(The Bloomington, Ill., Pantagraph posted the following article by M.K. Guetersloh on its website on February 13.)
ANCONA, Ill. — Malfunctioning brakes may have triggered a train accident that knocked 13 freight cars, including two carrying acids, off the tracks Tuesday near Ancona.
Investigators on Wednesday looked at why the brakes on the northbound Burlington Northern Santa Fe train malfunctioned and what part that played in the derailment, said Warren Flatau, spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration.
Thirteen of the train’s 105 cars derailed, but none of the hazardous materials on board spilled.
The brakes somehow engaged, possibly causing loads to shift and allowing high winds to blow a container off a flatbed car. That led to the derailment.
The crew did not trigger the brakes, he said.
“What we find in our investigations is a series of mechanical failures that lead to an event such as this,” Flatau said. “Certainly high winds and very unusual weather played a factor, but it likely is not the only reason for the derailment.”
A Livingston County sheriff’s deputy on patrol through Ancona discovered the derailment at 6:41 p.m. No injuries were reported.
Among the debris that littered the fields around the tracks is about 30 to 35 containers from the stacked cars. Several of the containers had broken open during the wreck spilling loads of lamps, furniture and electronics.
The intersection of the tracks and Livingston County Road 2900 North remained closed late Wednesday afternoon as cleanup work continued.
Two containers filled will hazardous materials were overturned but did not rupture. One contained sulfamic acid, a solid used to make weed killers and industrial cleaners, and the other carried battery acid.
No one was evacuated from the farmsteads surrounding the accident site, but Livingston County does have evacuation plans for such chemical spills, said Livingston County Emergency Services and Disaster Agency Director Chuck Schopp.
“But nothing spilled so we were lucky to that degree,” Schopp said.
Crew from Hulcher Professional Service joined railroad workers on Wednesday to clear the tracks of the wreckage. They had no problem removing the containers of hazardous material from the scene, Schopp said.