Boeing fuselages in Montana river after train derails

[IDemo]

Source: KTVB

SUPERIOR, MT -- A train derailed near Superior Thursday, sending Boeing aircraft fuselages into a river.

Nineteen cars on the westbound train derailed. Three of the cars contained aircraft parts and ended up in the Clark Fork River. Boeing said the train was headed from Spirit Aerosystems in Wichita to the Boeing final assembly plant in Renton.

No one was hurt. The cause is under investigation.

Boeing said the Burlington Northern Santa Fe train was carrying six 737 fuselages, fuselage panels and a lower lobe for the 777, and a leading edge flight surface for the 747.



Read more: http://www.ktvb.com/news/regional/Train-derails-with-aircraft-parts-265866171.html

[bluedigger]

1. That's one heck of an expensive accident.

Boeing might want to rethink putting so much value on a single train. Their insurer may demand it.

[pipoman]

2. They do it almost every day. ..I've seen them many times when I lived in Wichita. ..

[Nobel_Twaddle_III]

10. the trouble with that, is it is less then one weeks production.

feeding the lines would take two of these trains a week. (using published production rates)

[PoliticAverse]

3. I much fear serious trouble in the fuselage Frederick...

[Hassin Bin Sober]

5. HA! My mom and my favorite episode.

We used to joke about it when we flew when I was a little kid.

When I got my pilot license I took my mom up and said I would show some of the tricks that made me famous. She almost shit a brick.

the ending @ 16:30

[Lochloosa]

4. That better show up on the planefax when I run the serial number

[James48]

6. pic

Let's see how they pick those up and carry them away....
more:
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Train-derails-in-western-Montana-3-cars-in-river-265898791.html

[IDemo]

7. A great comment from another site:

"And here we see the rare and majestic Boeing, which returns to the place they were born every year to spawn. In a few months time, these behemoths will die as the next generation hatch and begin their lives. Ahh, the circle of life."

[polynomial]

8. Angle of repose is a definite railroad problem

This is typical in the engineering misnomer that completely points to what is wrong in railroad safety management teams, and over sight. There is what is called the ‘angle of repose’. That is engineering that can be applied to the vertical or horizontal plain.

The giant size of the fuselage panels should flag a reasonably experienced engineer that not only vertical shear forces but horizontal shear forces are in play especially at cross overs and sharp turns in the track that rupture the angle of repose.

This picture illustrates an absolute bungle in safety management at the BNSF. W. Buffet should be raging mad. The dispatching crew should have very good records or they are toast.

My view was Buffet’s railroad had good skills however it is not so. It would be good to know the track lay out. Some tracks in the western plains, on the Union Pacific area are so old you can walk along the track and pull out spikes with your hand the wood is so rotten.

The new cement tracks crumble and crack so fast there are places where trains have slow orders to decrease speed because of track safety breach. What is really an outrage is those slow orders are taken of the daily reports when FRA or OSHA does inspections. Yep, sad but true at the Union Pacific rail road those slow orders disappear when inspections by the government happen.

Plus the most important part is the ballast surrounding the racks can be such a bad grain mix or type track shift is likely with a very unordinary load such as these fuselage panels breach the stress factor. Worse conductors and various train people know the slips trips and falls coupled with greasy ballast with in consistent mix definitely cause severe personal injuries. This is typical in the engineering misnomer that completely points to what is wrong in railroad safety management teams, and congressional oversight over sight.

[liam_laddie]

9. Weight, size of load

Let's say the fuselage of this 737 model is about two "normal" flatcars long, likely supported at only a couple of points to allow the cars to negotiate turns of the minimum radius on the route.** The major support points are very likely at the main wing beam and front landing gear bay. (See photo) The fuselages although large in volume, are actually very light in comparison to a couple of hoppers filled with coal or gravel. Weight of load should not be an issue in this event. Tunnel and snow shed clearance may be an issue, but trains can be routed to avoid this problem. Note: photo indicates it's on one specially-built car set (with the first car carrying sub-assemblies?)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_737#mediaviewer/File:Boeing_737_fuselage_train_hull_3473.jpg

[mahatmakanejeeves]

12. "This picture illustrates an absolute bungle in safety management at the BNSF. W. Buffet should ..."

