Western Railroad Discussion > UP Derailment at Emmett, KS

This morning at 0330, about 60 cars of what I believe to be a Fort Gibson, OK bound loaded coal train derailed about a mile east of Emmett, KS on the Union Pacific's Kansas Subdivision. The lead power and the first 2 cars made it out ok before the derailment started. The derailment completely destroyed the bridge over Cross Creek. Crews from the UP, Hulcher and RJ Corman are working very quickly to restore service over this line that sees upwards of 40 trains a day. No word on when they will reopen this line and if they are going to build a temporary shoo-fly or wait for an actual bridge. I do know for a fact that there are several available bridge decks just about 15 miles away at Onaga, KS and I wouldn't be surprised if these are pressed into service for this bridge. Here are some pictures that I took about an hour ago showing the destruction.

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The next set.

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Some more...

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In the third picture, a bridge is supposed to be right about there.

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I would be curious as to what an operation like this costs!

You can see Jeffery Energy Center in the background of the 2nd picture. Picture 3 shows a ballast train/panel track train already staged at the siding at Cook, about 3 miles east of the derailment.

I'll try to keep my ear out and listen for any plans on reopening the line. I'll also try to go back out there tomorrow to see what progress has been made. Thanks for looking.

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TomPlatten Wrote:
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> I would be curious as to what an operation like
> this costs!

I know a few years ago, it was about $500/hour per machine from the time they get the call until the time they return to the yard. There are at least 18 machines and I'd expect the basic cleanup to take at least 24 hours, if not longer. You also have to look at lost revenue for trains that can't be ran over this line. Some trains can be detoured, but not all of them can be.

Sun kink?

antlorch Wrote:
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> Sun kink?

Weather in KS has finally dropped into the 70's for highs this weekend. So I doubt if it would be a sun kink with the number of trains over this, but one never knows...

I believe Hulcher used to figure 1 hour per car derailed to clear the mess and lay track till it would open. So in that case 56 hours but there is 2 companys there so I suppose half that time would be close. But in this case you also have to figure in the bridge problem. Boy, seems like they almost always take out a bridge NW of Topeka when they derail. Good pics. Greg. Thanks for sharing. upkpfan

UP Coal Train fall down, go boom...

Glad the engines and crew made it over, but if the derailment started only 2 cars later, I bet they noticed something amiss when they went over that spot.
Brian Stevens

Thanks for the shots of a BIG mess. Any engines on their side at all?

- Jeff

Jeff, no engines on it's side. All power made it over just fine.

Brian, I can think of a couple examples where the engine crew wouldn't feel anything like a broken wheel or a broken rail that broke right under the train. With the drop in temperature last night to the mid 50's, I wouldn't discount it. However, I will defer final verdict to those on scene.

sd39u, I seem to remember reading that the BNSF dumped one in Kansas today. (;

There sure are a BUNCH a "spare parts" layin' around !!

qman

General derailment, no hazmat, Hultcher was $10,000 per hour beginning at the time of the call for the UP a few years ago.
UP4306

For dry, non-fragile merch like coal or grain, is there any attempt to salvage the stuff that gets spilled?

switchlock Wrote:
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> For dry, non-fragile merch like coal or grain, is
> there any attempt to salvage the stuff that gets
> spilled?

And if it's not salvaged, what happens to the 5000-6000 tons of coal that was spilled? I doubt that the adjacent landowners would be happy if it were left there. Or do they get paid damages by UP, and then it's their problem?

Bill G.

Went back today, and they have a mountain of coal piled up. I believe I saw several trucks hauling the pile to the closely located Jeffery Energy Center. I heard a third hand report that it may have been a broken rail, that the crew saw it just before they hit it, and hung on tight, but I haven't been able to confirm that as of yet. I'll have a few more pictures to share as soon as I get them off of the camera.

switchlock Wrote:
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> For dry, non-fragile merch like coal or grain, is
> there any attempt to salvage the stuff that gets
> spilled?

About 25 years back I was at a coal train derailment at Winfield, Ks. Spoke to one of the Santa Fe officials, who told me that per law it went to a landfill.

Fred in Wichita