Breaking - Runaway Freight train

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Authorities Chase Runaway Train

T O L E D O, Ohio, May 15 — Authorities are trying to stop a runaway train that they believe is carrying hazardous material, ABCNEWS affiliate WTVG reported today.

At 1 p.m. local time the CSX 46-car train had passed through Bowling Green. The Wood County Sheriff's Department says the conductor may have had a heart attack or similar medical condition.

The train is headed south and has just passed into Hancock County at 1:26 p.m. The train is reportedly carrying hazardous and flammable materials.

-- Anonymous, May 15, 2001

Answers

Just tuned in to Fox, saying evacuations are taking place at crossings.

46 cars, flam materials, 46-47 mph.

News overtaken by 2-alarm fire at office park--didn't catch location.

-- Anonymous, May 15, 2001


One failed attempt to derail, another possibility is trying to board it when it goes up a hill. Live video showed man running alongside, trying to board, also unsuccessful. Train is, apparently, a "yard" engine, that is why there was only one person on board, 46 cars, don't know how many tanks of hazmat. May be possible to stop it with radio-control. Headed from Toldeo, has gone through Columbus. Speed seems considerably less than 46-47, that could change depending on terrain.

-- Anonymous, May 15, 2001

Now I know there is more than one guy on that train. You don't have to be the engineer to know how to stop the damn thing (and if you don't know, either by osmosis or regular training, you shouldn't be allowed on a locomotive).

-- Anonymous, May 15, 2001

Train folks were able to get another engine in front of the train and that is what is slowing the train down. More people stationed in front of train, going to try to board. Can see around half a doxen trying--some guy just made it!

-- Anonymous, May 15, 2001

Train is stopped. Cool! Two police officers just climbed up. One came out, not in a hurry. Medical team on board, also no hurry. Would guess that engineer is dead.

(Fire noted earlier is in Bridgeport, PA, Philadelphia suburb. Massive, extensive fire--windy day.)

-- Anonymous, May 15, 2001



Herald-Sun

Runaway Train Rolls Nearly 70 Miles

By CHARLEY GILLESPIE : Associated Press Writer

May 16, 2001 : 5:26 am ET

KENTON, Ohio (AP) -- The train rumbled through farm fields and cities, traveling nearly 70 miles with no one at the controls before Jon Hosfeld sprinted alongside the front car, jumped aboard and brought the wayward locomotive to a halt.

The CSX Transportation employee's daring effort Tuesday came as authorities blocked traffic and made preparations in case the train carrying hazardous liquids derailed. The train stayed on the tracks, and no one was hurt.

"My adrenaline was pumping," Hosfeld, a 31-year CSX employee, told The Washington Post. But "I didn't lose my focus. ... I got a wife and daughter, and I don't want to do anything foolish."

The 47-car train hit speeds of 46 mph as it rolled through northwest Ohio, but workers slowed it to about 10 mph near Kenton, about 55 miles northwest of Columbus, when Hosfeld climbed on board, authorities said.

Kathleen Burns, a CSX spokeswoman, said the company's investigators planned to head to Toledo on Wednesday for a thorough inquiry. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Railroad Administration are investigating.

CSX is not sure how or why the train left the rail yard. The train was being assembled on a local track in CSX's Stanley facility, near Toledo. It was then supposed to be moved to a departure track in order to be taken to a nearby Norfolk Southern yard.

Several witnesses saw the train leaving and alerted CSX officials.

The Hancock County Sheriff's Department initially believed the engineer on board had suffered a heart attack. However, authorities later said no one was aboard.

Twenty-five cars were empty and 22 were loaded with freight, mainly paper and lumber, CSX said. Two cars contained molten phenol, a hazardous but nonflammable product used to make dyes, paints, pharmaceuticals and as a general disinfectant, CSX said.

There was minor damage to some cars, CSX said.

The train rolled past houses and factories in Findlay, sometimes passing through back yards and within 50 feet of some homes, said Hancock County Chief Deputy Doug Wilcox. There were no evacuations in the city of about 40,000.

"We were prepared for it, but we didn't need to," Wilcox said.

The train's route also took it through fields and several villages in northwest Ohio, at times running parallel to Interstate 75. At one point, police briefly evacuated about 100 workers at a meat processing factory near the village of North Baltimore when authorities attempted to stop the train.

It also ran through downtown Bowling Green, a city of about 29,600, and near Bowling Green State University. "It would have been a disaster if it would've derailed in town," said Wood County sheriff's Sgt. Maj. Mike Blair.

-- Anonymous, May 16, 2001


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