Nora -
Glad to hear you are OK. Hopefully everything will be up and running soon.
LC
I don’t think there’s much value in parsing preliminary reportage. “Somebody” may have given them a value based on a particular context that was not conveyed in the reporting.
And after all, does the distinction make any difference to those reading the paper? Once you get into six figures, will it really affect the layman or evacuated resident whether it was 100,000 or 900,000 gallons? The on-site professionals may care, but they aren’t getting their data from the paper.
KL
Train left Mason City, Iowa with 71 loads for Sewaren, NJ. Train originated at Ashton, Ia and made a fill at Hanlontown,IA. Another unit train is supposed to be ready at Lake Chrystal, MN again to fill at Hanlontown, IA. I doubt it will move right away. This will also effect a unit out of Eagle Grove as well. No word yet on possible detours, but I know Sewaren will need it ASAP.
This is the first real incident with ethanol since we have been shipping it in 2001, at least involving our trains.
Why bother reading the paper if one does not get accurate information? If one is going to do a job, do it right or do not bother doing it. Another possiblity is that the person giving the briefing said just gave the total number of cars that derailed and the total ethanol that is or will probably burn. Of course the reporter does not know that these numbers are inconsistant and reports that.
Perhaps he got his information from the emergency work in the following quote, “Mr. Husband said the train was bound from a Midwestern refinery–one emergency worker identified it as the Shell Motiva plant in Houston, Texas–and was en route to a shipping point in New Jersey.” Ethanol from an oil refinery in Houston? Furthermore, Motiva does not have a Houston refinery. Is Houston considered to be in the Midwest?
[quote user=“Kurt_Laughlin”]
I don’t think there’s much value in parsing preliminary reportage. “Somebody” may have given them a value based on a particular context that was not conveyed in the reporting.
And after all, does the distinction make any difference to those reading the paper? Once you get into six figures, will it really affect the layman or evacuated resident whether it was 100,000 or 900,000 gallons? The on-site professionals may care, but they aren’t getting their data from the paper.
KL
[quote user=“CShaveRR”]
But, my friend, that’s not the way it was worded. If they wanted to, they could have said “about 300,000 gallons of ethanol went up in flames or down the river”.
"Emergency crews in New Brighton last night began the delicate task of
off-loading nearly 100,000 gallons of explosive ethanol from
overturned rail cars, while several other derailed tankers blazed
nearby.
“It was part of a step-by-step plan to put out a fire that had burned
for a day after part of an 86-car train ran off Norfolk Southern
rails, sending some tank cars over a bridge and into the Beaver River
and touching off a massive explosion. The wreckage also stalled east-
west traffic on one of the most heavily traveled corridors in the
Norfolk Southern Railway system.”
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06295/732074-85.stm
Dave
Norfolk Southern Service Alert
Update: Derailment at New Brighton, PA
October 22, 2006
A derailment late Friday evening near New Brighton, Pennsylvania, has
disrupted operations on two important routes between Conway,
Pennsylvania, and Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and between Conway, Pennsylvania,
and Youngstown, Ohio. Conditions at the site of the derailment continue
to preclude access for repair to the two mainlines and bridge damaged
by the derailment.
However, based on assessment of conditions, we expect that the line
between Conway and Youngstown will reopen later today (Sunday) and one
of two mainlines between Conway and Ft. Wayne will reopen Monday.
Norfolk Southern is rerouting most of the traffic normally moving over
these routes via alternate routes on Norfolk Southern and other
carriers. Shipments normally moving over these reroutes will likely
encounter delays of 24 to 72 hours. Customers with questions on
specific shipments are encouraged to contact the National Customer
Service Center at (800) 635-5768.
Note to customers with committed service agreements: Norfolk Southern
invoked Force Majeure effective 12:01 a.m., October 21, 2006, on all
traffic moving through this area.
Norfolk Southern Corporation
www.nscorp.com
Ok, I’m now confused (more than normal).
I’ve just seen someone post photos of an eastbound ethanol train (64R) passing through Cresson today. And yet the train that derailed (68-something) had ethanol.
So, were there two ethanol trains coming east, or did the one that derail contain other cars in addition to the ethanol?
Amazing thing about railroads…they generally have more than one customer that handles a particular commodity. I have no idea of the number of Origin/Destination pairs that NS has for ethanol, however I am certain it is moving from more than a single origin to more than a single destination, and those moves are taking place concurrently.
Never mind I found out what I needed to know.
Depends on which marketing group has the contract. We ship a lot of singles to Sewaren and Carteret, but only Sewaren can handle units. On CSX, they also get a lot of singles, but as so far, only one terminal on their line can handle units; Albany. Right now, there are four trainsets out running at the moment to or from Sewaren. One load just left Ames, Iowa, and another is ready at Lake Chrystal. Two empty units are on the way back, one just arrived in Chicago.
