What caused Wyanet's derailment?

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WYANET — The cause of the Dec. 19 train derailment in Wyanet has been determined to be "buff forces generated by improper train handling."

Steve Forsberg, general director of public affairs for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, gave the brief explanation on Thursday, saying the investigation report has been filed with the Federal Railroad Administration.

"This train contained two cars that had speed restrictions over the bridge," Forsberg said. "As the engineer approached the bridge, he started slowing the train but had started too late. He then tried to take more extreme measures to get the train speed down. These actions caused the train to compress (buff) too quickly applying forces to the empty cars near the front of the train that could not be constrained."

Forsberg said the explanation should not be misinterpreted to mean the train was speeding on the track on which it was operating. The explanation means the effort to slow the train for the lower speed restriction on the bridge created compression forces in the train, which in turn caused the derailment, he said.

Forsberg said he had no information concerning any possible disciplinary action taken involving the accident.

The Wyanet train derailment occurred at 8 p.m. Dec. 19 on the east edge of town when an eastbound 92-car freight train went into an emergency braking situation. Nineteen cars were involved in the derailment, with 15 of those 19 cars remaining upright. The remaining four derailed cars did not remain upright but went off the tracks, down the hillside and into the creek.

Train traffic was rerouted for about two days for clean-up and repair work at the site.

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