It looks like Columbus dodged a bullet last night.  At 2:00 AM last night there was a train derailment and explosion at railroad tracks located just south of the Ohio State Fairgrounds.  This is about one mile north of the northern edge of downtown Columbus and 1 1/2 miles north of Broad & High in the center of downtown.  It is also about 1/2 mile east of the OSU campus.

 

At 2:00 AM last night, a Norfolk Southern train of 98 cars was heading south when it reached a curve that transitions the track from a north-south direction to an east-west direction.  It was at this curve that approximately 12 cars derailed.  Three of the cars that derailed were tankers each carrying 30,000 gallons of ethanol.  The other derailed cars were carrying corn syrup and grain.  The cars carrying the ethanol caused a massive explosion and fire.

 

Fortunately, none of the derailed cars contained any hazardous chemicals.  So, despite the huge explosion and fire, there were no chemical plumes to cause mass evacuations.  Also, because of where the derailment occurred, no surrounding properties are at risk.  So Columbus Fire is going to let the ethanol burn out before going in to completely extinguish the area.  Below is a link to the Columbus Dispatch article and slideshow on the incident:

 

Dispatch Article: Firefighters work to put out fire following train derailment, explosion

 

Dispatch Slideshow: Photos: Norfolk Southern train derails

 

---

Below are some aerial photos of the scene from the slideshow.  The first three photos show the derailment area - first close-up and then progressively moving further away - generally looking southward.  The large building next to the derailment area is a bus storage and maintenance facility for COTA.  The nearby dirt covered area located next to a different set of railroad tracks is part of the Weinland Park neighborhood.  This dirt covered area was formerly a vacant manufacturing plant.  This plant was recently demolished to make way for a residential redevelopment project.

 

 

 

 

 

These two aerial photos are looking northward over the derailment site.  They show the Ohio State Fairgrounds which is located just north of last night's derailment.

 

 

 

 

And here is a photo of the train cars burning in the middle of the night from the adjacent Weinland Park neighborhood:

 

 

The Dispatch videos at the link in the previous post are very good.  But one of the best videos from last night's derailment was posted on YouTube by a resident of the adjacent Weinland Park neighborhood.  He caught one of the explosions.

 

I wonder if it took that curve too fast.

That clip suffers from Vertical Video Syndrome.

Yeah, that could have been much worse.  http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1632  A couple of news agencies keep reporting that the police evacuated a 1 mile radius, but I am thinking it was a much smaller zone. 

 

 

I wonder what speed they negotiate that curve?  Looks like the outside rail failed. 

The train was going below the posted limit.

I wonder what speed they negotiate that curve?  Looks like the outside rail failed. 

 

According to Norfolk Southern's 2008 track chart (see link below) for that rail corridor, the speed is 25 mph, which is about what I would have expected for that curve. The chart also shows the degree of curvature is 9.1 degrees on #1 track (the outside track on which the train derailed) and 9.4 degrees on #2 track (the inside track) and that both tracks are elevated (banked) 2.5 inches, meaning that the top of the outside rail is 2.5 inches higher than the top of the inside rail. for both tracks. Curve elevations have to be constantly maintained because they flatten with use. The rail is heavy duty -- 132 pounds per yard. Rails in the curve were renewed recently and exclusively (in other words, they weren't renewed just outside the curve) with rail that was milled in 1996 on track #1 and 2000 on track #2. Rail can last 100 years, especially in low-stress, tangent, low-speed, and low-traffic conditions. All of the factors here are what I would expect for those track conditions. BTW, the 25 mph section is not exclusive to that curve. Indeed the 25 mph section starts at the north end of that curve and continues for about four miles. Furthermore, the speed increases to (or decreases from) 50 mph at the north end of that curve and holds at that speed northward out of Columbus.

 

Some observations: there are four other sharp curves nearby. Two are between Joyce & Leonard avenues and another over I-670 which are less than half as sharp (3.8 to 4.4 degrees) as the curve where the derailment occurred yet have the same elevations of 2.5 inches. Two more curves are part of a reversing curve just west of Joyce Avenue which has a 6-degree curve (closest to Joyce) and a 4-degree curve (farthest from Joyce). The 6-degree curve has only 1.5 inches of elevation and the 4-degree curve has 1-inch of elevation. All those curves are in the 25-mph zone. However none are immediately next to a 50 mph zone, although there is a 40 mph restriction overlaid on the 50 mph zone for the gentle reversing curve at East 17th Avenue next to the fairgrounds.

 

Please note this information is based on track charts from 2008 -- the most recent for which I have access. Track conditions can and probably have changed since then. Here is the track chart page (p156) for the section where the curve is located and is part of NS's Columbus (CW Tower) to Sandusky series of track charts:

 

http://freepdfhosting.com/4a91e5b3df.pdf

(The left side is located geographically west of of Joyce Ave [off this page] and starts at CW Tower which is located where the former CAC Railroad runs north-south between Cleveland Ave and Joyce Ave, but the track chart flows by the timetable from left [south] to right [north].)

 

Here is the track chart for the next section south, which is part of a series of track charts for the Portsmouth-Columbus (CW Tower). This is the northernmost page for the Portsmouth-Columbus series (I include this only to show the southern extent of the 25 mph zone, several other sharp curves and how NS addressed them prior to 2008):

http://freepdfhosting.com/b6031bfa0f.pdf