of 109 total cars – 107 cars loaded with crude oil and two buffer cars loaded with sand. There were no injuries. There is a fire at the scene involving the six derailed cars. All other cars have been pulled away from the scene to a safe distance. The tank cars involved in the incident are the unjacketed CPC-1232 models. Local first responders are on the scene as are BNSF personnel. BNSF team members will continue to assist first responders. 

We are thankful there are no injuries and regret the inconvenience this incident has caused local residents. BNSF has established a Claims Center in the area to assist those who evacuated.

BNSF is able to reroute eastbound and westbound Amtrak and BNSF freight traffic to maintain traffic flows.

 

I didn't know buffer cars carried sand. Minot ND is the closest town that is on most maps.

Douglas

Heimdal, ND total population: 28.   Whew! Lucky this time!

Could BNSF be high balling in unpopulated areas to accomadate for urban slow-downs?