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Viewing Album:  1985 Derailment in Girard, PA
 
By:James Buchkovich
Dates:4/23/1985 - 4/24/1985
Album Info:Photos from scans. Account based upon information from the Erie Times News. Just prior to 2:30 p.m. on April 23, 1985, one of four locomotives of a Conrail train derailed on Norfolk & Western trackage during an emergency stop due to smoke coming from one of the locomotives. The derailment caused 39 pieces of rolling stock to also derail. Conrail was using the N & W tracks due to landslide-caused bridge repair on the Conrail mainline located not far to the north. The train was going less than 40 MPH and was "piloted" by an N & W engineer. There were no injuries. Most of the rolling stock consisted of autoracks carrying new automobiles. One tank car, carrying ammonium thiosulfate, remained on the tracks and was taken to Conneaut, OH along with other cars that did not derail. One autorack (SP 517149) struck a pillar of the Rice Avenue bridge which caused the closure of the bridge until the structural integrity of the bridge could be assessed. Train traffic along Lake Erie was diverted through Ashtabula, OH, Meadville, PA, Olean, NY, and Buffalo, NY. Other trains were detoured to Conrail's central Pennsylvania route (old Pennsylvania Railroad line). Work crews from Conrail and N & W participated in the cleanup and repair work.
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Title: 
Description:  LEFT: Autorack SP 517149 which came to rest against a pillar of the Rice Avenue bridge. RIGHT: An autorack and CNW 5028B listing after the derailment. Note the small earthen dam that was constructed to prevent further migration of leaking diesel fuel.
Photo Date:  4/23/1985  Upload Date: 4/1/2012 5:20:26 PM
Location:  Girard, PA
Author:  James Buchkovich
Categories:  Wreck
Locomotives:  CNW 5028B(E8A)
Views:  1220   Comments: 5
Title: 
Description:  LEFT: Looking WSW from the Rice Avenue bridge toward Lake Street. RIGHT: Looking ENE from Lake Street toward the Rice Avenue bridge.
Photo Date:  4/23/1985  Upload Date: 4/1/2012 5:22:34 PM
Location:  Girard, PA
Author:  James Buchkovich
Categories:  Wreck
Locomotives: 
Views:  679   Comments: 1
Title: 
Description:  Cleanup activity the day after the derailment.
Photo Date:  4/24/1985  Upload Date: 4/1/2012 5:35:15 PM
Location:  Girard, PA
Author:  James Buchkovich
Categories:  Wreck
Locomotives: 
Views:  510   Comments: 0
Title: 
Description:  Installing new track the day following the derailment.
Photo Date:  4/24/1985  Upload Date: 4/1/2012 5:36:11 PM
Location:  Girard, PA
Author:  James Buchkovich
Categories:  Wreck
Locomotives: 
Views:  539   Comments: 1
Title: 
Description:  Installing new tracks next to the debris of the damaged tracks.
Photo Date:  4/24/1985  Upload Date: 4/1/2012 5:39:58 PM
Location:  Girard, PA
Author:  James Buchkovich
Categories:  Wreck
Locomotives: 
Views:  351   Comments: 1
Title: 
Description:  TOP: Autoracks dragged to the side of the derailment zone. Getting the N & W mainline re-opened took priority to salvaging automobiles carried by the autoracks. BOTTOM: CNW 5028B back in an upright position. The RRPA photographic roster has a photo of CNW 5028B taken 10 years earlier (1975).
Photo Date:  4/24/1985  Upload Date: 4/1/2012 5:30:52 PM
Location:  Girard, PA
Author:  James Buchkovich
Categories:  Wreck
Locomotives:  CNW 5028B(E8A)
Views:  1047   Comments: 0

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