It's Friday, which means it's time for another photo! This week's photo is actually quite serious. New England Southern, a local shortline, had a derailment this past Wednesday in Concord, NH. The locomotive, the 2370, rolled off the tracks and down the embankment the track is on. The engine was running light, and there were two people on board. The conductor was fine, but the engineer went to the hospital with minor injuries. This photo is one of several I took on Thursday morning, this one and the others can be seen in a photo album on our Facebook page. Here is the photo:
The photo is looking north. The trestle in the background crosses the Merrimack River. The locomotive had just crossed the trestle going south when it derailed. It promptly rolled off the embankment, trapping the crew inside. An estimated 100 gallons of diesel fuel was spilled from the locomotive, but no major environmental impact is expected, even with the river and a tree farm so close. The New Hampshire Department of Transportation and the Federal Rail Administration are investigating the cause of the derailment. The cause is unknown, but suspicions revolve around ice buildup on the tracks due to snowmobile use.
The 2370 is an ex-Union Pacific GP39, a rare breed of EMD road switchers. They are virtually identical to the GP38, except that the GP39 has 12 cylinders instead of 16 to make room for a turbocharger. As a result, the GP39 puts out slightly more horsepower with better fuel efficiency. This more economical model was not nearly as popular as its nonturbocharged counterpart because EMD had just produced more than 2,000 GP38s for American railroads, so there was no need for new locomotives that were virtually identical. As a result, only 23 GP39s were built.
New England Southern is a local shortline based out of Concord, NH. The railroad runs south to Manchester and north to Tilton. All but one customer are located on the line to Manchester. In the past, the railroad owned more locomotives, but they have been sold off to other railroads, the 2370 now represents the railroad's entire fleet. An accident like this usually shuts down a shortline. I hope that is not the fate of the New England Southern.
1 comment:
Wow. That's a pretty dramatic photograph. Please let us know when you know more about the cause. I hope the railroad survives... there are too few railroads in this country as is.
Post a Comment