Low-speed Collision & Derailment of MBTA Commuter Trains in Boston 4/10/19

https://www.necn.com/news/new-england/Buses-to-Replace-MBTA-Commuter-Rail-Fairmount-Line-After-Minor-Derailment--508363091.html

https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/04/09/upright-derailment-slows-train-traffic-at-south-station/

https://boston.cbslocal.com/2019/04/10/mbta-fairmount-commuter-rail-line-train-derailment-service/

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/04/09/commuter-rail-train-derails-outside-south-station-causing-delays/N2JwPaKmA4TzhX2EHiGw1N/story.html

MBTA Commuter Train Derails in Boston MA 4/2/19

https://whdh.com/news/train-derailment-near-north-station-impacting-several-commuter-rail-lines/

https://www.gloucestertimes.com/news/mbta-derailment-lengthens-morning-commute/article_c536d118-5561-11e9-b8ac-bfd76b53c520.html

https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/04/02/no-injuries-reported-in-slow-speed-derailment-of-mbta-rockport-train/

https://wbznewsradio.iheart.com/content/mbta-commuter-rail-train-derailed-outside-north-station/

https://www.gloucestertimes.com/news/mbta-derailment-lengthens-morning-commute/article_c536d118-5561-11e9-b8ac-bfd76b53c520.html

Photo of July 3rd Pan Am Rail Derailment - South Royalston MA

Royalston PD photo of the July 3rd derailment on Pan Am, S.Royalston MA

Name That Photo Location: Boston & Maine Wreck at Lynn MA

I have managed to figure out the location of another vintage B&M photograph in my collection, and am sharing my findings with YOU!

The image shows B&M locomotive #827 on its side, with B&M crane #3359 hooked up to a baggage car.  The area has multiple tracks and a signal, which helped confirm the location of Lynn Massachusetts, just west of the West Lynn station.   (The Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn RR also had a West Lynn station)

The only real lead I had to go by was the sign in the distance atop a commercial building.  It appeared to read "Hoag & Wald_n", which I assumed was "Walden" or "Waldon".  After much web searching, I found a reference to a shoe manufacturer in Lynn named "Hoag & Walden". 

I then started looking at old maps and aerial photos to see if I could find the building in the middle-background, as it had an easy-to-spot roof style.  I finally found the exact building, which in 1916 belonged to Fred M. Page & Company, "manufacturers of cotton and paper specialties"and was located on 29 Bennett Street.  Amazingly, this building was still standing as of 2014, though partially re-sided and in tatty condition.  There was also a building to its left that may possibly be the one in the photo with a water tower on the roof.   If so, it has been altered quite a bit.

As for the key Hoag & Walden building, it was located on Commercial Street in an area that appears to now be a playing field. 

Now that I had located the location of the photo, I needed to figure out the date it was taken.  I used an online newspaper archive to search for Lynn train accidents that made the news.  I knew that locomotive #827 had been scrapped in 1913.  I used that date, along with the style of automobiles in the photo, to narrow down my search.  I finally found a short article in the March 29, 1910 issue of The Lowell Sun newspaper which said that just before noon, the "Portland express... Train 44" derailed while traveling on the Eastern Division toward Boston.  The train consisted of "a couple of baggage cars, a Pullman, and three regular coaches, the latter being in the rear".  The passenger cars being in the rear explains the baggage car being present behind the locomotive. 

The train was not scheduled to stop at West Lynn, and left the track "a hundred yards beyond that station", followed by all but two coaches.  The article states that an open switch had caused the accident, which also confirms the photo's location, as even today there is a track that curves off the main.  This is the now abandoned Saugus Branch. 

No one died in the accident.

Train Derails in Worcester MA, Blocking Burncoat Street and Diverting Traffic

JAN 24, 2018:  Part of Pan Am/CSX freight SEPO derailed Wednesday (1/24/18) morning, creating traffic problems in Worcester but causing no injuries...  Three locomotives and several box cars at the front of the train came off the tracks around 8 a.m... the train came to a stop just south of West Mountain Street just past where the tracks go under West Boylston Street. The box cars that went off the tracks were directly behind the three engines...  District Fire Chief Daniel O’Neil said the cars affected by the derailment were carrying paper. He said that for safety reasons, it is common practice to have cars without hazardous materials directly behind the engine. Other cars on the train contained liquefied petroleum gas. He said they were not affected by the derailment.

http://www.masslive.com/news/worcester/index.ssf/2018/01/train_derails_in_worcester_blo.html
https://worcestermag.com/2018/01/24/train-derails-off-burncoat-street/56966
http://www.telegram.com/news/20180124/derailed-train-moved-traffic-flowing-on-burncoat-street-in-worcester

