GLC Grain Train Derailment 3/13/2016

[TrainWatcher]

Hearing reports out near Howell that GLC just put grain cars on the ground.

[firemedic54]

I was the responding EMS crew for this incident. Per the engineer he felt the train tugging and it went into emergency. Sounds like a broken rail. About 25 empty grain cars on the ground and in the trees. All headed for Middleton. Has an NS engine solo. Crew is gonna break off the rest and continue to Owosso. Hulchers also enroute. No injuries or any hazmat.

[firemedic54]

Update...it's NS9458.

[BL2-1843]

Biked over in the rain to see this northbound NS grain empty go north on GLC at Howell at 8:45 am this Sunday morning. One NS single unit, 9458, and 85 all NS grain cars. By the time I got back home on bike, they had piled up between 20-30 cars only two miles north of where I was. Big time mess!!!!

Just south of Barron Road, you can see it from Oak Grove Road. Tail end of the train, the cars were rocking bad where I stood watching them go by Riddle Street. That, was from bad roadbed just to the south of the crossing which has been this way for yers. Don't know if that had anything to do with it, or they had other problems further north to cause this.

[Doktor No]

Ahh the good old tugging of the train syndrome. We were taking the interchange over to the Conrail one early evening and going under Franklin on the Hughart yard lead we just came to a stop. Probably 40 Auto parts cars in tow. So we backed up, took some slack and tried again. We had the MP15 Seaboard Family Lines switcher at the time and we just figured it couldn't pull around the curve....umm nope. The rail had turned over just south of the switch, across from the Pleasent Street tower location...and we sorta made a mess. Nothing turned over but there were a lotta cars sitting on the ties. Never did go into emergency either. Trains don't seem to pull so good in the dirt. Guess its the friction involved.

[firemedic54]

We just drove past there and still no activity. No sign of clean up crew. Sheriff Dept. has a unit blocking off the two track at Oak Grove that accesses the cell tower. The engine already departed north.

[NYCMan]

Obviously going too fast for the exigent track conditions. Better luck next time!

[CAT345C]

Obviously going too fast for the exigent track conditions. Better luck next time!

I'm glad you were able to come up with that conclusion.

[James Sofonia]

Some photos are starting to be posted.

[James Sofonia]

I see from Google Earth that it looks like the wreck may be right over the top of a pipeline.

[OwlCaboose2853]

More than 20 empty railroad cars derail near Howell; no injuries reported http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index ... river_home

[NYCMan]

Derailed over a high pressure pipeline? Gee, maybe we can have nice explosion incident like in San Bernardino in 1989. MDOT owns the tracks, so they can afford the liability exposure. And, the pipeline owner can always point to MDOT's negligence in failing to properly maintain the tracks, just like they fail to properly maintain the roads.

[railroader and son]

Thank God this guy chimes in,move on anti everything troll...

[~Z~]

Thank God this guy chimes in,move on anti everything troll...

Fyi, I've added him to the noobcakes group so any of his rare posts need to be approved by a moderator before they are seen by other board members. I agree, he's been making trolling posts for too long.

[AARR]

One of the news media's called it "Tuscola Saginaw and Bay". They changed names to Great Lakes Central about 10 years ago.

[MiddleMI]

Thank God this guy chimes in,move on anti everything troll...

Fyi, I've added him to the noobcakes group so any of his rare posts need to be approved by a moderator before they are seen by other board members. I agree, he's been making trolling posts for too long.

Glad that the rest of us aren't the only ones who seem to notice for once.

[hoborich]

I used to have a small farm just off Oak Grove road, near Chase Lake rd, many years ago. I still remember those old Ann Arbor alcos slowly making their way up and down the line. I always thought they had a permanent slow order along that route. They never went much faster than you could walk.
Cohoctah used to be the headquarters of the Michigan Klan, and the Grand Wizard had a farm just down the road from me.

[NSSD70ACe]

One of the news media's called it "Tuscola Saginaw and Bay". They changed names to Great Lakes Central about 10 years ago.

That's news media for ya


What causes a rail to snap like that? Did it most likely break at the joint?

[Saturnalia]

What causes a rail to snap like that? Did it most likely break at the joint?

Fatigue. Willing to bet that rail or joint bars haven't been replaced in 50+ years. They're durable, but sometimes...

[OwlCaboose2853]

One of the news media's called it "Tuscola Saginaw and Bay". They changed names to Great Lakes Central about 10 years ago.

That's news media for ya


What causes a rail to snap like that? Did it most likely break at the joint?

23 train cars derail near Howell http://www.livingstondaily.com/story/ne ... /81727718/
Chris Bagwell, general manager of Great Lakes Central Railroad, said one 3-foot piece of railroad track broke, causing the derailment. He said this is not uncommon in the industry.