NS Bridge Fire - Walker Springs, Al

[Scooterb]

Dont think this has been posted yet.
These pictures are amazing. Look at the ones where the rails sag under the locomotive.

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B- ... Y2I2&hl=en

NS bridge on January 12th. The fire took the life of one of the crew and severely injured the other.

[ConrailForever]

That's looking pretty terrible. Taking a look at the lead unit's broken conductor's side windshield, or what is presumably the lead unit, the conductor may be the one that passed on. Any word on the cause of the fire?

[Mr. Tops]

Ehh...in a round-about way it was posted here: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16214

Thanks for posting the link. What a hellish nightmare to run into.

[ns8401]

Here's one theory on the cause of the fire, as discussed on the Yahoo group Loconotes:


NS bridge fire around Kimbrough Alabama

The bridge is 265 feet long, open deck, four pile bent, all steel
except for the deck. The deck was constructed of a composite
(plastic) material. The bridge has 16 bents including the dump
bents.

NS crew consisting of an NS EIC and three contractors started
work on Monday, January 11, 2010, installing and repairing
horizontal braces. These braces are welded from
stinger to stringer at a 45 degree angle for support. There was
no slow order required. They finished work on Tuesday, January
12th about 3pm central time. A northbound train passed over the
bridge about 630 pm and did not see any problems. The next train
was the empty coal train.

The lead engine stopped 46 feet short of the north end of the
bridge after initiating an emergency application. All three
engines and one coal car stopped on the blazing
bridge.

My gut feeling is that the welding left some of the plastic deck
ties smoldering and the first northbound train fanned the fire
into a raging inferno. The second train then saw the blaze,
initiated the emergency application, and the occupied engine came
to a stop on the blazing bridge.

[Scooterb]

Railroad crewmen burned when train encounters burning trestle in Clarke County
By Mark R. Kent
January 14, 2010, 12:15AM
MOBILE, Ala. -- Two men were burned late Tuesday night when their Norfolk Southern Railway train encountered a burning trestle in Clarke County, then ground to a stop directly over the fire, authorities said.

The men, whose names were not released, were taken to the University of South Alabama Medical Center in Mobile with burns, railroad spokesman Robin Chapman said Wednesday night.

According to Chapman, the southbound freight train led by three locomotives braked about 9:30 p.m. when the crewmen saw the trestle afire, and the diesel fuel ignited as the men jumped into the water below.

Becky Neugent with Clarke County 911 identified the body of water as Simmons Creek near Walker Springs, about six miles northeast of Jackson.

Chapman said the men contacted their trainmaster, then waited about an hour for help to reach them in the remote stretch of track. He said the fire spread to all three locomotives, which remained at the bridge Wednesday night.

Chapman said all operations on the Birmingham-to-Mobile line of Norfolk Southern have been halted until repairs can be made. The line passes through north Mobile County parallel to U.S. 43 before reaching Mobile.

Neugent said Clarke County Emergency Management Agency and a number of volunteer fire departments and other first responders spent Wednesday at the scene getting the fire under control. The cause of the trestle fire is not known.

Word is there had been some welding done on the track that started some composite ties smoldering, that eventually started burning.


Please keep the deceased's family in your prayers/thoughts. from what I understand the conductor is not out of the woods yet

[Norm]

I have seen pictures of it, and the results weren't pretty.

[thomas]

i saw a segment on one of those history/discovery type show and they were showing how these plastic ties were made, they make them from recycled plastic and shreded tires with a few other things thrown in to make these...