Iron Horse Roundup- October/November 2010 Edition

BBC Photo

INDONESIA: At least 36 people were killed in an October 2nd collision between two trains at the Petarukan station on the island of Java.

Officials believe that a signalling error one one of the trains was what led the Jakarta-Surabaya train to collide with the rear cars of the stopped Semarang-bound train.

That same day, another accident in nearby Solo resulted in at least one fatality.

UKRAINE: At least 43 people were killed when a train collided with a bus packed with commuters in the eastern part of the country on October 12.

Officials from Ukraine's interior ministry said eyewitnesses reported that the bus ignored warning lights and bells from the level crossing in the town of Marhanets in the Dnipropetrovsk region that indicated an approaching train.

All of the fatalities were on the bus.

Doyle Massey

UNION PACIFIC: Aside from it's regularly featured stint of hauling visitors between Denver, CO and Cheyenne, WY for Cheyene's annual Frontier Days, Union Pacific's 4-6-6-4 Challenger #3985 also got to stretch its legs hauling the Ringling Bros. Circus train from Cheyenne southbound to Denver at the end of September. The #3985 then continued on with the scheduled Missouri River Eagle excursion to Kansas City and St. Louis after briefly returning to Cheyenne.

Here, the 3985 is seen racing southbound through Platteville, CO with the circus train on its way to Denver on September 28, 2010.

Cody Zamostny

FT. WAYNE RAILROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY: The gem of the FWRHS's collection, 1944 Lima-built Berkshire Nickel Plate 2-8-4 #765, has been pretty busy since Labor Day. In September, she was deadheaded over the Norfolk Southern and Wheeling & Lake Erie to Akron, OH where she operated a series of excursions over the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.

In October, the 765 powered a series of excursions out of Owosso, MI for the Steam Railroading Institute while their own Berkshire- Pere Marquette #1225- is being disassembled for it's 15 year FRA boiler inspection.

Upon completion of her whirlwind tour through the Buckeye and Great Lakes State, the 765 returned to the FWRHS facilities in New Haven, IN where she'll go into storage for the winter.

NORTH CAROLINA: The Aberdeen, Carolina & Western has acquired a pair of former Canadian National, nee Wisconsin Central SD40-3 locomotives for service on it's line between Gulf and Charlotte, NC.

CONNECTICUT: Six cars of an 80 car unit ethanol train derailed in the late night hours of November 9th at the Providence & Worcester yard in Willamantic, CT. The derailment took place within yard limits, which meant that the train was travelling at a slow speed. None of the derailed cars ruptured, and the contents of the tank cars were transloaded from the two that had actually hit the ground. The train had arrived from Rail America-affiliated New England Central and Brattleboro, VT.

There were no injuries and the FRA continues to investigate the cause of the derailment.

NORTH DAKOTA: Officials from the Dakota, Missouri Valley & Western are disputing the FRA's findings regarding a March 2010 derailment in Washburn, ND that killed DMV&W conductor Jeff Heitzmann and injured the train's engineer. The FRA's report stated that an obstructed drainage ditch contributed to that saturation and undermining of the roadbed which in turn sent the lead two locomotives down an embankment.

The DMV&W, however, said that the stretch of track where the derailment took place had been inspected regularly in the weeks prior to the derailment and hasn't been a problem in their nearly 20 years of operating the line between Bismarck and Max, ND. Railroad officials insist that it was an underground spring located some 6 or 7 feel below the roadbed that undermined the track, causing the derailment.