Following the train disaster in Ohio, where several rail cars of toxic chemicals are still burning, two more train derailments occurred this week. In the morning of Feb. 16, another Norfolk Southern train derailed in Van Buren Township, just west of Detroit. Some 30 cars went off the rails, most of them empty, and none with any toxic material or chemicals. There was, however, one car containing toxic chemicals, but it was not part of the accident, and stayed on the tracks. No one was injured in the event.
This event followed another accident in Houston, earlier in the week, in which a semi-truck collided with a train at an at-grade railroad crossing. The truck driver was killed and the train was knocked off its tracks.
These both, of course, follow the East Palestine, Ohio derailment on Feb. 3 that has dominated headlines, with enormous amounts of toxic chemicals having been spilled and burned. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has come out admitting that the likely cause of the derailment was a bad wheel bearing, captured by video shortly before the wreck, showing that the wheel was in its final moments before seizing up as a result of overheating. NTSB has sent the axle in question to engineers to be further examined.
