Cargo train locomotive derails in Colorado, spilling 100s of gallons of diesel
Cargo train locomotive derails in Colorado, spilling 100s of gallons of diesel
The Great Western Railway locomotive did not tip over when it went off the rails just before 1 a.m. but a fuel tank was punctured.
The locomotive of a cargo train derailed in northern Colorado early Wednesday, spilling hundreds of gallons of diesel, authorities said.
The Great Western Railway locomotive did not tip over when it went off the rails at a switch in the tracks just before 1 a.m. but a fuel tank was punctured, the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority said in a Facebook post. The spill was contained and did not get into any waterways, it said.
No one was injured in the derailment, which happened near a sugar factory in an area not far from some homes, Battalion Chief Kevin Hessler said. The other locomotive and three cars carrying sugar did not derail, he said.
Not to minimize this, but could have been much worse. 100's of gallons instead of 1000's. Train remained upright. Sounds like they got lucky.
We should not focus on gratitude that it wasn't worse. Everything could always be worse. The point is to make things better.
Spilled oil is objectively bad, and to be harshly criticized, every time.
To address this a bit further up, where more eyes can see it: yes, be pissed that this happened at all, but it's absolutely okay to be thankful it wasn't worse. To not be thankful it was hundreds and not thousands, tens of thousands, is psychotic. Don't let that keep you from your anger at these companies, though. The derailment still happened, fuel was still spilled, don't forget it.
You beat me too it! I was just going to link this since I just watched it.
tl;dw train regulations have been stripped back so much that government regulators inspect just 1% of train operations and have no idea where any trains are or what they're carrying, leaving following regulations up to the corporations. The largest corporation has placed "safety" as #4 in their list of priorities and runs their trains with just 2 overworked employees who regularly state they have no time to check that the train is running properly and warn that a derailment of a train carrying fuel will flatten a major american city some day soon if regulations aren't changed.
It sure is a good thing we didn’t give those train engineers enough vacation time and sick days! /s
I guess they didn't see John Oliver's episode about this.
Hundreds ain't great but the average train these days has 20000 tons of cargo behind it -- could have been a lot worse.
Derailments are pretty common, actually. Like dozens to hundreds a year depending on the size of the company. I suspect a few incidents last year have made the news extra sensitive.
In the US, maybe. Last derailment we had in Czechia was in 2010. Germany had it last year, but it's still less than once a year.
I don't buy that. Unless you define "derailments" as "giant catastrophe". Trains regularly slip off tracks, fall over, and occasionally catch fire, even in Europe.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1128848/accidents-on-european-rail-networks-by-country/
I am curious about the amount of rail in those countries vs the US. I know Europe likes their passenger trains a ton more than the US, but the US loves freight trains, and that seems to be where most of the derailments happen.
If the United States has, like, 20x the freight rail/trains, it would make sense for them to have 20x more derailments, essentially adjusting for population of freight trains. Not to give a pass to the States, for sure, but knowing this number would be a bit more helpful.
Same as a school shooting, this isn't news anymore.
I assure you diesel fuel is great for the environment, it makes it go faster.
I don't think that's true; diesel fuel isn't red.
You see, the environment without fuel will not be able to go anywhere. By adding fuel to the environment it is now able to leave at highway speeds.
It's got what the environment craves!
Where’s BoBo? It is Colorado. Is she still blaming Buttigieg for the woes of American transportation?