WSJ News Exclusive: Railcar That Overheated in Ohio Train Derailment Changed Hands Several Times

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: The Wall Street Journal.

WSJ NEWS EXCLUSIVE * BUSINESS

Railcar That Overheated in Ohio Train Derailment Changed Hands Several Times

The hopper car started its journey in Houston and was owned by GATX

By Esther Fung
https://twitter.com/estherfung
[e-mail]
Updated March 3, 2023 10:56 am ET

The freight railcar that federal investigators say likely caused last month's derailment in Ohio was handed off among four railroads before its fateful trip and was owned by a fifth company, according to documents and people familiar with the railcar's history and journey. (1)

The story of the railcar, which was destroyed in a fiery wreck on Feb. 3 in East Palestine, a small town near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, illustrates the challenges that federal investigators have in understanding the cause of and factors that contributed to the derailment. They also reflect the complex nature of how the rail industry operates. (2))(3)(4)

{snip}

(1) https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-happened-in-the-ohio-train-derailment-e687c32

(2) https://www.wsj.com/articles/train-car-wheel-bearing-overheated-before-ohio-train-derailment-ntsb-finds-ad721c29

(3) https://www.wsj.com/articles/after-ohio-train-derailment-toxic-chemicals-and-distrust-remain-ebd9c846

(4) Can't copy

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/railcar-that-overheated-in-ohio-train-derailment-changed-hands-several-times-379a90d6

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Costas Paris Retweeted
https://twitter.com/CostasParis

The railcar that overheated in East Palestine, Ohio, was handled by four railroads on its trip, which started in Houston. It was owned by a fifth company, GATX, that leased it to someone else.

wsj.com
WSJ News Exclusive Railcar That Overheated in Ohio Train Derailment Changed Hands Several Times
The freight railcar that federal investigators say likely caused last month's derailment in Ohio was handed off among four railroads

Link to tweet

[WhiteTara]

1. greedy capitalists! nt

[Raven123]

2. Norfolk Southern will now start spreading the blame

[bucolic_frolic]

3. Offloading depreciated asset risk to third party holders

while maintaining capacity and profitability. Safety should by law be maintained by all suppliers.

[SWBTATTReg]

4. I really don't see what the scoop is about this...after all, when you have a company

on one end of the Country wanting to ship something somewhere, via rail, not every single pathway is owned by a single rail company, in fact, many rail companies own many different portions of the rail network, and I'm sure that they exchange cars, etc., exchange fees to each other to transporting goods across each other's networks, etc. This is the same as the telecommunications networks, where traffic originating in another network is terminated in a different terminating network.

The telecommunications networks exchange fees etc. with each other when they do their true ups/reconciliations at the end of the billing cycle.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. Yeah, it's not exactly a big scoop. As someone pointed out, this is how railroads work. NT

Last edited Mon Mar 6, 2023, 07:25 PM - Edit history (1)

I don't get the print edition of TWSJ., so there's probably a lot missing here that will be in tomorrow morning's paper.

Thanks for writing.

[jgmiller]

6. This is how shipping by rail works

Railcars move between railroads all day long, it's how it's always worked there is no mystery or scoop here.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

7. Well, TWSJ. is writing for a lot of people who aren't too conversant with how railroads work.

Cars are picked up at one end, and they go out at the other. Happens every day.

Thanks for writing.

[Gore1FL]

8. Interchanging railcars isn't unique. Neither are third-party hazmat cars.

Nothing about this information is abnormal operation.

[elleng]

9. A 'hot box' is the term used when an axle bearing overheats on a piece of railway rolling stock. ...

I read a few days ago that such was likely the cause of the derailment, in case anyone is interested.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_box

[AllaN01Bear]

10. correct.

[moniss]

11. Just a bit of information about the bearing lube

used. It is some of the most heinous stuff I've ever come across. I have hauled wheel sets for the railroad both new ones and used ones. The new ones of course are all nice and clean and shiny. The used ones that are going for rebuild or scrap have a black lube residue that is like the mark of the beast. Once you get it on your hands, gloves, clothing etc. you will scrub till you're blue in the face but you won't get it off until after many scrubbings. I don't know what the stuff is but I can tell you it appears made to last. But lube cannot make up for worn parts that are beyond their safe service limits.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

12. Was it on fire when it was handed off to this carrier?

If it was already burning, the crew at the switch yard should have spotted it. When I worked at a switching yard, we walked every train that came in, except for unit trains, and this was no unit train. Even on our worst day, we would notice a burning truck.

(unit train: all the cars carry the same freight and they are all heading for the same destination. Unit coal trains heading for a power plant were common way back in my day, hopefully getting obsolete.)
(truck: a wheel assembly, one at each end of a freight car)

[mahatmakanejeeves]

13. Apparently not.

The article appeared in the "Weekend" edition of TWSJ., the one dated March 4 - March 5, 2023. I went to the library to read it. It is on page A6, and it has the print title "Freight Railcar Made Complicated Journey."

Here's an excerpt:

The GATX hopper car's recent journey started when a small rail carrier in Houston, the Port Terminal Railroad Association, brought it to a Union Pacific Corp. rail yard, said Union Pacific spokeswoman Kristen South. Union Pacific inspected it on Jan. 29. at its Settegast Yard in Houston and then it traveled north, arriving in St. Louis on Jan 30. During its journey to St. Louis, the car passed around 60 hotbox detectors, which use sensors to record temperatures of wheels on railcars, and no abnormalities were found, said Ms. South.

In St. Louis, the hopper car was taken by a short-line railroad, the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis, to another rail yard owned by Norfolk Southern Corp., said a person familiar with the car's journey. Norfolk Southern said it picked up the car in St. Louis.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

14. How many hotbox detectors have to alert on high temperatures before eyebrows are raised?

I'd guess it's more than one, but shouldn't be too many.