Train Safety Essay

561 Words3 Pages
9:43 am in Chicago, a train’s air horn fills the air along with a quire of shrilling cries of metal wheels on steel tracks attempt to stop a thousand ton bomb. The freight train engineer tries to stop but noticed the sabotaged track to late and the train derails. A cloud of mix gas made up of chlorine, ammonia, and other gases begin to fill the air while fire starts to burn hundreds of tons of crude oil, heating the unbreached pressurized cars and turning each one into a time bomb. While this is a hypothetical scenario, everyday across the US, freight trains transport supplies and resources across the country and through cities. Hauling everything from automobiles to chemicals to paper, the United States has a network of 140,000 miles of railroad used by freight trains (Federal Railroad Administration, 2015). In 2014, freight rail in the U.S. transported over 1.8 billion tons of goods and resources with about 175 million tons being chemical…show more content…
One of the most fatal incidents happened on January 6th, 2005 near Graniteville, South Carolina. A train hailing chlorine gas along with other commodities derail after a colliding with a parked train. The incident caused a release of chlorine gas forming a cloud that blanketed 2,500ft to the north, 1,000ft east, 900ft south, and 1000ft west (Branscomb, Fagan, Auerswald, Ellis, & Barcham, 2010). As a result of this incident, nine people lost their lives and over 500 were injured (Branscomb, Fagan, Auerswald, Ellis, & Barcham, 2010). Another incident involving the release of chlorine gas occurred on June 28th, 2004 near Macdona, Texas resulting in the death of three people and injuring another thirty-three (Branscomb, Fagan, Auerswald, Ellis, & Barcham, 2010). These incidents serve as a lesson and reminder of the dangers freight trail derailment
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