After a string of deadly train crashes, a pair of angry U.S. senators stood in New York’s Grand Central Terminal four months ago to denounce the Federal Railroad Administration as a “lawless agency, a rogue agency,” too cozy with the railroads it regulates and more interested in “cutting corners” for them than protecting the public.
Fast forward to the past two months, when photos of rail cars strewn akimbo beside tracks have rivaled mountains of snow in Boston for play in the newspapers and on television.
State Legislative Director Ken Menges reports that the Missouri Legislative Board has a new website at www.smartmoslb.org. Members can now stay up to date on issues affecting their jobs as well as issues affecting Missouri locals. Members can contact the board directly through the website, read their weblog and view an interactive calendar of events (including local meeting dates and times). The page also features a section with links to Transportation Division and Sheet Metal Division local websites and general committee websites and other sites of interest. “I would like to give special thanks to Assistant State Director and Local 1405 (St. Louis, Mo.) Legislative Rep. Jason Hayden and Local 933 (Jefferson City, Mo.) Legislative Rep. Edward “Thad” Krawczyk, who designed the new site,” Menges said. “It is very encouraging to see the younger members become leaders. We have a great future ahead of us.”
U.S. railroads have not hauled so much crude oil since the short period at the dawn of the petroleum age, when John D. Rockefeller relied on trains to build his Standard Oil empire.
But the long, black tanker trains are only the most visible way that the changing U.S. energy picture is transforming railroads. The fracking revolution has brought other business to railroads, from pipes to propane, and more change is underway.
WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a public forum March 24-25 on the dangers of trespassing on the railroad right-of-way.
While railroad tracks have long held a cultural resonance with Americans, featured in motion pictures, TV shows, music videos and photography, they are private property. And they can be a deadly place. In 2013, 476 people were killed and 432 were injured in trespassing accidents, according to preliminary data from the Federal Railroad Administration.
The forum, Trains and Trespassing: Ending Tragic Encounters, will be chaired by NTSB Board Member Robert L. Sumwalt. It will feature speakers who have been seriously injured by trains; those whose communities have been affected; and railroad employee assistance program employees whose train crews have struck people on railroad property. The forum will draw on the expertise of railroads, regulators, and researchers, among others, to review the diversity of trespassing accidents and incidents and look at current and future prevention strategies.
The forum will be held at the NTSB’s Board Room and Conference Center, located at 429 L’Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington, D.C. However, on March 25, the forum will include a tour of Norfolk Southern’s safety train at Union Station.
The public can view the forum in person or by live webcast on the NTSB’s website. As soon as they are available, an agenda and webcast details will be posted.
WASHINGTON – Rail operators are going to great lengths to prevent oil train derailments but the energy sector must do more to prevent accidents from becoming fiery disasters, the leading U.S. rail regulator said on Friday (March 13).
Oil train tankers have jumped the tracks in a string of mishaps in recent months that resulted in explosions and fires.
WASHINGTON – The Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) March 13 issued a Railworthiness Directive requiring railroad tank car owners to replace unapproved valves currently installed in some tank cars. The valves in question are UNNR ball valves manufactured and sold by McKenzie Valve & Machining LLC (McKenzie). Recent FRA investigations revealed that the valves were not approved for use on railroad tank cars. Additionally, the three-inch ball valve, when not properly configured, is leading to tank cars leaking small quantities of hazardous materials.
The problem was first discovered when multiple FRA investigations identified several railroad tank cars leaking small quantities of hazardous materials. One instance occurred during the week of Jan. 11 and involved a train of 100 tank cars loaded with crude oil being transported by BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) from Tioga, N.D., to a refinery in Anacortes, Wash. BNSF discovered 14 tank cars leaking crude oil on the route. The FRA then inspected seven of the identified leaking tank cars that BNSF removed from the train in Vancouver, Wash.
The FRA inspector observed each of the tank car’s top fittings and found product leaking from the liquid line ball valves and around each valve’s closure plug. Further tests conducted by the FRA found that certain closure plugs installed on the three-inch valves caused mechanical damage and led to the destruction of the valves’ seal integrity. In addition, testing found that when a three-inch closure plug was applied and tightened in the three-inch McKenzie valve, the plug contacted and damaged the ball. Further testing revealed that the application of downward force on the valve ball applied by the three-inch plug resulted in the over-compression, damage, and misalignment of the inboard seal, causing the valve to leak.
While additional tests conducted by FRA concluded that McKenzie one-inch and two-inch ball valves do not appear to present the same safety concerns as the three-inch valves, they are not approved for use on railroad tank cars and must also be replaced. To date, FRA is not aware of any non-accident releases or other releases from railroad tank cars involving the one-inch or two-inch ball McKenzie valves.
Federal regulations require all valves applied to tank cars must be of an approved design by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) Tank Car Committee. FRA’s investigations demonstrate clear inconsistencies between the type of valve design that AAR approved versus the design of the valve actually being used, which raises questions about the approval process and a manufacturer’s adherence to an approved design type.
The FRA will immediately begin working with AAR to commence a full audit of the Association’s process for approving tank car valves and other components in order to prevent incidents like this from occurring again.
“Ensuring the safe transport of hazardous materials is a top priority for the Department of Transportation,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “I expect this audit to force a stricter adherence to the structures in place to keep our railways safe.”