CSX Freight Train Derails in Taunton MA, Spills 1,800 Gallons of Fuel

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/12/csx_train_derails_in_taunton_c.html

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/12/13/csx-freight-train-derails-taunton-leaking-gallons-fuel/vKMkCqDJFQx1lKbIloHhXI/story.html

http://whdh.com/news/cargo-train-derails-spills-fuel-in-taunton/

http://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/local_news/train-derailment-in-taunton-causes-fuel-spill/article_f37a7399-310a-5366-b2fc-d938149189ff.html

Pan Am Derailment in Shelburne Falls MA 12/19/16

http://wwlp.com/2016/12/18/train-derailment-in-shelburne-falls/ 
http://www.recorder.com/train-derailment-in-shelburne-falls-6962122

Pan Am Freight Train Derails in New Britain CT

(SOURCE:  Fox61) (video:  http://fox61.com/2016/12/06/freight-train-derails-in-new-britain-columbus-blvd-closed/#ooid=hicjMzODE6Ie0NZbbi0Cbrj9o0aHDOc3)

NEW BRITAIN -- An investigation is ongoing into what caused a train to derail in New Britain Tuesday afternoon.

According to the New Britain Police Department, a freight train derailed on Columbus Boulevard around 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday. The road is closed in the center of town. Some side streets may be impacted as well.
The Route 9 northbound Exit 26 off ramp is also closed, according to the state Department of Transportation.

No injuries have been reported.

It is a Pan Am Railways train, and will likely be in place for about 24  hours before authorities can remove it. The train was carrying construction debris, but there wren't any hazardous materials on board.

The train has 29 cars--10 were empty, 19 were filled--and in all nine derailed. Of the nine that derailed, seven were on their side; the other two remained upright, but were off the tracks. All nine had debris inside.
The train was headed to a processing facility in Deerfield, Massachusetts, to recycle the debris.

The acting police chief and Mayor Erin Stewart are on the scene assessing the situation. Pan Am will conduct its own investigation, but the Federal Railroad Administration will also send out a crew to look into the cause.

Cynthia Scarano, from Pan Am's media relations team, said, "We're in the process of transporting the equipment necessary to re-rail, unblock the crossing and move the cars." That equipment includes a crane, she told FOX 61.

"It will take up to 24 hours to get everything moving again," Scarano said, however, police say traffic is a priority and the local roads should reopen later Tuesday evening.

The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection did respond to the scene to assess the contents and what cargo got out, but it does not appear that there are any hazmat issues.

Damaged Amtrak #102 modeled at Springfield MA Show

Spotted at the Springfield MA mega-train show, Amtrak #102, which was damaged in an October 2015 derailment in Northfield VT.  

(cell phone photo by Wayne Hart)

The real locomotive can be seen HERE

Several Hurt After Amtrak Derailment in Vermont

'Down we went': Several hurt after Amtrak derailment in central Vermont | Fox News

Rock Slide Derails Amtrak Train in 'Freak of Nature,' Leaving at Least 7 Hurt | NECN

Amtrak Blog - amtrak-vermonter-train-55-at-roxbury-vt

http://www.wcvb.com/news/amtrak-train-derails-in-vermont/35659842

http://www.wcvb.com/news/images-amtrak-train-derails-in-northfield/35661992

Pan Am Train Derails in Greenfield MA

(SOURCE:  The Recorder - By TOM RELIHAN)

GREENFIELD — Last week, emergency responders gathered to plan how they’d handle a fiery train derailment.

Wednesday morning (9/24), responders found themselves faced with something less dangerous but real — when a freight train derailed on a stretch of tracks just near Hope Street.

But this time, in real life, there was no fire, no hazard and no injuries.

According to Cynthia Scarano, the executive vice president of Pan Am Railways, the derailment occurred around 7:45 a.m. By 9 a.m., railroad workers were on the scene assessing the situation.

Scarano said nine of the train’s 56 cars derailed and two of the locomotives had “wheels off the tracks.” None fell over.

Greenfield Fire Lieutenant Peter McIver said two of the cars involved had ended up sitting sideways across the tracks and the rest had only gone off the rails. All of the cars remained upright, he said.

Scarano said the cars were carrying paper manufacturing products and lumber.

According to McIver and Scarano, none of the cargo spilled, and none of the cars contained any hazardous materials.

“There were no liquids, no hazardous materials. It was all paper and cardboard products,” said McIver. “There were small fires reported off the tracks, but none were found.”

As of noon, Scarano said Pan Am employees were still analyzing the situation and would be devising a plan to re-rail the cars as soon as possible. She estimated it would take about a day to complete the task.

