On April 22, 2006, at 5:19 a.m., EST, CSX Transportation (CSX) freight train N68113, with two locomotives and 97 loaded coal cars, was traveling south on the Florence Division, Bellwood Subdivision, en route on single main track from Fulton Yard in Richmond, Virginia to the Chesterfield Power Plant (Railroad Location Wheelwright), in Chester, Virginia. The recorded speed was 4 miles per hour, when the train received an undesired emergency brake application and stopped with the head end of the train at Milepost S 0.9. Most of the trailing train was located on the bridge crossing the James River. The head end of the train was blocking the Maury Street crossing on Richmonds south side. The crew was initially unable to complete an inspection of the train past the first 15-20 cars because the cars were on the bridge. It was raining and still dark so walking conditions were not safe. A passing CSX Trainmaster noticed the derailment and saw that the bridge had collapsed under the weight of several overturned coal cars, that had spilled their contents on the ground 10-12 feet below at the Richmond Sewage Diversion Plant on 14th Street. Further investigation revealed 11 cars derailed, positioned from the 47th through the 57th head cars. Three cars had piled up by the citys flood wall at the sewage diversion plant where the bridge collapsed. The derailment fouled the single main track between Brown Street Interlocking and South Yard in Richmond, Va. A Norfolk Southern rail grade crossing is located in the vicinity, but was not affected by the derailment. There were no injuries and no hazardous materials were involved in the derailment. Visibility at the time of the derailment was limited by darkness and drizzling rain with a temperature of about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The derailment occurred at the south end of a curve in the general area of Shockoe Bottom. Initial evidence indicated that the derailment was caused by a rail fastener failure causing a wide track gage condition just north of the flood wall located at CSX milepost S 0.2. The event recorder downloads were carefully reviewed and failed to indicate any train handling issues so train handling was not considered a causal factor. The train was traveling 8 mph, (the maximum allowable speed at this location is 10 mph) when the train speed dropped to 6 mph, with the undesired emergency brake application occurring at 4 mph. The engineer did not notice any type of jerking or buff forces; the train simply came to a stop. The crew, consisting of an engineer, conductor and brakeman, were not required to be tested, after it was determined that the damages would be under $1,000,000 and no train handling issues or rules infractions were revealed. The damages incurred from the derailment were $260,853 for equipment and $200,000 for track and bridge structural damages.


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    Title :

    Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Safety Headquarters Assigned Accident Investigation Report HQ-2006-24: CSX Transportation (CSX), Richmond, Virginia, April 22, 2006


    Publication date :

    2006


    Size :

    6 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English