Eastern Railroad Discussion > Derailment & fire near Knoxville, Tn

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tennessee-train-derailment-5-000-residents-evacuated-maryville-n385576

Just caught this at the start of the 5:00 news. I gather it's CSX and that the car or cars that caught fire involved hazardous chemicals that are an inhalation hazard. Evacuations have taken place. Don't have a train symbol or much more other than news links at the moment.

Just saw as well, some firefighters inhaled the toxins, & yes, it was CSX.

More: http://www.wbir.com/story/news/2015/07/02/mandatory-evacuation-underway-following-blount-county--train-fire/29605729/



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/15 03:24 by turntable.

Cincinnati, OH to Waycross, GA appears to be Q541, or whichever letter they were using on the 28 hour schedule. 

Made the network news this morning.

Two mile evac umbra
"Haz-mat cars" in the consist
Some cars are burning
Broken axle suspected
Several fire fighters treated for inhalation injuries

The last item received a lot of attention after the Paulsboro NJ chemical train derailment, dunking, fire. Local first responders were not properly equipped for serious toxic inhalation issues.  Confusion in the first responder chain (local fire, county emergency management, state police, railroad, and coast guard all played a role)

Yahoo news story says it only had 57 cars, 45x12. Also states that the train did not actually derail, but caught fire some other way.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/15 05:14 by NYC6001.

NYC6001 Wrote:
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> I wonder how many cars were in that train.
If it was coming to Waycross ,Ga. I would say 80 plus, (thats my estimate) maybe  + / -.

Ed Stewart
Jacksonville, FL

Acrylonitrile is nasty stuff.  One of the origin points years ago was the Vistron Chemical plant in Lima, Ohio, served by CSX and NS.  Don't know if it is still made there.

Jimbo Wrote:
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> Acrylonitrile is nasty stuff.  One of the origin
> points years ago was the Vistron Chemical plant in
> Lima, Ohio, served by CSX and NS.  Don't know if
> it is still made there.

I believe it's used in the production of plastics and is one of the things that gives off harmful fumes when plastic burns. I spent a couple Summers in college working in a plastics plant and more than once had to put on full hazmat gear and breathing apparatus to clean up spills of this stuff.

Vistron was a Sohio subsidary and was acquired by BP when BP assumed control of Sohio's Lima operations. 

These days, its production is done at INEOS, which is a part of the integrated refinery complex here in Lima. Husky owns the refinery itself, the various chemical producers were acquired by companies such as INEOS.

CG Tower

Jimbo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Acrylonitrile is nasty stuff.  One of the origin
> points years ago was the Vistron Chemical plant in
> Lima, Ohio, served by CSX and NS.  Don't know if
> it is still made there.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/15 07:18 by CGTower.

Gumcoach Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Jimbo Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Acrylonitrile is nasty stuff.  One of the
> origin
> > points years ago was the Vistron Chemical plant
> in
> > Lima, Ohio, served by CSX and NS.  Don't know
> if
> > it is still made there.
>
> I believe it's used in the production of plastics
> and is one of the things that gives off harmful
> fumes when plastic burns. I spent a couple Summers
> in college working in a plastics plant and more
> than once had to put on full hazmat gear and
> breathing apparatus to clean up spills of this
> stuff.

NBC news link quotes the EPA saying it is used in the manufacture of acrylic fibers. 

S541-01
CSXT 8723, CSXT 5361
45 x 12 mtys x 5803 tons x 3698 ft.

Joe

Acrylonitrile is UN 1093. Also known as vinyl cyanide and there are several trade names. Highly reactive, has a very low flash point, and it rapidly evaporates. Can emit cyanide gas and/or nitrogen dioxide, both of which are potentially fatal. Like many gases related to cyanide, if you can smell it you're already in danger.

Land version of paulsboro in terms of the fallout?

Just got this from CSX:

CSX Customer Advisory – Maryville, Tenn. Derailment
 
July 2, 2015
 
The derailment of a rail car in Maryville, Tenn., is affecting shipments on the main line between Nashville and Knoxville, Tenn. CSX personnel are on site and working with first responders to address the derailed car, which is on fire and has prompted evacuation of a two-mile radius. The extent of the delay to traffic on this route has not been determined.
 
Customers with questions about shipments can contact the Customer Service Center via www.shipcsx.com or by calling 1-877-ShipCSX (1-877-744-7279). Customers can sign up on ShipCSX to automatically receive service advisory notifications.

 

Rob Bennett
Fairview, PA
http://youtube.com/user/SirDopeyTheBear/featured

Acrylonitrile is the A in ABS pipe..  The B is Butadiene, the S is Styrene.  All of them are very nasty until you mix them together and make plastic sewer pipe.

ctillnc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Acrylonitrile is UN 1093. Also known as vinyl
> cyanide and there are several trade names. Highly
> reactive, has a very low flash point, and it
> rapidly evaporates. Can emit cyanide gas and/or
> nitrogen dioxide, both of which are potentially
> fatal. Like many gases related to cyanide, if you
> can smell it you're already in danger.

Thanks for that information. I knew this stuff was nasty but did not know it was part of the cyanide family. Might explain why "acrylonitrile" has become the preferred name: the people who handle and transport it don't want the public to know that, either.
 

My parents got lucky being about 4 miles from derailment site

Posted from Android

Evac order extended to Friday morning, 10 firefighters hospitalized so far

US News & World Report

In the molecular structure, see the triple bond between the C and the N in the lower right? That's the cyanide signature. Nitriles are organic compounds with the cyanide group. An inorganic compound would be called a cyanide. So strictly speaking, the naming is per conventions in chemistry and not just a dodge.

---

Yes, while its nasty stuff, its far from as nasty as hydrocyanic acid, which used to come out of Lima in the white cars with the red horizontal stripe. These cars occasionally showed up on the local out of Lima and were highly restricted in their operations. From what crews have told me, you prayed if one went on the ground, nothing ruptured...if it did rupture...run up wind as fast as you can...

CG Tower


toledopatch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ctillnc Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Acrylonitrile is UN 1093. Also known as vinyl
> > cyanide and there are several trade names.
> Highly
> > reactive, has a very low flash point, and it
> > rapidly evaporates. Can emit cyanide gas
> and/or
> > nitrogen dioxide, both of which are potentially
> > fatal. Like many gases related to cyanide, if
> you
> > can smell it you're already in danger.
>
> Thanks for that information. I knew this stuff was
> nasty but did not know it was part of the cyanide
> family. Might explain why "acrylonitrile" has
> become the preferred name: the people who handle
> and transport it don't want the public to know
> that, either.
>  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/15 11:48 by CGTower.