(The following story by Stan Finger appeared on The Wichita Eagle website on January 11.)
WICHITA, Kan. — The derailment that sent a dozen rail cars off the Union Pacific line in Butler County on Jan. 2 was caused by rails that were not level, a railroad spokesman said Thursday.
The 49-car train was more than three miles north of Whitewater when the derailment occurred about 7:15 p.m. next to Northwest 120th Street.
Seven of the derailed cars were empty, Davis said. Three were carrying methanol, a fuel additive; one was carrying acetic acid, a fuel additive; and one was carrying plastic pellets.
“When the temperatures freeze and thaw, sometimes you’ll get a settling — almost a soil inversion,” said Mark Davis, Union Pacific spokesman. “The line was then out of level.”
When the train reached the uneven rails, “it began rocking, and that’s what caused the derailment,” he said.
Crews had to repair 600 feet of line after the derailment, Davis said. That included recompacting the soil in the affected area.
The line had been electronically inspected — using either ultrasound or a laser — Sept. 18 and Oct. 29 and visually inspected as recently as four days before the derailment, Davis said.
Those four days were marked by temperatures that dipped into the teens and single digits and daytime highs that neared 40.
Given those variations, “I could certainly see where it would seem plausible that that could happen,” said Paul Howerton, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
No one was injured in the incident. A damage estimate isn’t likely to be available for a few more weeks, Davis said.