Extreme heat can contribute to train derailments
March 25, 2012 - The famed 844 locomotive rolled into Kansas City, Kan. Sunday afternoon. Photo by Fernando Ochoa/KSHB
Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted: 07/31/2012
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By: Amy Hawley
KANSAS CITY, Kan. - The endless 100-degree days have changed the way the major railroad companies do business.
According to the Kansas City Terminal Railway Co., derailments are a greater possibility in extreme weather conditions.
Shawn Lauby, an executive with KCRT, explained the constant hot temperatures make the metal tracks expand and spread apart.
"It can cause a derailment, so that's why we increase inspections when it's hot like this," Lauby said.
KCRT is now conducting inspections on local railroad tracks two times a day.
"Once it was consistently (in the) 90's, we upped the inspections," Lauby said.
According to the Federal Railroad Administration, 12 percent, or about 80, of the 669 track-related train derailments in 2011 were caused by sun kinks in railroad tracks.
Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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