WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Washington Post reports that a coal train derailment that killed a 15-year-old boy and severely injured his mother two years ago in Western Maryland was caused by one of the train’s two brake systems failing at too high a speed — a problem that should be fixed on all major railroads, the National Transportation Safety Board said yesterday.
CSX Corp. also failed to properly oversee its engineer’s training and provide him with a “pilot” who would know the route and its grades better, the board found.
The board based its recommendations on an investigation into the derailment of a CSX train that killed Eddie Lee Rogers, 15, as he slept on a couch in his living room about 7 a.m. Jan. 30, 2000.
An 80-car train descending a mountain had lost one of its braking systems before it sped out of control and jumped the tracks, sending a 100-ton coal car through the teenager’s home in Garrett County.
Russ Quimby, a rail safety engineer for the safety board, said the train was traveling about 59 mph before the accident, more than double CSX’s 25 mph speed limit in that downhill stretch between Altamont and Bloomington, Md.
Railroads set their own speed limits. Usually, they calculate those limits on the assumption that a train can rely on two braking systems.
In addition to air brakes, diesels usually have “dynamic brakes” that function somewhat like downshifting a car or truck. The combination of air and dynamic brakes is usually enough to maintain control of the heaviest trains.
The safety board recommended that all major railroads recalculate those maximum speeds to ensure that trains can be stopped with the air brakes alone, particularly when coming down steep hills. That’s because in cases like this, Quimby said, the dynamic brakes can fail, leaving the train traveling too fast to stop with the air brakes alone.
A train cannot stop in that downhill stretch where the accident occurred using only its air brakes if it is going faster than 17 mph, Quimby said.
Locomotives ordered after August will have to have a gauge showing the engineer whether the dynamic brake system is functioning. By April 2004, railroads must reexamine speed limits on steep grades, and any train that exceeds those limits by 5 mph must be brought to an immediate stop. Some railroads already follow those rules voluntarily, said Warren Flatau, a spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration.
Bob Sullivan, a spokesman for CSX, said the company has already implemented any recommendations that the safety board made since the accident and will immediately review any new recommendations. He said CSX made several changes on that track within days of the accident, including lowering the speed limit from 25 mph to 20 mph, requiring engineers to check the dynamic brakes and putting supervisors on all trains.
“This was a terrible tragedy, and we take full responsibility for the accident,” Sullivan said.