Timeline of Events in East Palestine

Below is a useful account of what happened last week in East Palestine, Ohio, when a Norfolk Southern train derailed and spilled toxic chemicals into the local environment. The subsequent “controlled explosion” with its massive toxic smoke plume has caused an unprecedented regional disaster, the long-term effects of which are just beginning to be discerned.

This video has annoying background music, and uses some salty language, but is definitely worth watching:

Hat tip: Conservative Tree House.

5 thoughts on “Timeline of Events in East Palestine

  1. How would the e-braking system help in the scenario? It looked like they stopped it but the damage was done [somehow] … looks like the royally f’d up the containment / cleanup (if that is even possibly) … that area has been struggling financially and doesn’t have the people and infrastructure it had in 60s before it tanked

    • I think the whole story with the e-brakes is just a red herring.

      Its designed to distract the public from the giant plume of toxic smoke, media refusal to critically cover the story, and Trainman Buttplug being MIA.

      A train derailing and breaking apart will cause loss of air pressure in the brakepipe which automatically applies emergency braking. The distance a train stops when emergency braking is applied is not going to be improved by electronic brakes. At a certain point of brake application the wheels will lock up and slide like a car on ice. The problem is whatever caused the derailment in the first place.

      Derailments happen for all kinds of reasons. Rails can break, especially on curves. Wheels can crack and break as well. Flat spots on wheels cause pounding on the rail which can damage it. A train can take a turn at too high a speed and derail, or roadways which have been poorly maintained can allow the track to flex up and down too much leading to cars rocking and possibly derailing. I have seen tracks flex up and down six inches or more on a loose railbed as a railcar passed over it.

      My guess was the derailment was ultimately related to a maintenance issue and it will be swept under the rug because it would implicate Norfolk Southern management who like all Class 1 railroads had drastically cut corners and slashed their personnel to the bone during the covid overreaction. And it would implicate the Brandon regime who sided with the railroad corporate thieves in the recent labor dispute, and last but not least, it would implicate Transportation Secretary Buttplug who was likely too busy chestfeeding or getting railroaded in some bathhouse to do his actual job.

  2. E brakes would probably have made little difference, since the root cause of the derailment was a hot box. For some reason the alarm system that alerts to such an event either malfunctioned or was ignored. The hot box continued to burn and ultimately affected the corresponding axle. There is at least one extant video that shows the sequence quite clearly.

    • There’s trackside detectors that are supposed to pick up elevated bearing temperatures. And then flag them for inspection by the carmen or setting out at the next railyard. Inspection intervals have been increased at the behest of the railroads along with slashing mechanical positions such as carmen.

      I have heard rumors that some of the key personnel involved were diversity hires. I haven’t yet seen it confirmed so that likely is confirmation of the rumor as being true. Undoubtedly the accident was preventable especially if it was a maintenance issue since bearings don’t just suddenly fail and there is a long window of deterioration before failure.

Comments are closed.