Scarano said Pan Am has not determined the cause of the accident, but would be downloading the “black box” data recorders and looking at the cars and tracks.

According to Scarano, the tracks that the derailment occurred on are only used for freight, and will not be part of a series of upgrades that are being carried out on other area tracks to accommodate Amtrak’s new high-speed passenger trains.

Though no hazardous materials were released in this particular incident, trains regularly transport all types of products along area railways, from regular household products to heating oil, ethanol, propane.

“It’s one of the largest methods of shipping in the United States,” said Turners Falls Fire Chief and Montague Emergency Management Director Robert J. Escott, who participated in the training exercise last week and noted the coincidence.

Escott said local emergency service organizations are constantly training and preparing to deal with any situation where a derailment could release toxic materials. 

To alert the public to a dangerous incident or order an evacuation, Montague and Greenfield, as well as other county towns, use an auto-dialing phone system to send recorded messages to people living in a targeted geographic area. The systems send the messages primarily to house phones, but residents can sign up for deeper alerts in the form of text messages and emails.

Derailment in Lawrence MA 7/11/14

Raw video from NECN of Pan Am derailment at Lawrence MA this morning:
http://www.necn.com/pages/video?PID=xdCiR9oNBYlsqK_QwAziufhzO72KUI_E

Things Happen in Threes... Including Derailments!

Yes, things happen in threes.  On 2/18, Pan Am had a minor derailment in Nashua NH.  I say minor, but a main road was partially blocked and a crane had to be brought in to fix the situation.  On 2/19, the P&W had 4 loaded autoracks derail at South Main Street in Gardner MA.  RJ Corman was on scene to clean up that mess today.  And this morning I came across 5 cars derailed at Bridge Street in Westford MA, on Pan Am.  They had been removed by the afternoon.

Three of the 5 derailed cars at Westford MA

One of 4 derailed autoracks at Gardner MA

Huge Crane in Nashua Putting Derailed Locomotives Back on Track

(SOURCE:  David Brooks, The Telegraph - thanks to Dave Pierson for the link)

NASHUA – Pan Am Railways is bringing in a large crane in to lift a pair of derailed 100-ton locomotives and put them back on the tracks in downtown Nashua.

The two locomotives went off the rails at Main Street around 3 p.m. Tuesday. One was blocking the northbound lane of Main Street for about an hour until the two were pushed back by a bulldozer.

Pan Am Executive Vice-President Cynthia Scarano said a 44-foot long mobile crane, capable of lifting 130 tons, will be driven to the scene from the company’s Billerica, Mass., headquarters this morning. The Kershaw RC-130 crane can travel by road or by rail.

“They should be re-railed by 1 or 2 p.m.,” she said.

The locomotives were not pulling any cars at the time as they travelled at low speed along what is formally known as the Hillsborough Branch line. Nobody was injured in the accident and no obvious property damage occurred.

New Hampshire railroad safety inspector John Robinson said the train apparently was derailed by ice built up along the rails. 

“The ice builds up along the flangeway, which keeps the wheel tracking ... to the point where the wheels steer off the rail,” he said. “It’s not completely unknown.”

The flangeway is a groove that allows the lips, or flange, of the wheels to fit alongside the rail and keep the wheels in place. Ice in the flangeway can lift the wheel up above the rail to the point that it can slip sideways.

Robinson said no formal investigation had been launched. 

MBTA Commuter Train Derails in Fitchburg MA

(SOURCE:  Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise, by Alana Melanson)

Workers investigate after an MBTA train derailed as it was pulling into the 

Fitchburg Intermodel Stationt. 

SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / JOHN LOVE

FITCHBURG -- A Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority commuter-rail train carrying between 50 and 60 passengers derailed at the Intermodal Station on Tuesday, just before 8 PM (12/17), after several hours of heavy snowfall. 

Police Sgt. Thomas Daoust and Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Curran said there were no injuries in the incident, and that passengers were quickly evacuated from the back of the train and left the scene. 

"Most of them were unaware there was an overshooting of the platform," Curran said. 

He said one engineer on board sought treatment by MedStar ambulance personnel but signed a release.
Curran said the engineer told officials there were 2,500 gallons of fuel on the train and not a single drop spilled during the derailment, which led to the train going about 10 feet off course but remaining upright.

Radio reports at the scene indicated that a second train was held in waiting behind the derailed train, and that angry passengers wanting to go home became rowdy and threatened the conductor.

Fitchburg police, firefighters and ambulance workers were staying on the scene until MBTA officials arrived, which occurred past press time.