Train derailment in WA state

[LittleLebowski]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/12/22/washington-state-train-derailment-spills-crude-oil-custer/4016493001/



Lebowski is suspicious (https://weather.com/news/news/2020-12-22-oil-train-derailment-washington-fire-custer-evacuation).

[DIESEL]

Very, very suspicious indeed. I live less than 5 miles from where this happened, it was about a mile from the range I belong to. The smoke was pretty scary looking! There have been many, many instances of people messing with the tracks/trains in our area recently(41 just this year). If there was some sort of tom foolery I hope they catch and fry the asshats responsible. I'm surprised and thankful nobody was killed but who knows how contaminated the ground and water will be from this.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.king5.com/amp/article/news/local/train-derailment-whatcom-county/281-1c96bbd0-2dc5-4f06-9a6c-f36ad4bf56e8

[HCM]

Why would one be suspicious about a train derailment in WA ? Especially one involving the oil industry ?

https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/pr/pair-charged-interfering-safety-railroad-tracks


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, November 30, 2020
Pair charged with interfering with safety on railroad tracks
Arrested allegedly placing ‘shunt’ on tracks in Whatcom County—can cause derailment, decoupling, or failure of gates at crossings, endangering public
Seattle – Two people arrested on the BNSF Railway tracks near Bellingham, Whatcom County, were charged with terrorist attack and other violence against a railroad carrier, and appeared in federal court today, announced U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran. SAMANTHA FRANCES BROOKS, 27, and ELLEN BRENNAN REICHE, 23, both of Bellingham, Washington, were arrested Saturday night in Bellingham as they allegedly placed a ‘shunt’ on the tracks. A shunt disrupts the low level electrical current on the tracks and can disable various safety features.

“Since January there have been 41 incidents of shunts placed on the BNSF tracks in Whatcom and Skagit counties—causing crossing guards to malfunction, interfering with automatic braking systems, and, in one case, causing the near-derailment of tanks of hazardous chemicals,” said U.S. Attorney Moran. “These crimes endanger our community. I commend the agents from Customs and Border Protection, FBI, BNSF Police, and state and local partners who prioritized stopping this criminal conduct.”

According to the criminal complaint, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force has been investigating the placement of shunts on the BNSF tracks since January 19, 2020. The shunt is comprised of wire and magnets that are stretched between the tracks, disrupting the systems that indicate a train is on the tracks. On ten occasions, shunts were placed in areas that disrupt the crossing guards where the tracks cross streets, so vehicles could have tried to cross the tracks unaware of the oncoming train. On the night of October 11, 2020, multiple shunts were placed in three different locations in Whatcom and Skagit Counties. The shunts triggered an automatic braking system on a train that was transporting hazardous and combustible material. The emergency braking then caused a portion of the train to decouple from the engine. Decoupling has the potential to cause a derailment—in this case—of tanker cars of flammable gas in a residential area.

Shortly after the first shunts were discovered in January, a claim of responsibility was published on an anarchist website.

On Saturday night, November 28, 2020, BNSF Police observed video surveillance of two people kneeling on the tracks near a crossing in Bellingham. Whatcom County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene. The defendants were detained for trespassing, and a shunt was found on the tracks near where they had been observed on surveillance. The defendants had a paper bag containing wire, a drill with a brush head, and rubber gloves. The wire was similar to the wire used in the shunting incidents. The shunt that was placed on the tracks would have interfered with the railroad crossing guard at Cliffside Drive in Bellingham.

Terrorist attack on a railroad facility is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The charges contained in the complaint are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, which includes agents from Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in connection with the BNSF Railway Police. Critical investigative assistance is being provided by the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Woods.

The criminal complaint is here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/press-release/file/1341141/download

[Bergeron]

Holy shit, eco-terrorism?!

I’m a big fan of pipelines. Separate from eco-terrorism, which is a political problem, pipelines are safer for the people and environment than trains.

Environmental safety is a part of safety, and something that every International Oil & Gas company cares about. Goal Zero, and all that.

Environmentalists who can be made to understand pipelines vs. trains, and the benefits of fission power are good team players. Others are less so.

[Casual Friday]

This is definitely kinda sus, bro. Custer is just up the road from me. It doesn't seem like it would be the first place you'd choose to derail a train with maximum effect along that stretch of railroad, but with the number of instances lately of the tracks being messed with in that area it seems like it's being targeted for a reason.

[HCM]

Holy shit, eco-terrorism?!



Maybe, maybe not, but given recent events it needs to be considered.

[LittleLebowski]

65081

[Borderland]

We have a lot of train derailments in WA. Hippies and eco terrorists not excluded. How about an Amtrak locomotive setting in the north bound lanes of I-5. See that truck there? N. bound I-5. Nobody told the dumb shit engineer that the new rail wasn't 75 mph rated. Or just maybe he missed the memo or too much nose candy the night before.

https://i.ibb.co/VMs73LC/locomotive.jpg (https://ibb.co/0YxgQn9)
json lint online (https://geojsonlint.com/)

[DrkBlue]

Holy shit, eco-terrorism?!

