LA CROSSE, WI
A Burlington Northern Santa Fe crude oil train derailed Friday near La Crosse, Wisconsin. The derailment was followed several minutes later by a severe explosion that resulted in the death of 20 people. The explosion also destroyed much of the flora and fauna nearby, generating a small wildfire.
The train originated from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota, carrying 81 carloads of crude oil to New Jersey, via CSX trackage. Power for the train consisted of two General Electric locomotives, one of them dating back to the days of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad and the other being pooled power from the Norfolk Southern Railway.
A defect detector along the line around 30 miles north La Crosse had announced “critical alarm” for axle 73. However, the crew reportedly disregarded the message and continued southeast towards La Crosse. The defective axle was believed to have indeed caused the derailment.
“What in God’s name was that crew thinking?”, James Anderson, a head dispatcher for the BNSF Staples Subdivision, lamented, “these guys clearly did not care about the problem and continued on their merry way without checking the issue out. This was a grave mistake.”
The crew members were both reportedly in their mid-20s and had a lack of experience pulling trains. They spent most of their time so far helping with yard switching jobs at Northtown Yard in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The BNSF Railway is now under investigation of the Federal Railroad Administration over the issue of letting unexperienced crews operate long-distance trains.
The head of the FRA stated, “This is unacceptable. Crews whose ages are under 25 should not be permitted to operate any long-distance trains unless they have acquired the proper experience to do so.”
“It ain’t right”, Anderson said, “just give them the training first before you give them the keys. You don’t want a crew who doesn’t have a dang clue what they’re doing.”
The line through La Crosse has been shut down for clean-up of the derailment. All BNSF freight trains will be re-routed on either the Canadian Pacific Railway or the Union Pacific Railroad until the clean-up is complete and the line is safe.