The Directive requires all tank car owners to remove, within 60 days, any three-inch McKenzie UNNR ball valves in tank cars used to transport any hazardous material described in 49 CFR 172.101. Further, the Directive requires all tank car owners to remove the one-inch and two-inch valves within 90 days. The Directive requires tank car owners to replace the valves with valves approved for use on railroad tank cars. Since 2009, McKenzie sold approximately 11,200 of the three-inch valves to a variety of tank car owners and tank car facilities. FRA estimates that approximately 6,000 DOT Specification 111 railroad tank cars are equipped with the unapproved three-inch McKenzie UNNR valves. In addition, McKenzie indicates that it has sold more than 37,000 one-inch and two-inch valves to a variety of tank car owners and tank car facilities. The removal and replacement of these valves are not expected to significantly disrupt freight rail traffic.
Although the precise amount of hazardous materials released due to the use of these unapproved valves cannot be quantified, FRA investigations and subsequent testing have determined that only small amounts of hazardous materials could have escaped through the unapproved valves. “Any type of hazardous materials release, no matter how small, is completely unacceptable,” said Acting Federal Railroad Administrator Sarah Feinberg. “The removal of these valves from service will help to reduce the number of non-accident hazardous materials releases.”
After tank car owners have remove the unapproved valves on each affected tank car, and replaced and tested new components, they may once again use the tank cars to transport hazardous materials. Alternatively, if upon an adequate showing demonstrating the safety of the one-inch and two-inchvalves, McKenzie obtains approval for the use of those valves on tank cars, cars equipped with these one-inch or two-inch McKenzie valves may be returned to hazardous materials service.
The Oakland Old Rails Club is planning its annual dinner and get together for Sunday, April 12, 2015, at the Elios Family Restaurant at 260 Floresta Blvd., San Leandro, Calif. The event will begin at noon with a no-host bar, with dinner to be served at 1:00 p.m. There are three dinner choices this year of coulotte steak with mashed potatoes or rice, broiled salmon and rice, or broiled chicken breast with mashed potatoes or rice. All dinners include a tossed salad, vegetables, bread and butter, dessert and coffee. Tickets are $30 and may be purchased at the March meeting or by mail. For tickets by mail, send money and entrée choices to Bill Cotton, 1310 Strathmore Ct., Concord, CA 94518. The price includes sales tax and gratuity. Checks can be made payable to “Old Rails Club.” Reservations can also be made by calling (925) 872-7186.
The Metrolink commuter rail system’s board of directors on Friday is expected to hire Art Leahy, the former head of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, as the railroad’s chief executive officer.
Leahy, 66, is a veteran transit official who ran three transportation agencies after starting his career as a bus driver for the old Southern California Rapid Transit District, predecessor to the MTA.
OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Washington House of Representatives voted 84-14 March 10 to pass Rep. Derek Stanford’s (D – Bothell) bill to strengthen safety regulations for the transportation of railroad workers to and from work.
Prior to 1977, railroad companies operated van services to transport railroad employees between various work locations throughout the state. The Utilities and Transportation Commission was given oversight over the safety of the van service, and established safety regulations regarding drivers and vehicle conditions.
However, railroad companies no longer manage the van services, and private shuttle companies have stepped in to fill the market need. These shuttles are driven all over the state, in all terrains and poor conditions, and the drivers often lack qualifications or have a history of violations. The UTC has no regulatory authority over the now-private van services, which have resulted in numerous fatal accidents in the past several years.
“There’s an old saying among railroad workers,” Stanford said. “That railroad work is dangerous work, but the most dangerous part of the job is the ride there. We can do better with our safety requirements. We can update our laws to reflect the new way these companies operate.”
Stanford’s House Bill 1808 would give the UTC regulatory authority over private railroad crew transportation services.
A CSX freight train ran off the rails last month in rural Mount Carbon, W.Va. One after another, exploding rail cars sent hellish fireballs hundreds of feet into the clear winter sky. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency, and the fires burned for several days.
The Feb. 16 accident was one of a series of recent fiery derailments highlighting the danger of using freight trains to ship crude oil from wellheads in North Dakota to refineries in congested regions along America’s coastlines. The most recent was last week, when a Burlington Northern Santa Fe oil train with roughly 100 cars derailed, causing at least two cars, each with about 30,000 gallons of crude oil, to explode, burn and leak near the Mississippi River, south of Galena, Ill.
State Legislative Director Ken Menges reports that the Missouri Legislative Board has a new website at 
U.S. railroads have not hauled so much crude oil since the short period at the dawn of the petroleum age, when John D. Rockefeller relied on trains to build his Standard Oil empire.
WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a public forum March 24-25 on the dangers of trespassing on the railroad right-of-way.
WASHINGTON – Rail operators are going to great lengths to prevent oil train derailments but the energy sector must do more to prevent accidents from becoming fiery disasters, the leading U.S. rail regulator said on Friday (March 13).
WASHINGTON – The Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) March 13 issued a Railworthiness Directive requiring railroad tank car owners to replace unapproved valves currently installed in some tank cars. The valves in question are UNNR ball valves manufactured and sold by McKenzie Valve & Machining LLC (McKenzie). Recent FRA investigations revealed that the valves were not approved for use on railroad tank cars. Additionally, the three-inch ball valve, when not properly configured, is leading to tank cars leaking small quantities of hazardous materials.
The Metrolink commuter rail system’s board of directors on Friday is expected to hire Art Leahy, the former head of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, as the railroad’s chief executive officer.
OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Washington House of Representatives voted 84-14 March 10 to pass Rep. Derek Stanford’s (D – Bothell) bill to strengthen safety regulations for the transportation of railroad workers to and from work.