Report - Engineer saw 'misshapen' track seconds before accident

KENSINGTON, Md. -- The engineer of the Amtrak train that derailed this week saw a "misshapen" area of track just before the accident and investigators later found the rails more than two feet out of alignment, a federal official said Tuesday.

Carol Carmody, vice chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, wouldn't say whether the misaligned track caused the double-decker passenger train to derail about 10 miles from its destination.

"The alignment was existing before the derailment, let's put it that way," Carmody said.

The engineer of the Capitol Limited told investigators he applied the brakes after seeing the "misshapen" area, which he said was about 18 inches long, Carmody said. The train derailed about 45 seconds later.

Investigators found the track in the area was as much as 30 inches out of alignment, Carmody said.

Accident injures 101

The train was traveling from Chicago to Washington when it went off the tracks, injuring 101 people. Sixteen of them remained hospitalized Tuesday, including one in serious condition.

What caused the track to buckle wasn't immediately known, but experts speculated that Monday's hot weather was to blame. The number of accidents due to heat-twisted track has dropped over the years, but no technology exists to stop it.

Buckling can happen on welded rails that don't have joints, such as the CSX Corp. track the Amtrak train was on. Joints allow extra room when a rail expands in the heat; without them, the pressure can force track to bulge out more than a foot.

A reading taken before the accident showed the temperature of the rail was 118 degrees, Carmody said. However, she did not say whether that was unusual.

According to the Federal Railroad Administration, there were 174 accidents in 1980 resulting from buckled tracks. Last year, there were 44.

CSX, which owns and operates the tracks where the accident occurred, said Tuesday it was ordering Amtrak and other commuter rail services that use its lines to slow down and follow rules imposed on its freight trains on days when heat threatens to warp rails.

"Until we know more facts about the recent derailment and are able to determine if there is a better solution, we're taking the most conservative course," said Alan Crown, executive vice president-transportation for CSX, which operates a 23,000-mile network in 23 states, the District of Columbia and two Canadian provinces.

The speed limit on the stretch of track where the accident happened normally is 70 mph for passenger trains and 55 mph for freight trains, CSX said. A heat order issued by CSX on Monday required freight trains, but not passenger trains, to travel 10 miles below the posted speed limit.

CSX said the new policy would begin Wednesday and continue at least until the end of the summer when temperatures rise to 90 degrees on consecutive days or fluctuate by 40 degrees two days in a row.

Amtrak spokesman Bill Epstein declined to comment about the specifics of the new policy, saying officials there hadn't seen it yet.

"When we run on a host rail line, we have to follow their rules and regulations," Epstein said.

Carmody also said that crews had worked on the tracks in the area where the derailment occurred on July 25 to ensure the rails had enough clearance from the rail bed. The crew initially used a mechanical tamper but finished the job by hand after the instrument broke down, she said.

The derailment occurred where the tamping stopped, she said.

"We've ruled nothing out," Carmody said.

The derailment sent bleeding passengers crawling out windows and left a 150-yard stretch of twisted rails and ripped-up ties. Workers used cutting torches and cranes Tuesday to remove sections of damaged rails for examination.

An Amtrak engine towed six of the derailed double-decker passenger cars and four others from the site Tuesday. NTSB officials have said the cars would be taken to facilities for inspections.

CSX maintenance crews worked to replace the damaged track with new rails and wooden ties. The line was expected to re-open Tuesday night.