DUNSMUIR, Calif. — Operation of Amtrak’s Coast Starlight remains disrupted following a Sunday, March 1, derailment of a Union Pacific train at the Cantara Loop near Dunsmuir.
According to a local TV report, about 19 cars derailed Sunday evening. UP told the broadcaster today (Tuesday, March 3) that no hazardous materials were involved and cleanup was continuing. A Siskiyou News article says there were no reported injuries and has several photos of overturned grain hoppers.
Starlight operations have been disrupted since Sunday evening, with the northbound and southbound trains departing that day being turned at Sacramento, Calif., and Klamath Falls, Ore., respectively because of the closure. On Monday, both trains were canceled in their entirety; today, northbound No. 14 operated between Los Angeles and Sacramento, while southbound No. 11 was cancelled out of Seattle but will operate on Wednesday between Sacramento and LA.
— To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.
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If southbound and loaded, likely in heavy dynamic braking, which would likely preclude stringlining absent some unusual air brake activiity like a UDE. Appears the low rail rolled out which is also unusual on concrete tiesl. A series of several warped trucks could possibly cause it. speculation at this point.
Were they actually loaded with “a ton of grain each”, as reported by the TV station?
Looks like big batch of concrete ties head up that way at some point…
It is a 15 degree curve, so stringlining is always a possibility. The Espee found out in the early 1990’s when a tank car of metam sodium fell into the Sacramento River.
That was my first thought as well, since they all looked like they are still coupled to each other, I doubt they were filled with only one ton of grain in them…maybe 143 tons (286,000 ilbs) but most likely they were empty which would have been a leading cause of the stringlining action, although some times buff forces can push cars off the rails on curves if the trains are long enough with DPU’s pushing hard on the rear end… dynamic forces play a big role in non-mechanical derails, these not involving broken rails or wheels…
As seen: a loaded unit grain train derailed to inside of curve. Something caused it to stringline. Leave speculation to others