LSRC Train derails in Saginaw

[lightning]

That looks to be the spur to Wabash (former Wicks) not used much at all may just have had some unforeseen issue buried in the snow. Seems to me LSRC does just fine on trackwork as I often see them working around Saginaw....a few weeks ago they were working in force on the bridge over the Saginaw river and I'm sure with snow comes plenty of work to keep the track crew busy.

Nope Evan was right ya burn a switch and go back the other way thru it all sorts of bad things happen.....

[lightning]

I totally disagree with Evan. This is not about human error. This is about brazen nonfeasance fueled by human greed. Given that, apparently, many of the derailments occur in the same place --- right outside the LSRC offices --- we can make several observations. First, LSRC Management clearly knows that they have a derailment problem and WHERE that problem is. Second, since derailments continue to repeat in the same area, that indicates that LSRC Management is failing to perform the necessary corrective track maintenance in that area so as to prevent future derailments.

The fact is that railroad track is, believe it or not, very forgiving. With slow moving trains, track must be in pretty bad shape for trains to derail.

But, it appears that the LSRC Management has adopted the "Penn Central Management Mentality", that being that it is cheaper to clean up after derailments than it is to invest in some track maintenance.

But, that is how LSRC likes it, and who are WE to say that they are wrong? I am certain that LSRC lucks out because the FRA Inspectors are all based in Detroit, and the activity in the South end of the State keeps them from getting up to Bay City on any regular basis.

Naw see YOUR WRONG!!! Evan was right..... So before ya pipe up and say somone is WRONG maybe you are guesstamating the facts yourself...

[SD80MAC]

Trains derail guys. LSRC got along with the bare minimum for track maintenance for a long time under the old management.

[Evan]

Jon is correct. Human error is the cause, I know this for fact. a switch was thrown, and not lined back. this train was taking 90 MTYs to Peavy and when the train pulled back out of the yard, 1162s rear truck made it thru fine, and the first truck on 1162 derailed and then 805 derailed entirely. None of the cars were derailed.

[12Bridge]

Sorry guys, its simple, unless you were part of the crew, or work there, you have zero business posting causes or speculating such.

[Firemedic Mike]

A short "rant" if you will.

Sorry guys, its simple, unless you were part of the crew, or work there, you have zero business posting causes or speculating such.

But where is the fun in that? I enjoy watching "experts" speak their minds. Yes, there are many people on here who actually do know things about railroading and offer qualified and useful insight. In most areas, I would not even dream of counting myself among them, so this is not a "More holy than Thou" statement. However, many people offer insight based on what they think they know. It happens all the time, and not just in the railroad industry. I can say for a fact it happens in the shipping industry, as well as healthcare and emergency services. It is kinda fun to see what the "experts" post, and then read rebuffs by those who actually know what they are talking about.

End rant

The good news about this derailment: No one was hurt or killed, there was no haz-mat release, and once it is cleaned up life can get back to normal. Hopefully LSRC can have the cause identified and corrected so it will not happen again. If it was mechanical, fix it. If it was track, repair it. If it was human error, correct it. If it was an act of god, well, that happens.

[AARR]

A short "rant" if you will.

Sorry guys, its simple, unless you were part of the crew, or work there, you have zero business posting causes or speculating such.

But where is the fun in that? I enjoy watching "experts" speak their minds.

Same here as long as the speculation is responsible. Some of the comments about LSRC being a greedy and irresponsible are inappropriate.

[Paul W]

That looks to be the spur to Wabash (former Wicks) not used much at all may just have had some unforeseen issue buried in the snow. Seems to me LSRC does just fine on trackwork as I often see them working around Saginaw....a few weeks ago they were working in force on the bridge over the Saginaw river and I'm sure with snow comes plenty of work to keep the track crew busy.

Nope Evan was right ya burn a switch and go back the other way thru it all sorts of bad things happen.....

Bummer, I was hoping Wabash had something for ya....

[GreatLakesRailfan]

Sorry guys, its simple, unless you were part of the crew, or work there, you have zero business posting causes or speculating such.

I agree, which is why I'm glad to see lightning's explanation of what happened.