2016 Cimarron train derailment
{{Short description|Rail accident in Kansas, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox public transit accident
| name = Cimarron train derailment
| image = File:Westbound_Southwest_Chief_-_Colorado.jpg
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| image_alt = Photograph of train
| caption = Southwest Chief heading west toward Trinidad, Colorado; Sangre de Cristo Range in the distance.
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| coordinates = {{Coord|37.808598|-100.381975|region:US-KS_type:event|display=inline,title}}
| date = {{start date and age|2016|03|14}}
| time = 12:02 a.m. local time (5:02 UTC)
| location = Cimarron, Kansas
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| country = United States
| line = BNSF
| operator = Amtrak
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| type = Derailment
| cause = Track displaced by runaway Road Truck.
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| trains = 1
| vehicles = 1
| passengers = 130
| crew = 14
| pedestrians =
| deaths =
| injuries = 28 (including 2 critically)
| damage = more than $1.4 million{{cite web | url=https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/DCA14MR004_prelim.aspx | title=Preliminary Report: Railroad DCA16MR004 | publisher=NTSB | date=5 April 2016 | accessdate=19 April 2016}}
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The Cimarron train derailment occurred on March 14, 2016, when Amtrak's Southwest Chief derailed about {{convert|20|mi}} west of Dodge City in Kansas, United States. Twenty-eight people were injured, including two critically.
Accident
The accident occurred at 12:02 a.m. local time (5:02 UTC) when Amtrak's Southwest Chief derailed, with four cars falling onto their sides and two others derailing yet remaining upright. The remaining four cars stayed on the rails, as did the 2 locomotives which were pulling the train. The train was traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago and was near Cimarron, Kansas. It was traveling at {{convert|60|mph}} when it derailed. The train cars consisted of 2 P42DC locomotives, baggage car, one Superliner transition sleeping car, two Superliner sleeping cars, a Superliner dining car, a Superliner lounge car, and three Superliner coach cars.
There were 130 passengers and 14 crew on board the train. Of those, 28 were injured. Three of them remained hospitalized for more than 24hrs, including two people who were critically hurt and later airlifted to Amarillo, Texas. The rest were released the same evening as the accident.{{cite web | url=http://www.kansas.com/news/state/article65910017.html | title=Problem with track may have led to Amtrak derailment in Kansas that injured 32 | publisher=The Wichita Eagle | date=14 March 2016 | accessdate=20 April 2016 | author1=Morrison, Oliver | author2=Dunn, Gabriella | author3=Finger, Stan}} One of the airlifted victims was the percussionist and experimental musician Z'EV, a pioneer of industrial music.{{Cite book|author=Re/Search|author-link=Re/Search|title=No. 6/7 Industrial Culture Handbook, Limited Hardback Edition|year=2006|publisher=RE/Search|location=San Francisco|isbn=978-1-889307-16-9|pages=106–117}} After the accident, he continued having health problems and died in December 2017.{{cite web |url=http://louderthanwar.com/rip-zev-industrial-music-legend-and-supreme-percussionist/ |title=RIP: Z'ev – industrial music legend and supreme percussionist |work=Louder Than War |author=John Robb |author-link=John Robb (musician) |date=December 17, 2017 |accessdate=December 18, 2017}}
After the accident, passengers waited about 12 hours in Cimarron at the 4-H recreation center where cots and blankets were set up. Food was provided by local restaurants. They then boarded buses to Kansas City and transferred to a Chicago bound train.
Investigations
The National Transportation Safety Board launched an investigation into the accident. The Gray County sheriff's deputy said that there was a separate vehicle accident that may have damaged the rails, and authorities were examining tire tracks leading to the train tracks and preserving the scene with crime scene tape. Later reports said that an agricultural vehicle damaged the track prior to the train's derailment, {{convert|25|feet}} from impact.{{cite web | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-kansas-amtrak-derailment-idUSKCN0WH2VJ | title=Agricultural truck hit track where Amtrak train derailed in Kansas | publisher=Reuters | date=15 Mar 2016 | accessdate=20 April 2016 | author=Skinner, Curtis}} The tracks were displaced {{convert|12|to(-)|14|in}} by the impact. This displacement of the tracks could be seen in the video recorded by the camera on the locomotive.{{cite web | url=http://www.kansas.com/news/state/article66279717.html | title=Large feed truck had crossed track in Kansas where Amtrak train derailed | publisher=The Wichita Eagle | date=15 March 2016 | accessdate=20 April 2016 | author=Morrison, Oliver}}
On April 5, 2016, the NTSB released a preliminary report about the accident. It focused on the apparent collision of the feed truck into the railroad track. Tire tracks in the ground by the displaced railroad track matched the tires on a 2004 Kenworth International truck at a local feed lot owned by Cimarron Crossing Feeders, LLC.
Aftermath
On April 8, 2016, a lawsuit was filed by Amtrak and BNSF against Cimarron Crossing Feeders, LLC. It alleges employees of Cimarron Crossing Feeders left a Kenworth truck "unattended, out of gear, and without any brakes applied" while loading grain March 13 into March 14. According to the lawsuit, the truck from the Cimarron facility rolled downhill to the south, crossing U.S. Highway 50 and striking the side of the railroad tracks. The truck then came to rest on the tracks. According to the lawsuit, Cimarron Crossing Feeders then called for a tow truck to remove the Kenworth "without permission or consent from BNSF," which owns the tracks.{{cite web | url=http://www.kansas.com/news/state/article70934457.html | title=Amtrak, BNSF suing Cimarron feed company, alleging 'gross negligence' | publisher=The Wichita Eagle | date=9 April 2016 | accessdate=20 April 2016 | author=Riedl, Matt}}
The initial filing states that damages claimed are over $75,000 for each of BNSF and Amtrak. It also states that a specific employee of Cimarron Crossing Feeders, one Arturo Carrillo, was working on loading the truck involved in the incident. It also claims that Cimarron should have known that the damage to the track was a danger and yet they did not call Amtrak, BNSF or any law enforcement agencies.{{cite web | url=http://www.kansas.com/news/state/article70934452.ece/BINARY/Lawsuit%20filed%20by%20Amtrak,%20BNSF | format=PDF | title=NATIONAL RAILROAD PASSENGER CORP. and BNSF RAILWAY COMPANY v. CIMARRON CROSSING FEEDERS, LLC. | date=8 April 2016 | accessdate=20 April 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213160319/http://www.kansas.com/news/state/article70934452.ece/BINARY/Lawsuit%20filed%20by%20Amtrak%2C%20BNSF | archive-date=13 December 2017 | url-status=dead }}
A liability trial was cancelled on November 28, 2018, after Cimarron Crossing Feeders admitted that its truck had caused track damage.{{cite web|url=https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/midwest/2018/11/28/510274.htm|title=Kansas Company: Feed Truck Caused Amtrak Derailment|date=November 28, 2018|website=Insurance Journal}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160423124037/https://twitter.com/kshighwaypatrol/status/709471955963891713 Archive of Tweet from Kansas Highway Patrol showing aerial view of derailed train.]
- [https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/RAB1711.pdf Amtrak Train Derailment on BNSF Railway Tracks]
{{2016 railway accidents}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cimarron train derailment}}
Category:2016 disasters in the United States
Category:Accidents and incidents involving Amtrak
Category:Derailments in the United States
Category:March 2016 in the United States