Ethanol marketing is handled by about six major companies. Each company represents a few or many production plants. They have their usual destinations, but very few end terminals can handle unit trains. Five to be exact. Cars can be mixed between different plants represented by the same marketing group, but never outside that group. That includes both tanks and covered hoppers. With few exceptsions, end terminals have their demands met by a single marketing group, most always on contract. Spot market shippments are very expensive, however many end terminal companies do take them for their customers when demand is tight.
Just for the record, UP has 80% of the production of ethanol in Iowa along it’s lines. Iowa is the largest producer of ethanol in the Nation. The Division based in St. Paul, MN handles the bulk of those Iowa shippments, and the number is growing. CN and DM&E also serve plants, however they tend to be mostly single car shippments. BN does run units to the West Coast, however they use a different operation to move them. They accumulate cars from several plants, then ship to the West Coast to be split up (except for one location that can handle 100 cars at once). UP’s units come from one or
"Most of the people living near the scene of Friday night’s fiery train derailment in New Brighton were back in their homes last night, returning to their beds while one last tanker car continued to burn on a bridge over the Beaver River.
"Emergency officials from Beaver County, the state and the National Transportation Safety Board met last night to discuss whether to let the fire, fueled by the ethanol within the car, burn itself out. The other option, according to Wes Hill, director of emergency services for Beaver County, would be to have firefighters move in to extinguish it.
“Crews also used bulldozers and massive cranes to lay new tracks across the bridge.”
Whatever the damage I think trains will be running ouer the bridge very soon with temporary repairs that mow crews are very capable of completing very quickly given the need to get this busy line running.
Motiva Enterprises LLC, a joint venture between Shell and Saudi Refining Inc., refines, distributes, and markets oil products in the eastern and southern United States. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, we refine and market gasoline to approximately 7,600 Shell-branded gasoline stations.
Company assets include three refineries with a combined capacity of 740,000 barrels per day and ownership interest in 42 refined product storage terminals with an aggregate storage capacity of approximately 20.6 million barrels.
The company is headed by President and CEO William B. Welte.
|
Press Releases |
Service Alert
Update 2: Derailment at New Brighton, PA
October 23, 2006
A derailment late Friday evening near New Brighton, Pa., disrupted
operations on two important Norfolk Southern routes between Conway,
Pa., and Ft. Wayne, Ind., and between Conway, Pa., and Youngstown,
Ohio. Conditions at the site of the derailment are improving but
delays on shipments normally moving over these routes should be
expected.
The line between Conway and Youngstown was reopened late Saturday and
one of two mainlines between Conway and Ft. Wayne reopened early
Monday. However, trains moving through the area are operating at
restricted speeds, due to continuing work on the second mainline
between Conway and Ft. Wayne. Work to repair the line will continue
over the next few days
Norfolk Southern is now moving some traffic over normal routes but
also continues to reroute some traffic normally moving over these
routes via alternate routes on Norfolk Southern and other carriers.
As repairs are made and conditions improve, all traffic will
gradually shift to normal routes. Customers should expect that
shipments moving over these routes will likely encounter delays of 24
to 72 hours.
Customers with questions on specific shipments are encouraged to
contact the National Customer Service Center at (800) 635-5768.
Note to customers with committed service agreements: Norfolk
Southern invoked Force Majeure effective 12:01 a.m., October 21,
2006, on all traffic moving through this area.
The “emergency is over” in New Brighton, where a train and its tanker
cars exploded Friday night.
What’s left will include cleanup, investigations of the cause and
assessment of damage and possible repercussions, said Wesley Hill,
director of the Beaver County Emergency Operations Center.
“We’re starting to get back to normal,” Mr. Hill said this morning.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06296/732293-100.stm
Dave
Here’s a guy that lives up the hill from the wreck.
http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?t=14492
Adrianspeeder
Is ethanol explosive? I know a lot of racecars use methanol, which is much less volatile than gasoline.
Although ethanol can form explosive vapors in fuel tanks, it is safer than gasoline because its slow evaporation speed keeps alcohol concentration low and therefore non-explosive.
Contained ethanol, like any other flammable does explode with heated. A lot has to do with the boiling point of the liquid. In air temps of 80°, ethanol will evaporate fast and complete, whereas Gasoline not as fast.
This ethanol was produced at Iowa Ethanol LLC in Hanlontown, IA, and Northern Lights Ethanol LLC in Lake Chrystal, MN.
[quote user=“edblysard”]
Motiva Enterprises LLC, a joint venture between Shell and Saudi Refining Inc., refines, distributes, and markets oil products in the eastern and southern United States. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, we refine and market gasoline to approximately 7,600 Shell-branded gasoline stations.
Company assets include three refineries with a combined capacity of 740,000 barrels per day and ownership interest in 42 refined product storage terminals with an aggregate storage capacity of approximately 20.6 million barrels.
The company is headed by President and CEO William B. Welte.
|
Press Releases |