Signal problem studied day before derailment

Leaking vinyl chloride sent 70 people to hospital.

PAULSBORO, N.J. — Conrail crews had reports of signal problems at a New Jersey railroad bridge weeks before a train derailment Friday, and were studying the problem the day before the crash and resulting chemical leak, federal investigators said Sunday.

Seventy people went to a hospital following the derailment. More than 100 people are expected to remain out of their homes this week while crews try to remove the hazardous material, vinyl chloride, from a ruptured tanker.

The National Transportation Safety Board cannot examine the scene until the chemicals are removed. But the agency this weekend began reviewing records with a focus on both the signal problems reported recently and a 2009 train derailment on the same bridge.

Conrail regularly moves tons of hazardous material over the low bridge, which was originally built in 1873. The bridge straddles Mantua Creek, a tributary near the Delaware River in the industrial town of Paulsboro. The bridge operates like a garden fence, with a section that swings sideways to open for boat traffic, then closes and locks into place to accommodate freight trains.

The NTSB will focus its probe on the locking mechanism and signal devices. The signals are triggered by sensors on the bridge, not by dispatchers.

Conrail crews in recent days and weeks had been reporting problems with the signal, and the rail company had been looking into the problem the day before, she said.

The veteran twoperson crew operating the CSX train Friday was familiar with the route and had run it the three previous nights. They had started their shift at 3 a.m. in Camden and were surprised to get a yellow signal when they approached the bridge at about 7 a.m. The pair then stopped the train for several minutes, examined the tracks, and got permission from a dispatcher to proceed, Hersman said.

The two locomotives and five tanker cars made it across before the crew looked back to see the bridge “collapse” and a pileup of cars in the creek. The one that ruptured had been struck by another tanker, she said.

Residents who went to a hospital Friday were treated for respiratory problems and eye irritation. None of the injuries was believed to be serious.