Passenger Trains > CTA train derails, rail fasteners fall onto streets

After CTA train derails, steel rail fasteners rain down on Loop streets
Chicago Sun-Times
bY MITCH DUDEK
June 17, 2014

> First, the beers on the bar at the Sky Ride Tap began to rattle.
>
> Patrons thought it was more than the regular turbulence from the
> elevated CTA track that runs past the bar, 105 W. Van Buren St., so
> when the whole building seemed to briefly shake, several people
> stepped outside to investigate.
>
> What they saw Tuesday night shocked them: Hundreds of pieces of
> steel, some weighing several pounds, had fallen off the elevated
> structure. The metal, mixed with splintered pieces of wood, littered
> Van Buren for several blocks in each direction.
>
> “They are rail fasteners,” CTA spokesman Brian Steele said. “They
> hold the rails to the brackets that are attached to the rail ties.”
>
> Steele said a set of wheels on an Orange Line train came off the
> tracks at the LaSalle/Van Buren stop that serves Orange, Pink and
> Brown Line trains.
>
> It was not clear if the metal pieces fell because of damage from the
> derailment or if it had been left up there after previous
> construction, Steele said.
>
> The incident happened shortly before 7 p.m., halting all trains in
> the Loop for about an hour...

Full story:

After CTA train derails, steel rail fasteners rain down on Loop streets

Also reported by the Chicago Tribune:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-cta-minor-derailment-on-orange-line-train-leads-to-major-downtown-delays-20140617,0,1596714.story

The track fasteners weigh 1.7 lbs. not "several pounds" as reported by the media. It will still hurt if it lands on someone. Maybe I should wear my hard hat on the way to lunch today?

BTW, I would have known it was the CTA from just the pictures of the fasteners. Can anyone tell me why?

kevink Wrote:

>
> BTW, I would have known it was the CTA from just
> the pictures of the fasteners. Can anyone tell me
> why?

Because they are painted blue? I walked out of the library and saw a pile on the curb and thought - thats odd. A moment later a CTA pulled up to grab them. But they were in what looked like a pile, not randomly dispersed. (This wasn't the derailment location)

Re4sponding to kevink, inCHI reports, in part:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> ...I walked out of the
> library and saw a pile on the curb and thought -
> thats odd. A moment later a CTA [sic] pulled up to grab
> them. But they were in what looked like a pile,
> not randomly dispersed. (This wasn't the
> derailment location)

Removing the evidence...

inCHI Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Because they are painted blue?

Close enough, they are green. CTA uses both left-hand and right-hand e-clips. The left-hand clips are painted green to differentiate them from the right-hand clips.

billio Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Removing the evidence...

So they should leave them for cars to run over and pedestrians to trip over? There was plenty of media coverage so it's highly unlikely that they are going to hide them.

billio Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Removing the evidence...

CTA is severely cash strapped, and those clips cost money.

It is amazing and great that as many L trains that operate that there are not many situations like this one thankfully.

Jim