I’m a big fan of pipelines. Separate from eco-terrorism, which is a political problem, pipelines are safer for the people and environment than trains.

Environmental safety is a part of safety, and something that every International Oil & Gas company cares about. Goal Zero, and all that.

Environmentalists who can be made to understand pipelines vs. trains, and the benefits of fission power are good team players. Others are less so.

The Greens are sabotaging pipelines too... But they are more difficult to mess with and way safer per volume moved. Remember the Greenies are very opposed to even replacing older pipelines to increase safety.

Minnesota - https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/12/19/22-arrested-after-protesting-line-3-pipeline-in-palisade/

Two dozen Iowa sabotages events - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/02/us/two-women-charged-dakota-access-pipeline.html

New York City - https://www.amny.com/news/brooklyn-demonstrators-chain-gas-pipeline-fracking/

[HCM]

The Greens are sabotaging pipelines too... But they are more difficult to mess with and way safer per volume moved. Remember the Greenies are very opposed to even replacing older pipelines to increase safety.

Minnesota - https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/12/19/22-arrested-after-protesting-line-3-pipeline-in-palisade/

Two dozen Iowa sabotages events - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/02/us/two-women-charged-dakota-access-pipeline.html

New York City - https://www.amny.com/news/brooklyn-demonstrators-chain-gas-pipeline-fracking/

Remember “The greens” don’t exist in a vacuum. There is a lot of cross over. What are known as “salad bar” ideologies or “fringe fluidity.”

Most green / eco extremists are also part of the indigenous and anarchist movement.

However these convergences have resulted in white supremacist ecological extremists aka “eco- fascism.”


an ideological mélange that has already inspired major white supremacist attacks in Christchurch and El Paso. Eco-fascists argue that only white supremacism can stop environmental degradation and save the planet. They propose limiting Western societies to the white race in order to decrease the population and the burden on the climate, and they embrace the Nazi ideological tropes of lebensraum (living space) for the white race and the blood and soil criticality of civilization. Eco-fascists are obsessed with the survival of the Nordic race and often worship the old gods of Thor (lightning, storms and trees) and Sunna (the sun), are patently anti-Semitic, and deny that the Holocaust occurred

See also:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxqmey/neo-nazis-eco-fascism-climate-change-recruit-young-people

Neo-Nazis Are Using Eco-Fascism to Recruit Young People
As the effects of climate change intensify, ecology is "playing a bigger role in fascist ideology across the board."

[Hemiram]

If it was sabotage, it would surprise me, but a bad wheel shattering, a rail break, etc, wouldn't. I've seen and heard flat spotted wheels banging away that the detectors missed, along with some very scary looking rail that the maintenance guys told me, "It's not as bad as it looks!". Judging by the noise that bad spot on the rail makes when a wheel hit it at track speed, it couldn't be good. Nothing happened from it, but 6 months later, it was replaced and watching them do thermite welding was pretty neat.

There is an interesting video out there from WWII where paratroopers were being trained to sabotage trains. It was actually pretty difficult to derail one without really messing up the tracks much worse than I would have ever thought it would take.

And..here it is, interesting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agznZBiK_Bs

There is another one I've seen, but it's not coming up..

[hufnagel]

If it was sabotage, it would surprise me, but a bad wheel shattering, a rail break, etc, wouldn't. I've seen and heard flat spotted wheels banging away that the detectors missed, along with some very scary looking rail that the maintenance guys told me, "It's not as bad as it looks!". Judging by the noise that bad spot on the rail makes when a wheel hit it at track speed, it couldn't be good. Nothing happened from it, but 6 months later, it was replaced and watching them do thermite welding was pretty neat.

There is an interesting video out there from WWII where paratroopers were being trained to sabotage trains. It was actually pretty difficult to derail one without really messing up the tracks much worse than I would have ever thought it would take.

And..here it is, interesting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agznZBiK_Bs

There is another one I've seen, but it's not coming up..

VERY informative.

well, I guess that answers my dead body question. :D

[Navin Johnson]

If one knew the politics of the area the "shock" would be if it wasn't foul play. Soon there will be some proposed legislation to further restrict oil transport.

[Borderland]

If it was sabotage, it would surprise me, but a bad wheel shattering, a rail break, etc, wouldn't. I've seen and heard flat spotted wheels banging away that the detectors missed, along with some very scary looking rail that the maintenance guys told me, "It's not as bad as it looks!". Judging by the noise that bad spot on the rail makes when a wheel hit it at track speed, it couldn't be good. Nothing happened from it, but 6 months later, it was replaced and watching them do thermite welding was pretty neat.

There is an interesting video out there from WWII where paratroopers were being trained to sabotage trains. It was actually pretty difficult to derail one without really messing up the tracks much worse than I would have ever thought it would take.

And..here it is, interesting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agznZBiK_Bs

There is another one I've seen, but it's not coming up..

BNSF is working on the rail almost constantly in the Skagit valley. This article will give one an idea about how much oil is moved through here daily.

https://www.sightline.org/2017/05/02/trains-moved-over-140000-barrels-of-oil-daily-through-washington-this-winter/