Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 2, 1995 TAG: 9502020052
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
However, David Benson of the United Transportation Union, which represents some crew members, defended the crew against speculation that it was at fault. ``Nobody has been charged,'' said Benson, who is general chairman of the Roanoke local. ``We're hoping it was a signal failure.''
Benson said the union believes the crew members ``were alert and were following the signals.'' His union represents brakemen, conductors, firemen and trainees, while the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers represents engineers.
All of the sidelined crew members were on the westbound train, which the railroad said was supposed to be waiting for an eastbound train to pass by. Instead, both trains wound up on a collision course that derailed several locomotives and rail cars and resulted in more than $2 million in equipment and cargo damage.
Two crew members on the eastbound train are still on the job. The railroad has not released any crew members' names.
The stretch of track across the New River between Radford and Pulaski County reopened Wednesday afternoon. A train passed through around 4 p.m.
Auman promised a thorough investigation and said it could be ``at least several days, perhaps weeks'' until a formal report is released. The railroad has until the end of the month to report its findings to the Federal Railroad Administration.
Auman wouldn't say whether the railroad was focusing on human error or equipment failure as it seeks a cause for the crash. A track inspection of the line the day before the derailment turned up no problems, he said, and no recent maintenance had been done.
Benson said information he has gathered from the crew and from those who monitored radio communications with the westbound train suggests the train got go-ahead signals at two points. Signals near the Harrison Street grade crossing in downtown Radford and at the rail switch where the collision occurred indicated it was safe to proceed, he said. The switch point - known as ``JC'' - is where the double track merges into a single track.
Cleanup work along the line continued Wednesday. Workers had to replace 429 feet of track, and damage to the track and the railroad bridge over the river has been estimated at $50,000, Auman reported.
A locomotive that landed nose first in the New River when it left the tracks will have to be cut up to be removed, he said. In all, five locomotives - each weighing approximately 195 tons - derailed and were damaged or destroyed to the tune of $1.5 million, Auman said. Damage to rail cars was put at $184,000, and $356,000 damage was done to new cars and trucks being transported by one of the trains.
Two crew members jumped from their train before the collision. Some cars on the eastbound train that left the tracks on the Pulaski County side of the New River slid down an embankment toward an occupied mobile home, stopping just short of the dwelling.
Shortly after the wreck, emergency crews on the Radford side stretched booms across the New River to contain an estimated 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel that spilled into the waterway.
Radford Fire Chief Martin ``Jigger'' Roberts said the incident proved to be a successful test of cooperation among area fire departments. To put the booms in place, Roberts said city crews borrowed special pulleys from the Radford Army Ammunition Plant Fire Department and additional rope from the Blacksburg Fire Department. Dublin Fire Department members also pitched in.
While environmental impact was believed light, Roberts said emergency vehicles and cleanup crews caused minor damage to the west end of Bisset Park. Cleanup crews still have to remove some oil-soaked soil, he said.
by CNB