Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Safety Headquarters Assigned Accident Investigation Report HQ-2007-34, Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF), Tower, North Dakota, June 6, 2007
On June 6, 2007, at 3:00 p.m. (CDT) a eastbound Burling Northern Sante Fe (BNSF) Railway Company train, symbol CSCMSUD152 derailed on the Twin Cities Division, Jamestown Subdivision in Tower City, North Dakota at milepost 50.0. The train was traveling on a single main track at a recorded speed of 50 mph. The maximum authorized timetable track speed in the area of the accident is 60 mph. The train consisted of three locomotives, 122 railcars of coal, with 17,036 trailing tons and 6,476 feet in length. A total of 29 cars, 25th through the 53rd, derailed. There were no injuries reported and no release of hazardous material. The estimated damages was $1,907,014 ($150,000 for signal, $248,000 for track and $1,509,014 for equipment). At the time of the derailment it was 73 degrees F and partly cloudy. The probable cause of the accident was the securement bolts holding the coupler pin retainer plate became either loose or were missing allowing the retainer plate to move, drop, or swing out which allowed the vertical pin to fall out of car (DETX994371). This in turn caused the coupler to fall out, then causing the train to derail (E39C).
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Corporate Authors:
Federal Railroad Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590 - Publication Date: 2007
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Print
- Pagination: 7p
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Couplers; Crash injuries; Crash investigation; Derailments; Freight trains; Railroad crashes; Weather conditions
- Identifier Terms: BNSF Railway
- Geographic Terms: North Dakota
- Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors; I80: Accident Studies;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01135314
- Record Type: Publication
- Report/Paper Numbers: HQ-2007-34
- Files: TRIS, USDOT
- Created Date: Jul 21 2009 8:11AM