Freight train derailment & bridge collapse in Northbrook, IL Options

[KevinKorell]

Chicago, IL Sun-Times, 7/4/12:

A train bridge collapsed and a freight train hauling coal derailed near Shermer and Willow roads in the northern suburbs Wednesday afternoon.

Here is the story.

[amtrakwolverine]

Train derails near Chicago; no injuries reported

NORTHBROOK, Ill. (AP) - A Union Pacific spokesman says a freight train has derailed and a bridge over a stretch of road has collapsed in the northern Chicago suburbs.

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/18951479...juries-reported

[KevinKorell]

WLS-TV, ABC-7 in Chicago, IL:

No injuries in freight train derailment

Several railcars fell on top of each other after a train derailment and bridge collapse at the border of Northbrook and Glenview. Metra service will not be impacted.

The train was crossing the bridge around 1:45 p.m. Wednesday when it gave way and several rail cars fell to the road below near Shermer and Willow roads in Northbrook, which is near the Glenview border. No one was injured, but the bridge deck was destroyed and the railcars dumped their loads of coal onto the street.

More

[amtrakwolverine]

Reports are that they found 1 body in a car buried under the coal.

[KevinKorell]

Reports are that they found 1 body in a car buried under the coal.

Are you referring to a rail car, or an auto on the street underneath the collapsed bridge? Reports I saw just a couple hours ago on TV said that it was lucky that nobody was killed, and that the fact that most of the town was watching a 4th of July parade might have resulted in little or no traffic than usual being underneath that bridge. Of course in any breaking story things unfortunately can change minute to minute.

[amtrakwolverine]

2 bodies Inside a auto were found

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/s...0,4983947.story

This post has been edited by amtrakwolverine: Jul 5 2012, 07:57 PM

[CNJRoss]

WBBM (CBS), 7/6:

Family Of Train Wreck Victims Sues Railroad; Cleanup Halted

GLENVIEW, Ill. (CBS) — The family of a Glenview couple killed in a train derailment and bridge collapse has filed a wrongful death suit against Union Pacific Railroad over the incident, and a judge has ordered cleanup of the wreck halted to preserve evidence in the case.

CBS 2′s Brad Edwards reports Robert Lindner filed the lawsuit in Cook County on Friday, on behalf of his parents, Burton and Zorine Lindner. Their bodies were found Thursday inside a car that had been crushed in the rubble of the July 4th train wreck near the Glenview-Northbrook border.

Continue.

[amtrakwolverine]

Money hunting. I fail to see how this is UPs fault if it was a sun kink. Of course we don't know when the last time the line was inspected for a sun kink if it was inspected that day or if it was missed.

This post has been edited by amtrakwolverine: Jul 7 2012, 01:36 AM

[CNJRoss]

Chicago Sun-Times, 7/8:

When it comes to rail-bridge safety, railroads mostly police themselves

The Illinois Department of Transportation’s website offers a massive database of information on the condition of bridges across the state.

But if you search for the railroad bridge that collapsed Wednesday and killed two people in a train derailment on the Glenview-Northbrook border, you won’t find it.

That’s because the state doesn’t oversee railroad bridges. And if you think you can go to the Federal Railroad Administration to get information on the rail bridges it oversees, think again.

Railroads don’t have to routinely provide the agency with the results of inspections they conduct on their own bridges.

Why not? The Federal Railroad Administration on its website says it would be “counterproductive” to require railroads to do so.

Continue.

[CNJRoss]

Journal and Topics Newspapers, Des Plaines, IL, 7/11:

Preliminary FRA Report Cites No Railroad Violations
UP Points To Heat As Cause Of Derailment; Detours Set

A one-page Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) inspection report issued Friday recommends no violations for Union Pacific Railroad (UP) after a derailment Wednesday, July 4 that caused a Glenview bridge collapse that killed two motorists driving below.

UP officials will appear at a public meeting at Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook on Monday, July 16 at 7 p.m. to explain what happened.

Continue.