Trains?

     A train hauling hazardous materials derailed Thursday near Detroit, but none spilled, officials said.  The Norfolk Southern train derailed nearly two weeks after a Norfolk Southern derailment in Ohio left a mangled and charred mass of boxcars that had been carrying various hazardous chemicals.  The derailment just before 9 a.m. west of Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport left the tracks damaged and wheels disconnected from some rail cars.  Police said there were no reported injuries and no evidence that hazardous materials were exposed in the derailment.  The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy sent responders to the scene who found one of the overturned rail cars contained agricultural products while the other cars were empty.. No hazardous material was released into soil or waterways, and one rail car contained liquid chlorine but was away from the overturned section.

    Too soon to speculate what happened here. So many things can cause it. You can bet there are several departments all pointing fingers right now. A defective wheel, bad brakes, improperly tested brakes, broken rail, bad rail bed or some other rail maintenance issue, weather (sudden temp changes). In Canada years back, some hose draggers were called out and got on the locomotive and likely disengaged the air brakes. The crew was accused of not setting enough hand brakes and it rolled away. I know of a case (another railroad) where a malfunctioning electronic car inspection device that sits trackside was ignored because it had been giving false messages. Well, on this particular train, it was giving a legitimate defect message and since it was ignored, the train went all over the ground. Hell, could have been sabotage. Gotta wait for the results of the investigation to know for sure. Even then, we may not find out for sure.

 Since 2019 they have averaged over 80 derailments a month. Everything from simply having to put a car back on the rails, to massive pile ups. Very few like Ohio thank god, but there have been several hundred hazmat leaks a year as well, both involving accidents, and from cars leaking going down the rails or in the yard.