On Thursday morning, the National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary report on the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that ultimately resulted in toxic chemicals being released into the environment.
In its report, the agency said that the train was traveling at approximately 47 miles per hour at the time of the incident — which was below the speed limit of 50 mph for the area. There is a system of wayside indicators, which are designed to identify defects or problems along the route. This system is coordinated by the Norfolk Southern Cleveland East Train dispatcher in Atlanta, and it was working near the site of the accident. One of these wayside detectors identified a hot bearing and transmitted an emergency signal to the crew to stop the train and inspect the axle. At this point, “The train engineer increased the dynamic brake application to further slow and stop the train. During this deceleration, an automatic emergency brake application initiated, and train 32N came to a stop.”
Related: Pete Buttigieg Bombed in Visit to East Palestine—Big Time
On this train line, Norfolk Southern has equipped its rail system and wayside indicators with HBD, or hot bearing detection, systems designed to monitor the temperature of the bearings and look for overheated bearings. The train passed three HBD systems prior to the derailment. The first reading showed that the bearing was 38°F above ambient temperature. At the next HBD, the bearing had reached 103°F above ambient. By the time the train passed the third HBD, the temperature of the bearing in question was 253°F above the ambient temperature.
Once the train had stopped, the crew saw fire and smoke and notified the dispatcher that there may have been a derailment. Then:
With dispatcher authorization, the crew applied handbrakes to the two railcars at the head of the train, uncoupled the head-end locomotives, and moved the locomotives about 1 mile from the uncoupled railcars. Responders arrived at the derailment site and began response efforts.
Investigators from the NTSB reviewed the track, the equipment, local surveillance footage, and the data from the monitors. Surveillance video from a nearby residence showed “what appeared to be a wheel bearing in the final stage of overheat failure moments before the derailment.”
The full preliminary report can be found here.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member