What Happened To: Doomed Train 32N in East Palestine, Ohio?!

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TRANSCRIPT

February 3rd, 2023: The clock strikes 8:12 pm as a 149-car Norfolk Southern train thunders through Salem, Ohio, its haunting screech echoing across industrial zones and residential areas. A railcar, ablaze, streaks past security cameras at 47 mph.

Unbeknownst to the 5,000 residents of East Palestine, Ohio, 22 miles away, this flaming train is on a collision course with their town – and one of the most harrowing ecological disasters in recent US history.

This is the timeline of What Happened To Train 32N in East Palestine, Ohio. Utilizing found footage, defectdetector.net, and the preliminary NTSB report, we retrace Train 32N’s ill-fated journey, uncovering some interesting information along the way. So pay attention. Train 32N, a Norfolk Southern general merchandise freight train, measures 9,309 feet long and weighs 17,977 tons, equal to 6,000 adult elephants. Despite being half its regular length, it still bears the nickname “32 Nasty” for its massive size, uneven weight distribution, and notorious operational challenges. The train features three locomotives, two up front and one nestled among its 149 cars.

Train 32 Nasty’s cargo includes alcohol, cement and five tanker cars holding 129,000 gallons of vinyl chloride, a toxic, carcinogenic, and highly flammable gas vital for PVC pipe production. PVC is abundant in residential and commercial plumbing worldwide, representing a $40 billion market.

However, it’s within the 23rd hopper car, carrying this PVC, that trouble brews in its front-wheel-axle. On February 1st, 2023, under the cover of night, Train 32 Nasty departs the Terminal Railroad outside St. Louis in western Illinois, heading northbound toward its intended destination, the Norfolk Southern railyard in Conway, Pennsylvania.

Over the next two days, train 32N traverses three US states along Norfolk Southern’s Keystone Division and Fort Wayne line. It passes through Lafayette, Fort Wayne, stops in Toledo for a crew change, and continues through Cleveland.

Covering 1,000 miles of rail, Train 32N encounters numerous Wayside Defect Detectors – an array of rail-side sensors that include HBDs (Hot Box Detectors), which monitor wheel axle bearings and assemblies’ temperatures. These detectors trigger alarms if wheel-axel temperatures stray too far from the norm.

Thanks to Defectdetector.net, we can visualize thousands of these detectors across the US and Canada and even listen to the same alarms Train 32N’s engineers heard during their doomed journey [play audio].

Norfolk Southern sets its own alarm thresholds, and as we reveal in our investigation, it’s these thresholds that play a crucial role in the unfolding disaster.

Let’s, for a moment, delve slightly into the inner workings of the railway industry, because it’s important to note that rail companies own or lease the tracks and sensors on which their trains run. In turn, each company is responsible to set its own sensor thresholds.

Norfolk Southern, for example, has established specific alarm thresholds for its Hot Bearing Detectors. Alarms trigger when there’s a temperature difference of 115°F or greater between bearings on the same axle or when a single bearing’s temperature ranges between 170°F and 200°F, prompting engineers to stop and inspect the train.

Now, fast forward to 7:48 pm on February 3rd: Train 32 Nasty has arrived in Eastern Ohio after 48 hours. The weather is clear and dark, with temperatures at a chilling 10°F. The first sign of impending disaster appears in Sebring, Ohio, at milepost 79.8 when a nominal HBD alert is triggered.

Although the suspect bearing on the 23rd car registers a temperature of 48°F – 38°F above ambient temperature – it does not meet the 170°F alarm threshold. Unaware of any issues, Train 32N continues its journey at an average speed of 27 mph.

By 8:12 pm, 32 Nasty reaches Salem, Ohio. Security footage from Butech Bliss, an equipment supplier, reveals the axle of the 23rd car ablaze, likely due to an industrial-grade grease fire caused by friction from bearing failure. However, when the train passes its second HBD just two minutes later, and 3,000 feet down the track from the security camera, the detector registers no defects, and the alert remains nominal [play audio].

The flaming bearing reads 113°F. Unnoticed, Train 32N gains speed, adhering to the 50 mph limit. At approximately 8:32 pm, 32N passes another Wayside Defect Detector. According to defectdetector.net, this particular sensor is designed to detect dragging equipment, not hot bearings. Had it been a hot bearing detector, the fate of Train 32N might have been different.

At 8:46 pm, a doorbell camera in New Waterford captures the 23rd railcar’s front axle furiously aglow, engulfed in flames, only 100 feet from the resident’s home. As 32N leaves New Waterford behind, the burning train ironically glides past the town’s fire department, a mere 200 feet from the tracks.

Only eight minutes and 4.6 miles of winding rail separate Train 32N from East Palestine. During this stretch, train operators would typically conduct visual sight-line inspections by looking back at the cars being towed. This industry-standard practice seemingly failed to detect the critical issue, as no problems were reported.

At 8:52 pm, Train 32 Nasty thunders through East Palestine at 47 mph, using dynamic braking to maintain speed while crossing multiple railroad junctions. At milepost 49.8, the train passes its final hot bearing detector. Two minutes later, at 8:54 pm, the 23rd railcar moves just behind the East Palestine Fire Department. The Hot Bearing Detector, located less than 50 feet from the station, sends a warning to the engineers: the axle assembly is at a scorching 263°F, 83°F above the alarm threshold. A critical alarm is triggered.

