Western Railroad Discussion > UP Loaded Coal Train Derailment Lawrence, KS

UP loaded coal train just derailed north of the I-70 bridge at Lawrence, KS. 

Picture from the Lawrence Newspaper.

https://ogden_images.s3.amazonaws.com/www.ljworld.com/images/2022/06/17173457/output_image1655504996180-470x264.jpg



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/22 19:29 by katyrail.

Here's are some shots that I got of the scene from earlier tonight.

Just after 17:00, an eastbound Union Pacific "double" coal train went on the ground at Midland, just north of Lawrence, KS on the UP Kansas Sub.  Reports as of about 18:15 spoke of 24 cars on the ground, blocking both Main tracks.

The UP 8021 was leading the CBTNW-15, and the derailment occurred ~10-20 cars ahead of the mid-train DPU's.  Given the symbol, the first half of the train was running from Black Thunder Mine to the Entergy - Independence Plant in Newark, AR.  The back half of the train was Kansas City Power & Light cars, so those were surely to be cut off in KC.

By 21:00, RJ Corman was on the scene, and was in the process of clearing the cars off of the Mains.

- Jeff Carlson



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/22 22:23 by bnsfsd70.

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I saw a similar coal train pile-up fifty years ago on the Reading near Center Valley, PA. There was a Reading "relief" wreck train working from both ends. They would pick up and dump each car then drag it off the two track main. I'm certain RJ Corman will make much quicker work of it with side-winders. I overheard a track guy telling someone that it must have been a broken axle because the track was in perfect condition. Working in heavy industry at the time it was common practice to cross-bill departments for errors or other issues. I'm sure the car maintenance people didn't want the clean-up bill dumped on them! Back then there were day-time RDCs running one or two car trains every two hours, a nightly north-bound freight, a day-time local each way, and numerous northbound iron ore and coal trains to Bethlehem Steel. Today that two-track main is now a hiking-biking trail. 
Gonut

bnsfsd70 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here's are some shots that I got of the scene from
> earlier tonight.
>
> Just after 17:00, an eastbound Union Pacific
> "double" coal train went on the ground at Midland,
> just north of Lawrence, KS on the UP Kansas Sub. 
> Reports as of about 18:15 spoke of 24 cars on the
> ground, blocking both Main tracks.
>
> The UP 8021 was leading the CBTNW-15, and the
> derailment occurred ~10-20 cars ahead of the
> mid-train DPU's.  Given the symbol, the first
> half of the train was running from Black Thunder
> Mine to the Entergy - Independence Plant in
> Newark, AR.  The back half of the train was
> Kansas City Power & Light cars, so those were
> surely to be cut off in KC.
>
> By 21:00, RJ Corman was on the scene, and was in
> the process of clearing the cars off of the
> Mains.
>
> - Jeff Carlson

For the folks in the back row - how many feet and how many tons total on this double coal-load train ?

LJ World was at the scene shortly after the derailment and took some good photos.  Take a look at the photo of the track damage, I am assuming it was taken at the same time as the other photos, so may give an indication as to cause.  At several places, the welded rail looks bowed.  Could this have been heat related?  The area is under a heat advisory.

https://www2.ljworld.com/news/public-safety/2022/jun/17/train-derailment-reported-in-north-lawrence/

PSR at its best, been more trains going on the ground no thanks to this compared to before PSR was even thought of nationwide!

Has Uncle Pete come up with an official cause? Enquiring (ex-locomotive engineer) minds wanna know...

Lance/199

Late to the party but the Lawrence PD surveyed the scene using their UAV. Majority of the vid is the thermal imaging taking looking for fires or hot spots, but there is a brief clip of hte actual view of the derailment/mess…

Posted via Twitter here

https://twitter.com/lawrenceks_pd/status/1538335081475018752?s=12