Last edited Tue Jul 8, 2014, 12:24 PM - Edit history (3)

The incident occurred on the Montana Rail Link, not the BNSF. MRL Owner Dennis Washington is surely concerned, but Warren Buffett, who owns the BNSF, not so much, other than about the delays to his trains that run over the MRL along the way.

Montana Rail Link (reporting mark MRL) is a privately held Class II railroad in the United States. MRL, which operates on trackage originally built by the Northern Pacific Railway, is a unit of the Washington Companies, and is headquartered in Missoula, Montana.

The railroad runs between Huntley, Montana and Spokane, Washington, largely within Montana, and the main line passes through the towns of Missoula, Livingston, Bozeman, Billings, and Helena. Montana Rail Link connects with the BNSF on both ends and also in Garrison, Montana. The railroad has over 900 miles (1,400 km) of track, serves 100 stations, and employs approximately 1,000 personnel. The main yard is in Laurel, Montana, while a smaller yard is in Missoula.

Work begins to remove Boeing fuselages from Clark Fork River

6 hours ago {9 a.m., Missoula time} • By DILLON KATO of the Missoulian

....
Nineteen train cars derailed about 10 miles west of Alberton at 4 p.m. Thursday. Thirteen cars were carrying aircraft components, soybeans and denatured alcohol, and half a dozen were empty.

This Sunday, July 6, 2014 photo by Jerry Compton provided by Wiley E. Waters Whitewater Rafting shows part of a freight train that derailed near Alberton in western Montana, sending three cars carrying aircraft components down a steep embankment and into the Clark Fork River on Thursday, July 3. Removing three Boeing 737 fuselages could take until Tuesday. Montana Rail Link spokeswoman Lynda Frost said on Sunday a crew of 50 with eight heavy equipment machines is working in conjunction on the steep bank. (AP Photo/Wiley E. Waters Whitewater Rafting, Jerry Compton)

The MRL splits up going west from Missoula at DeSmet. One line goes up and over a range via Ravalli. The other follows the Clark Fork River. The two lines come back together at Paradise.

You said:

The new cement tracks crumble and crack so fast there are places where trains have slow orders to decrease speed because of track safety breach. What is really an outrage is those slow orders are taken of the daily reports when FRA or OSHA does inspections. Yep, sad but true at the Union Pacific rail road those slow orders disappear when inspections by the government happen.

OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, does not inspect railroad tracks. The Federal regulatory agency that has jurisdiction for rail safety is the Federal Railroad Administration. Its track inspectors go out to see what sort of work the MRL is doing. To view the Track & Rail and Infrastructure Integrity Compliance Manual online, go to FRA Track Division.

There are a few pictures of trains at Alberton on the 'Net. Here's one from April:



Leasers: Nine of Montana Rail Link's SD45-2s are earning their keep this spring by being leased to BNSF Railway. Most of the engines, like MRL No. 329 and its sister seen here at Alberton, Montana, are sticking close to home and moving BNSF traffic over MRL, but three of the engines are allowed to go offline.

Photographer: Justin Franz
Railroad: Montana Rail Link
Locomotive: EMD SD45-2
Location: Alberton, Montana, USA
Locomotive #: MRL 329
Train ID: H-KCKSPO1-13A
Photo Date: April 20, 2014

Best wishes.

[Gumboot]

11. I've heard reports that those fuselages...

... often arrive in Renton WA riddled with bullet holes, after their perilous journey through rural America.

It might be a good idea to use some kind of temporary cover, so the local rednecks can't see the multi-million$ cargo being transported.

As for those three that ended up in the river... anyone got a good idea for re-purposing them?

[Blue_Tires]

13. Boeing will just break them down

try to recycle some components, write off the frames and claim the insurance...

(I don't know if those frames were "officially" Boeing property yet since they were in route, or if they were still official property of the original builder...)