With only seconds to spare, the engineers rapidly increase dynamic braking, applying a forceful resistance to slow the train quickly. Dynamic braking functions by reversing the electric motors that normally propel the train, converting its kinetic energy into heat and dissipating it into the air. This process slows the train without using traditional brakes.

However, the sudden stop leads to catastrophic bearing failure in the 23rd car, causing it to decouple. The train engages an automatic and violent emergency stop, akin to hitting a brick wall. All the kinetic energy pushes the cars together, forcing them off the tracks.

As the train derails, cars collide and spill flammable contents, igniting in a fiery spectacle. The blaze from the 23rd car’s front axle, already burning for the past 20 miles, contributes to the inferno.

Five tankers of vinyl chloride, positioned between the 28th and 31st railcars, as well as a fifth tanker in the 55th position, also derail but remain intact, preventing any leakage.

As the train screeches to a halt, the crew notices the smoke and fire, quickly alerting the dispatcher of a potential derailment. With authorization, they apply handbrakes to the first two railcars, uncouple the head-end locomotives, and move them a mile up the track, away from the scene.

First responders quickly arrive at the site of the derailment, and by 11 PM, a mandatory one-mile evacuation order is issued. At the same time, rail cameras spot the 32N engines heading to the Norfolk Southern Railway in Pennsylvania, presumably for inspection and to maintain the train schedule.

Responders continue working to extinguish the fire. By February 5th, the fire is under control, but the temperature inside one of the vinyl chloride tank cars continues to rise due to an exothermic chemical polymerization reaction. This reaction poses an explosion hazard since the temperature and pressure inside the tank keeps increasing despite the fires being extinguished.

The other four vinyl chloride cars, however, are not undergoing this reaction. They are not at risk of explosion. The NTSB’s preliminary examination reveals that aluminum protective housing covers on top of the tankers melted or were consumed when pressure relief devices vented burning gas to relieve tank pressure. Melted aluminum may have dripped into some PRDs, potentially blocking them and restricting the venting of rising pressures.

On February 6th, the governors of Ohio and Pennsylvania agree to a controlled burn of all five vinyl chloride railcars, despite only one car being at risk of imminent explosion. This decision raises concerns about prioritizing the quick reopening of the tracks over environmental consequences. The evacuation zone is expanded, and ditches are dug to contain the released vinyl chloride liquid while it vaporizes and burns.

Over 125,000 gallons of vinyl chloride flood the now blazing trenches. Billowing black smoke fills the sky above the town and is visible for miles. In the weeks following the aftermath, an estimated 1.1 million pounds of toxic chemicals seep into the groundwater and streams, affecting thousands of square miles, including the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.

Contamination of the food chain harms farmers’ crops and livestock, with dead animals and fish found in the waterways not only from the spill, but the burn. According to state Wildlife services, over 43,000 animals are killed from the derailment.

As the toxic cloud travels through the atmosphere, Canadian towns beneath the plume anecdotally report shiny, rainbow-like chemicals on roadways after a snowstorm—like the chemical sheen seen in East Palestinian waterways.

Back, in East Palestine, despite EPA assurances that the area is clean and safe, many people suffer from bronchitis and other chemical exposure-related conditions. Symptoms include burning lungs, nosebleeds, nasal drainage, throat pain, and rashes. Many returning residents report worsening symptoms. The full scope of health consequences remains unknown, as some long-term effects can take decades to surface.

Despite their assurances, and a month after the incident, the EPA demands Norfolk Southern to test for dioxins, deadly chemicals produced when vinyl chloride is burned. Dioxins, including TCDD—a chemical found in Agent Orange, an herbicide used by the US military during the Vietnam War to defoliate forests and destroy enemy crops, with the intended effect of eliminating cover and food sources for the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces.

Dioxins are linked to developing cancers, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, reproductive issues, and immune system disorders. The EPA begins soil sampling on March 9th, targeting the areas most impacted. Samples are collected over a one-mile radius surrounding the initial derailment site and another mile to the southeast, extending into Pennsylvania.

6.8 million gallons of liquid waste and more than 10.8 million pounds of solid waste have already been transported to designated disposal and storage facilities. However, facilities are now rejecting intake as they are at maximum capacity or face public scrutiny from local citizens.

Toxicologists continue to emphasize the need for mandatory dioxin testing due to severe health risks, while hazardous material experts liken the chemical fallout to “nuking a town” for the sake of quickly reopening a railroad. As residents face long-term uncertainty, testing conducted by a private consulting firm hired by Norfolk Southern has been criticized for downplaying health risks and inaccuracies.

Ohio filed a federal lawsuit against Norfolk Southern, and Norfolk Southern donated $300,000 to the East Palestine School District, also reimbursing the East Palestinian fire department $825,000 for equipment.

Finally, Norfolk Southern releases a statement saying, “Every day since the derailment, our goal has been to make it right for the people of East Palestine and the surrounding communities. We are making progress every day cleaning the site safely and thoroughly, providing financial assistance to residents and businesses that have been affected, and investing to help East Palestine and the communities around it thrive.”

Despite these efforts, concerns remain about the long-term health and environmental consequences of the derailment, the chemical fallout, and the handling of the incident by Norfolk Southern and other responsible parties.

Contributed by Alexandra Bruce

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