Norfolk Southern Railroad is the operator running the train which derailed, causing a massive toxic disaster for Ohio and Pennsylvania. They’re also in charge of the sensors built into the track which warn of overheated axles. Train crews did get an alert, at the absolute last moment, as they were slowing down already. The NTSB is looking into the settings on the two sensors just before the one which went off. Things get tricky with those.
Train warning came too late
As local residents are cleaning up from the toxic train wreck and demanding answers, federal officials finally peeked out from the shadows. Like the groundhog in nearby Punxsutawney, PA, they sniffed around and quickly scurried back to safety. The last thing they want to do is take charge. Our bunglingly inept Transportation Minister, Pete Buttigieg, got a chance to break out his Village People costume.
He dressed up as a construction worker to visit a photogenic spot near, but not too close, to the disaster site. He instantly made it clear that he hasn’t come forward sooner because he hasn’t got a clue what he’s doing. He’s leaving the investigation up to the NTSB. Those guys are engineers who know how to read and do math and stuff. He’s just a politician. His expertise is double talk and spending taxpayer money.
The National Transportation Safety Board put out a preliminary report which says the railroad has some explaining to do. Specifically, about their network of track sensors designed to detect and prevent exactly the sort of tragedy which struck in early February.
EXCLUSIVE: A whistleblower has provided us with a photo of CCTV from a location in Columbiana Co, OH.
In it, the Norfolk Southern train appears to be on FIRE at 8:13:48, at least *41 minutes* before the derailment reported at 8:54pm by NTSB.
How did hotbox detectors not… pic.twitter.com/wnRGf5ZmRC
— CannCon (@CannConActual) February 23, 2023
According to the report released February 23, the crew did get a warning. A “critical audible alarm message instructing the crew to slow and stop the train to inspect a hot axle.” By then, it was already far too late.
According to the report, the train was already slowing as the warning alert sounded so the engineer “increased the dynamic brake application to further slow and stop the train.” That’s when it jumped the track. The hazard is a common one. Common enough that the tracks have built in sensors to prevent it from happening.
“The function of the HBD (hot bearing detector) is to detect overheated bearings and provide audible real-time warnings to train crews.” This particular string “passed three HBD systems on its trip before the derailment.” The sensor which went off detected “the suspect bearing’s temperature at 253°F above ambient.”
Nobody knows yet what temperature the previous two sensors were programmed to trigger at. That’s something that the NTSB will be looking into. What we do know is that “After the train stopped, the crew observed fire and smoke and notified the Cleveland East dispatcher of a possible derailment.” They knew what they were carrying so quickly got out of there.
“With dispatcher authorization, the crew applied handbrakes to the two railcars at the head of the train, uncoupled the head-end locomotives, and moved the locomotives about 1 mile from the uncoupled railcars.” The same distance the locals were told to evacuate from. First responders were called in immediately.
11 cars of toxic chemicals
Norfolk Southern reported that, so far, around “15,000 pounds of contaminated soil and 1.1 million gallons of contaminated water have been excavated from site of the derailment.”
As the train was about to cross the state line from Ohio into Pennsylvania, “dozens of rail cars, including 11 carrying toxic chemicals, derailed.” That resulted in “a controlled release of vinyl chloride three days after the derailment to avoid an explosion.” Full effects from the toxic exposure really won’t be known for years.
On February 3, both previous detectors “logged that a bearing was heating up but didn’t sound an alarm because the temperature hadn’t crossed safety thresholds set by the railroad.” They have leeway to do that because false positives can be common.
BREAKING: The Biden Administration Just Debunked Pete Buttigieg's Claim that Trump is to Blame for East Palestine Disaster
NTSB chair slammed him and explain that the ECP brake rule would not have applied herehttps://t.co/AJ19g57ItY
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) February 17, 2023
By the time the crew reached the third detector, “the bearing registered 253 degrees above the surrounding temperature, which was enough to trigger a warning, but it didn’t give the train crew enough time to stop before the bearing failed and the train derailed.”
Norfolk Southern confirmed in a statement that “the railroad’s system carries out 2 billion readings a year, typically finding about 80 cars that need attention.” While not saying what temperature they have them set at, 200 degrees is the critical point that crews have to stop the train and do something about it.
“The first two detectors the train passed were spaced 10 miles apart. It didn’t cross the third, near East Palestine, for another 20 miles. By that point, the bearing was failing.” The NTSB is making a big deal out of the fact that “the bearing’s temperature had increased 65 degrees between the first two detectors.” No matter what trigger temp they are set at, that alone should have “raised concerns.“
