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A derailment Saturday, Oct 3 in Bailey Yard could have had disastrous consequences, according to an anonymous witness. The source, who was present at the time of the accident Saturday morning and chose not to be identified, said that snowy conditions contributed to the incident. It happened near one of the bowls in the yard. A switch had not been thrown properly, but the mistake was not noticed due to the weather. This led to a collision that sent four empty chlorine tankers and a lumber car off the tracks, the witness said. The cars were mangled. He stated that a foot of snow completely buried the track and blowing and falling snow hid the switches. The witness said that work should have been stopped, but continued. There was no talk of shutting the yard down, he said. “Production overruled the safety of North Platte,” he stated. The witness claimed that Hazmat training railroaders receive tells them that a one-inch gash in a full chlorine car would kill everything within a quarter mile. The wheels were torn off the derailed cars. The source said he mentioned to the manager that if the cars had been full and ruptured, “It would have wiped out the town.” The manager reportedly laughed and said, “No, it probably would have just gotten you.” Chlorine is a toxic gas that can cause coughing and vomiting at 30 parts per million and permanent lung damage at 60 ppm. Concentrations of 1000 ppm or higher can be fatal within a few breaths. Chlorine’s toxicity stems from its oxidizing power, meaning that it reacts with water in the lungs and changes into hydrochloric and hypochlorous acid. Chlorine was even used as a weapon by the Germans during the trench warfare of World War One. Both sides in the conflict soon adopted it before it was discarded in favor of even more toxic compounds like mustard gas. The witness expressed concern that while the cars are very sturdy, the valves are more susceptible to damage. He said there is almost always residue left over in the tanks, making “empty” cars dangerous. To his knowledge, however, no gas escaped. The source’s primary stated concern was that Union Pacific did not alert anyone in North Platte to what had happened. The clean up was conducted by UP without any assistance from local authorities. Mark Davis, a Union Pacific spokesperson out of Omaha, confirmed that a derailment took place around 6:30 a.m. Saturday morning (the witness had said it was around 3:30 a.m). Davis stipulated that three chlorine cars, not four, were derailed. The other cars were the lumber unit and a car full of canned goods. Three other cars were damaged but remained on the tracks (two lumber cars and one carrying butter). Davis also said that there was minimal track damage and the two damaged lines were reopened by 4 p.m. Saturday. Of the work continuing despite the falling and accumulated snow, Davis said, “I’m not going to second guess the managers. Visibility is evaluated by the local operations managers during times of inclement weather.” Davis confirmed that there were no leaks from the chlorine cars. He said it is a testament to how well they are built. “Years and years of design improvements to tank cars have reduced releases when they are damaged.”
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