SURPRISE! Our Local R/R Traffic

[hudson144 150]

Living on the hudson line we mostly see commutor trains moving up and down the tracks along the hudson. RR transportation is big and many haz mat materials are transported via our local rails. Most departments throughout westchester may have to deal with these trains because of the way the system is mapped out. Do you know what goes through your district? Anyone ever see chemical cars being transported at night?

Living in the northwest corner of westchester co. I know at times that chem cars are in fact moving on the hudson line. When you ride along the croton harmon north station you will see what i mean. One concern that I have is whats moving on the other side of the river being the rockland tracks.I have sat in my boat fishing and watched those trains going both north and south.If I had a haz mat repsonders book I could certainly get an education. What do you have running through your district?

A few years ago a derailment happened at stony point. If there was a spill the communitys of verplanck,montrose,and Buchanan could have had a major evacuation problem. Being a boater I constantly keep an eye on the wind and I know that alot of time we have a strong northwest wind that comes from the rockland side. This can cause a real problem.

Whats rolling through your town?

Edited November 15, 2006 by RWC130

[res6cue 67]

The amount of nasty stuff that rolls along Rockland's tracks is staggering. I don't think the public even realizes what is rolling through their backyard, and some first responders might not either. In my opinion, it's much more of an immediate hazard to the area than Indian Point is.

[redman 2]

Living on the Hudson Line we asked our chief to get a list of chemicals that traval through town at 3am from Metro North. They told him they do not know what is on that frieght train & if you have a problem you would have to get the manafest from the enginer.

[RWC130 594]

you would have to get the manafest from the engineer

Yeah, IF you can catch him running the other way!

[res6cue 67]

This could easily happen again, and could be far more disastrous next time.

[rfdu39 89]

Is this on the river line (the line that runs by Bear Mountain)?

[eike1701 1]

I think it was .I do remember it

[res6cue 67]

Yes, it was the West Shore line that runs north-south along the Hudson (further inland down south in Orangeburg and Clarkstown) through Rockland. The derailment happened in Stony Point/Tompkins Cove area in 1998, right across from Indian Point.

There have been three derailments within six years on that line in North Rockland going back to the 1998 derailment into the river. In 2003, two cars derailed and fuel was spilled. In 2004, a locomotive and four cars derailed, spilling silicon metal and closing 9W for hours.

Thankfully in all three cases, a serious widespread release of hazardous materials was averted. At the rate their going with these derailments, something catastrophic is inevitable.

Edited November 15, 2006 by res6cue

[BFD1054 1,552]

Very good topic to bring up hudson! Although i haven't had to deal much with RR situations in Buchanan, it is still a real concern of mine, as it should be of everyones!

I'm not sure how often they offer it, but i took the "Responding to Railroad Emergencies" class sometime last year at the Rockland FTC. I would highly recommend this class to any emergency responder, it was a real eye opener! The class discussed everything from what is carried on these trains and how to handle incidents involving the railroad.

[rfdu39 89]

Thanks for the answer. I have been up in the Bear Mountain area several times and I have seen a lot trains on the river line that are hauling tank cars.

[res6cue 67]

Very good topic to bring up hudson!  Although i haven't had to deal much with RR situations in Buchanan, it is still a real concern of mine, as it should be of everyones!

Absolutely, you never know when you might be called mutual aid to a large scale incident!

I'm not sure how often they offer it, but i took the "Responding to Railroad Emergencies" class sometime last year at the Rockland FTC.  I would highly recommend this class to any emergency responder, it was a real eye opener!  The class discussed everything from what is carried on these trains and how to handle incidents involving the railroad.

http://www.co.rockland.ny.us/Fire/bulletin...RR-Response.pdf

[hudson144 150]

this derailment is directly across from vrplancks point .a strong nw wind alsways blow there,imagine a chemical leak or refer back to my original post, yes its amazing how everyone concentrates on the indian point power plant and none of the peace keepers even think of the above!!!

[res6cue 67]

Exactly. I find it mildly ironic that a group called "Riverkeepers" is more concerned with Indian Point than they are with something that has ALREADY endangered the river! I'm not saying Indian Point isn't a concern, but one would think they'd focus on the more immediate and probable threat.

[calhobs 110]

We had a memeber of the county Haz Mat team come to our fire dept about two years ago, He gave about a 2 hour course on how we can help the haz mat when we call them in. Well he stated that that along the hudson line here in westchester there are no HazMats moved on those tracks and that the longest frieght train only carries 15 cars. When we told him that was not true that the county shouldcome around about 3 am most days and take a look, he just quickly changed the subject.

[10-Buff-4 0]

Question-

Speaking of Rail incidents in Rockland, wasn't there also a nasty gas leak off the West Shore Line?

-Joe DA BUFF

[res6cue 67]

Could be Joe, sounds vaguely familiar. Do you have any idea where or when it might've occurred?

[hudson144 150]

HAZ MAT chem cars go through therer daily!