ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 20, 1996 TAG: 9603200030
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA STAFF WRITER
A Norfolk Southern train engineer has been fired and a conductor suspended for 60 days after an investigation of the Jan. 7 train derailment in Montgomery County showed the engineer failed to properly operate the train's brakes.
Norfolk Southern Corp. spokesman Bob Auman said the railroad's investigation showed the weather was not a factor in the accident despite the near-blizzard conditions - 18 inches of snow on the ground and a 21-degree temperature.
Paul Paxton, local chairman for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, said the weather certainly was a factor.
``We are hung from day one when the railroad investigates,'' Paxton said. ``I have so many horror stories; with that much snow they should have shut down.''
On Jan. 7, two locomotives carrying 96 cars headed into a turn near Ellett in Montgomery County at 57 mph. The speed limit for that section is 30 mph, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report.
The derailment threw 79 cars off the tracks and spewed 8,100 tons of corn into a pasture. It was three days before trains could use the section of track again. No one was injured.
Auman said the train's air brakes require the engineer to recharge the system after a stop. The engineer left Bluefield, W.Va., where the train was stopped for about four hours on a hill, and soon afterward reported trouble controlling the train's speed, according to the safety board's report. The engineer then stopped the train and cleared ice and snow from the brakes, the report stated.
Chief investigator for the board, Mark Garcia, said the train then stalled on a hill approaching Christiansburg. The crew waited about 45 minutes until ``pushers'' arrived and shoved the train to the top of the hill.
``If the engineer would have charged the brakes before he went down the grade or made sure it was charged, he could have controlled the train,'' Garcia said. Investigators tested that theory in a simulation, he said.
Paxton, with the union, said no one told the engineers to recharge the brakes until accidents began to happen. Norfolk Southern has now made recharging brakes before descending any hill a rule, Paxton said.
The derailment occurred after the train left the Merrimac Tunnel - which passes under U.S. 460 in northern Christiansburg - and descended into the Ellett Valley and entered a curve just east of Lusters Gate Road.
The railroad would not release the names of the engineer and conductor. The conductor was disciplined because it is his job to oversee the engineer's work, according to Dave Brown, superintendent for the railroad's Virginia division.
Auman said the railroad immediately suspended the engineer and conductor after the accident. It was not until Feb. 14, however, that the railroad notified the engineer that he was dismissed effective Jan. 8 - the day after the accident. Consequently, the conductor's suspension was also started Jan. 8 and he is now back on the job.
Don Usak, manager of Norfolk Southern's locomotive engineering and planning, said a train's air brakes are charged by air compressors on the train, which the engineer controls. The amount of time it takes to recharge the brakes after a stop depends on several factors, including the air temperature and the number of cars. Usak said he could not speak directly about this accident or how long it would have taken to recharge the brakes.
The cost of the accident has topped $2.5 million, according to Auman. A final tally won't be ready until this summer when work to restore pasture land is completed, he said.
Robert Wiatt, who owns the derailment site, said the cleanup is ``too slow'' but that snow, rain and equipment failures have impeded the railroad's progress.
``I've never gotten anything in writing from them, but I think they'll treat me fairly,'' Wiatt said of the railroad's effort.
Auman said the railroad contracted with various companies to help in the cleanup. Westside Salvage of Des Moines, Iowa, purchased the spilled corn. It was able to salvage 66 carloads, Auman said, and the remaining corn was either donated to farmers or remains on the ground.
As of last week, Auman said, 15 rail cars remained to be cut up for scrap and Norfolk Southern had hauled out seven to 10 loads of wheels. Once the scrap metal is picked up and the remaining corn hauled away, the pasture will be graded and reseeded, Auman said.
Wiatt said he leases the pasture year-round to a cattle farmer and the wreck idled much of the land.
``It's been a real nuisance,'' Wiatt said. ``And to make matters worse, the corn is fermenting and stinks like the devil in the middle of a junkyard.''
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: GENE DALTON/Staff. 1. Robert Wiatt has had to deal withby CNBthe salvage operation and gawkers since the train derailment on Jan.
7. He looks at what's left of the cleanup from his front yard. 2. A
new road was built through Robert Wiatt's property for cleanup of
the Norfolk Southern derailment. Eventually it
will be removed and the area reseeded. color. Graphic: Map by staff.
color.