Rail Workers Raise Doubts About Safety As Oil Trains Roll On

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Not sure what to make of this. Lots of "he said; he said." Hours to make a brake test? Still, the article has many links.

Rail Workers Raise Doubts About Safety As Oil Trains Roll On

EarthFix Reports10:25 am Wed July 2, 2014

By Ashley Ahearn & Tony Schick

Curtis Rookaird thinks BNSF Railway fired him because he took the time to test his train’s brakes. ... The rail yard in Blaine, Washington, was on heightened security that day, he remembers, because of the 2010 Winter Olympics underway just across border in Vancouver, B.C.

The black, cylindrical tank cars held hazardous materials like propane, butane and carbon monoxide. The plan was to move the train just more than two miles through three public crossings and onto the main track. Rookaird and the other two crew members were convinced the train first needed a test of its air brakes to guard against a derailment.

But that kind of test can take hours. A BNSF trainmaster overheard Rookaird talking over the radio about the testing. He questioned if it was necessary. The crew was already behind schedule that day.
....

Railroad safety has come under public scrutiny now that trains are hauling millions of gallons of oil across North America. BNSF is the only rail carrier transporting oil from all of the country’s western shale deposits, where oil production is soaring. In the Northwest, BNSF carries the vast majority of the especially combustible Bakken crude from North Dakota and neighboring states. The railroad now moves nearly 20 oil trains per week through the Columbia River Gorge.

[woodsprite]

1. My brother works for the Norfolk Southern and said the same thing

That they're (Union) are going back and forth with the NS's admin. If they don't keep the trains stationary any one place longer than x number of hours (I think it's 30 hours), then they don't have to do a car inspection by an actual unionized trained car inspector. Its "good enough" according to NS that the Engineer walks the train. But my brother said that engineer isn't going to flag the car for breaks unless it's dire AND he actually catches it, where a Car Inspector would do a thorough inspection, write up the train and hold it until it was fixed.

Love that term "especially combustible" when talking about Bakken crude. Our town isn't stocking the proper equipment or proper foam concentrate to fight a crude fire. They intend to borrow both the equipment and concentrate from a few towns over - Newark DE to Delaware City DE.

[Sherman A1]

2. They roll right past my workplace daily

when one of the office types was out a couple of weeks ago, he asked about the rail tracks, thinking originally the depressed tracks were a creek. I told him that yes, the tracks were very busy these days with tank cars carrying oil from the Bakken Oil Field and I hope they never have a hiccup there as both I and the building will be gone.