Monday, August 17, 2015
"Three years ago the unthinkable happened... "
A fully loaded eastbound coal train rounded the bend and descended into town. The first ten cars rumbled past the girls before something went tragically wrong. A string of hoppers derailed, tipping over and burying the pair instantly.
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The CSX eastbound train had originated in Grafton, WV and was comprised of 80 fully loaded hoppers pulled by two locomotives. Total weight was estimated at 9,000 tons. |
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The first 21 cars of the train derailed in the heart of downtown at the historic bridge over Main Street. The girls were in a restricted area accessible by climbing a low fence. |
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All reports confirm that the train was traveling at the 25 MPH speed limit entering town. |
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The cost in property damage and clean-up was estimated at $1.9 million, but the emotional loss for the close-knit community can never be determined. (Photo by John Teichmoeller) |
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It was initially speculated that a retaining wall had slowly been giving way allowing the track above to go out of gauge, but a year-long investigation by the NTSB found that a rail fractured several hundred feet from the trestle caused by the "gradual deterioration of the rail-head surface" ... otherwise known as metal fatigue. (Photo by John Teichmoeller) |
As a regular visitor to this town my entire life, the tragedy felt weirdly personal, even from 200 miles away. I have stood in that general area many times with my grandfather and just a year earlier with my then-17 year old daughter as part of a college tour to Washington DC. How do those most affected by this, cope with their loss and grasp the random nature of such a bizarrely fateful event?
As modelers, it points to a strange reality that when we depict a prototype and a period, we may be dabbling in a story whose innocence will be stolen forever at a later date. It's going to be challenging to depict the Ellicott City bridge at Main Street circa 1960. I will know something about its future that I would prefer not to know. It sure wasn't something I signed up for modeling the Old Main Line.
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BONUS: RHETORICAL QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Have you hugged your child today... and reminded them of the inherent dangers around railroad tracks??
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