Passenger Trains > NJ Transit: concrete ties buckled

The Star Ledger has a follow up on the investigation to a Montaclair Boonton Line derailment two weeks ago. A westbound train derailed at mp 13.06 in Montclair just east of the Walnut Street (Erie Plaza) station. The preliminary report fingers buckled concrete ties.

The connection isn't that old (it opened in 2002) and the line was completely rebuilt as part of the electrification project. I'll be interested to see the follow up


<http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2014/09/concrete_ties_blamed_for_derailment_on_montclair-boonton_line.html#incart_m-rpt-2&gt;

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Star Ledger has a follow up on the
> investigation to a Montaclair Boonton Line
> derailment two weeks ago. A westbound train
> derailed at mp 13.06 in Montclair just east of the
> Walnut Street (Erie Plaza) station. The
> preliminary report fingers buckled concrete ties.
>
> The connection isn't that old (it opened in 2002)
> and the line was completely rebuilt as part of the
> electrification project. I'll be interested to see
> the follow up
>
Lackawanna,

"Buckled"??????

Uh... concrete ties don't buckle, they break.

J.

>"Buckled"??????

>Uh... concrete ties don't buckle, they break.

Quite agree. "Buckle" carries a connotation that something flexible has deformed beyond the point of normal rebound, like the track geometry in a sun kink, while "break" implies something rigid, like a [concrete] tie, has been stressed beyond the point of deformation. English usage has been taking it in the shorts for all too long.

>>>“We believe it was two concrete ties that buckled or cracked,” said NJ Transit spokesman William Smith.<<<

Can't blame this on the reporter, I'd say

Two broke ties do not a derailment make........................

>Can't blame this on the reporter, I'd say

At least not directly.

sorry ... they better figure out another cause ... two ties cracking/broken are not going to cause a derailment whether they are consecutive or spaced

Posted from Android

If it's where I think it is, there's some sharp curves there.

Excessive speed maybe?

Train was going about 15MPH. They replaced a long stretch of ties, so I'd imagine many looked questionable.