Satellite image of a derailment

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

This image appears to be taken the day after a Canadian Pacific derailment several miles north of Hankinson ND. I believe this is from July 2005.

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=46.1470307&lon=-96.9514382&z=17&l=0&m=a

2

Adds a new meaning to “snapshot in time.”

I think I know about when the good images of my house were taken.

Still looking for that young lady sunbathing in her back yard sans suit…[swg]

3

Tree, you need a really good imagination, if you’re using the resolution available for free.

4

Would this picture have been taken at the request of someone, or is it just a kucky take that someone found in a mapping series of photos?

5

Just kidding, of course, but actually not by much.

That’s a 14’ rowboat and a 14’ sailfish in my back yard…

6

Trivia…Checked the satellite image of our home some time ago and found several things. Color of roof told me a bit of the date as new roof as been installed since. Our lawn tractor is setting on the driveway and I always put it there to clean it after mowing…That tells me what time of day it was taken…Minior changes of shrubs dates it some for me too…

7

Hey Dale, welcome back! Did you get your internet issues resolved?

8

Thanks Brian. I don’t know if my computer is just having a good day, or if Kalmbach simplified the forum during the last couple of weeks. Perhaps both?

Murphy, I’ve now looked at every mile of railroad trackage in Montana and North Dakota, and I stumbled upon this scene without knowing it was there. Google may switch to a different image in the future and this scene will be gone. Hopefully they will provide sharp images of all of SD, IA, WS and Illinois soon.

9

I wonder how generous the railroads are to the farmer whose crop got torn up not only by the wreck itself but the heavy equipment that had to be moved to the site to clean it up. In terms of the total cost of the incident, the crop would not be significant; but if I were in charge, I’d make sure the farmer was made whole.

10

I’m not sure how the whole situation works, but wouldn’t there be a longstanding easement of sorts, concerning the railroad’s easement over the farmer’s property, or maybe the farmer’s easement onto railroad property? Either way, I’d bet that a railroad would be accomodating in a situation like this. In theend, the farmer’s crops and field damage would probably be a small, measureable, part of the grand total for cleanup. Besides, what railroad would want to go to court over a reletively small amount, and face a judge or jury made up of this farmer’s friends and neighbors?[;)]

11

Isn’t there a history of Railroads trying to sneek into crash sites and burying the wreckage, just to shrug the cost of removal/abatement? [}:)]

12

I can’t picture that this could happen nowadays. Between the NTSB, EPS, OSHA, and state and local authorities, how could they hide such a thing. Not to mention the possibility of a railfan using spy satellite technology to look things over.[(-D]

13

I can’t see RRs burying equipement in ANY era. Unless it falls into a swamp or over a cliff, it would take VERY large equipement to bury train cars. It doesn’t sound like something that could be done on the sneak. And unless everything is totaled in the wreck, why bury something that cost tens of thousands (or more) of dollars?