About 2:15 p.m. c.s.t., on December 28, 1977, Louisiana & Arkansas Railway freight train Extra 4102 North collided with a log-laden tractor-semitrailer on the Vine Street crossing in Goldonna, Louisiana. The 2 diesel locomotive units and 22 cars of the train were derailed. A jumbo tank car loaded with about 31,000 gallons of liquefied petroleum gas was ruptured and the cargo ignited. The resultant fireball enveloped an area 1,200 feet wide including parts of Goldonna's business and residential districts. Two train crewmembers were killed; the truckdriver, a train crewmember, and eight bystanders were injured. Total damage was estimated to be $1,256,000. About 900 persons were evacuated from the Goldonna area. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the excessive speed of the train, the failure of the truckdriver to approach the railroad at a speed which would allow him to stop short of the approaching train, and the obstructions which reduced the truckdriver's field of vision.
Collision of a Louisiana and Arkansas Railway Freight Train and a L.V. Rhymes Tractor-Semitrailer at Goldonna, Louisiana, December 28, 1977
1978
30 pages
Report
No indication
English
Transportation Safety , Railroad Transportation , Road Transportation , Railroads , Highway transportation , Accident investigations , Railroad trains , Tank cars , Liquefied natural gas , Trucks , Semitrailers , Fires , Casualties , Damage , Louisiana , Railroad accidents , Railroad highway accidents , Goldonna(Louisiana) , Railroad highway crossings