Breaking News from ABCNEWS.com:
A TRAIN CARRYING TWO SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS FOR THE SPACE SHUTTLE HAS PLUNGED INTO A SWAMPY AREA OF ALABAMA AFTER A BRIDGE COLLAPSED
Oh boy. [sigh]
I hope it wasn’t due to a maintenance related issue and I especially hope it’s not CSX!
If so, then Conrail’s Southern Xtension’s “infamous” reputation for mishaps will be getting another stripe on its train wreck rankings. [B)]
Oops! Didn’t see this before I posted mine.[:I] Sorry.
Looks like UP units. The other derailment west of Salida KS had to be on the old Kansas & Pacific line.
Fortunately, those things don’t work like dynamite or gasoline, or even jet fuel (which is not all that easy to ignite, by the way - Bruce Willis couldn’t really flick his Bic and light it, like was shown in Die Hard 2). It actually takes an explosive charge to ignite the SRBs at launch - a small charge up in the nosecone (where the parachutes also are located) blows down through the hollow center of the SRBs, igniting the surface of the propellant. The stuff is almost like a rubber pencil eraser in it’s unlit state, and from what I understand (I worked at Kennedy Space Center, but not directly on the SRBs) even a flame from a match held directly on the surface of the propellant isn’t enough to start the chemical reaction.
They warrant careful handling because they are potentially explosive, but a derailed tank car full of chlorine is much worse in the hazard department.