Just curious: A BNSF manifest westbound just west of the Melvern (KS) curve jumped the tracks with several cars running on the ties for a good while before overturning the first weekend in April. Tore up a bit of track and backed up westbound traffic for a couple of days. No injuries/deaths reported nor fire nor hazardous spills but RR officials wouldn’t let locals get close during cleanup. Not a word or photo appeared in general or RR media outlets, but it was a fairly impressive wreck judging from the long-range shots my brother took. So the question is why the (apparent) media embargo? What are the criteria for a major derailment to get coverage?
There’s your answer - as had been said by others, local news is often selected for publication/ broadcast on the basis of “If it bleeds, it leads”. Or, were any major roads closed ? Schools or apartments or retirement homes evacuated ? Many fire depts. called out ?
How far to the nearest town with a daily or weekly paper, or a TV station with a news dept. ? If its over 20 to 50 miles - and towards another town with a paper - for something like this it’s not ‘local’ enough, and/ or they seem to assume the other one will run the story.
Finally, it depends on how ‘slow’ of a news day it is, and whether a reporter is in the vicinity otherwise, and the difficulty of access. A ‘talking head’ reporter doing a telephone interview with a corporate PR official in an office far away saying not much is not particularly compelling TV news or drama.
- Paul North.
Thanks, Paul. I was afraid that was the case. Only rural grade crossings involved and the nearest semi-major media market 50 miles away. BNSF’s attitude towards any coverage not tightly controlled by corporate HQ was brought home sharply to my brother a few years back as he and some friends were chatting over coffee about a calendar they had produced for a local service club which displayed right-of-way shots along the Melvern curve and Emporia sub (all taken from public access points). A BNSF exec happened to be in the cafe (in town inspecting a major track upgrade in progress at the time) and overheard the chatter, approached my brother’s table, and demanded in a less-than-friendly way to know exactly how the photos were obtained. No casualties, but the exec didn’t make any friends in town that day.
There was a two car derailment (one on its side) yesterday on the UP track south of Minneoplis, Ks. Clean-up crew was on site. They were grain hoppers. A SP unit was standing by.
Do not know how often derailment happen in this area[S.Central Kansas} about the most reliable resource for any kind of news (IMHO) is the Wichita TV station (KAKE) it is about the best one for lots of local coverage; the Wichita Eagle, leaves much to be desired[X-)]
Not too long ago,R.J. Corman services established a location East of Wellington, Ks on US Hwy 160. It is not even shown on their website, but there must be some need for their services if they put in a facility.
The BNSF Transcon runs north/south about a mile west(±),. and it is almost adjacent to the Ks. TPK. exit for Wellington. Not to mention the OKT sub runs through the west side of the Wellington area ( this was the sub that had the bridge break under a locomotive set back in the past winter, north of Caldwekk,Ks.). My guess is there is probably a need in Kansas for Corman’s services.in S.C. Ks.
Details ?
Winter, 2009. Southbound grain train, I think it was near Caldwell, KS, with 2 or 3 UP units on the head end. Lead unit got almost across when the trestle began to sag, train stopped, trestle did not collapse, no one hurt. Train and locos were eventually dragged back (north) from the trestle without dropping anything into the river. Streams and rivers in this part of the country tend to be wide with shallow, sandy bottoms and uncertain geologic substructures. Also, there had been substantial precipitation earlier in the season and something may have been missed during routine inspections.
There was pretty extensive photo/video coverage at the time and there ought to be a link still active out there somewhere, maybe KAKE TV, the local ABC affiliate or the Wichita Eagle newspaper.
Does Hulcher drive the trucks with red cabs? There was a huge crew on scene within hours.
Hulcher’s rigs seem to be white with red trim - see the photo at: http://hulcher.com/mechanical.html
R. J. Corman has red ones - see the photos at; http://www.rjcorman.com/gallery_group/index.html
- Paul North.
http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/p/175489/1926027.aspx#1926027
Paul:
The link above is the THREAD from the June,2010 FORUM Discussion. Referencing the partial collapse of the bridge just north of Caldwell, Ks on UP’ s OKT sub. The bridge started to sag as the lead unit rolled out onto the bridge; the engineer was able to stop the locomotives out on the bridge. The railroad later was able to back the train out of the way, and to pull the engines back off the bridge without any apparent damage (to the engines).
This OKT sub, from Wichita to Caldwell ,and on into Oklahoma was later in the year (2010 )Summer ,and Fall; subject to a mullti-million dollar rebuild, which I am certain also included the river bridge north of Caldwell…
The linked site in the Thread is to a website for FELA Lawyers, but they do a pretty good job of showing photos, and explanations of various railroad incidents, Scroll down on that site, and you will eventually come to a photo of the Caldwell Bridge with the two engines out on the sagging bridge.
I hope this answers your inquiry!