- Author
-
National Transportation Safety Board
- Title
- Railroad Accident Report: Derailment of Missouri Pacific Railroad Company's Train 94 at Houston, Texas, October 19, 1971.
- Coporate
- National Transportation Safety Board, Washington, DC
- Report
-
NTSB-RAR-72-6
December 13, 1972
57 p.
- Keywords
-
railroad accidents
|
accident investigations
|
hazardous materials
|
fire fighting
|
response time
|
vinyl chloride
|
explosives
|
transportation
|
railroad safety
|
death
|
injuries
- Identifiers
- derailment; tank cary; freight train braking; trackwork; National Fire Protection Association
- Abstract
- The Missouri Pacific Railroad's Train 94 was a northbound freight train consisting of four diesel-electric locomotive units and 82 cars. On October 19, 1971, at 1:44 pm, the train was traveling on track which belongs to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway when 20 cars derailed approximately two miles inside the city limits of Houston, Texas. Derailed cars included six tank cars containing vinyl chloride monomer and two cars containing other hazardous materials. Two of the tank cars were punctured in the derailment. The vinyl chloride monomer escaped and ignited. The Houston Fire Department attempted to control the fire. Approximately 45 minutes after the initial derailment, one tank car ruptured violently and another tank car "rocketed" approximately 300 feet from its initial resing place. This sequence of events caused the death of a fireman. fifty people were injured and there was considerable property damage. Most of the injured were firemen.