Coal train derails in Ellicott City, Md

Two 19 years college girls out on the town parting were crushed to death by coal from derailing coal cars. The girls were on a rail road bridge over the main street of this town when the train derailed, burying them. Wrong place, wrong time. Very sad.
http://www.wbal.com/article/93224/2/tem ... r-The-Coal

How very sad.

Truly a tragedy. Sad indeed.

I cant even begin to imagine, such a tragic loss..
My thoughts and prayers go out to their families & friends.

How tragic. Two young girls about to return to college in a few days. Absolutely heart breaking. I'm very familiar with the crash site. Ellicott City, MD is a very old mill town that's now been gentrified with antique shops, restaurants and hip bars. The photo below from the Washington Post shows the overall view. More photos and news reports here: http://wapo.st/QmHn0D



Decades ago I walked the tracks many times and rode my bicycle along the removed second track. The river is the boundary between Howard and Baltimore counties. The street in front of the multi-story buildings is Main St. It goes under the RR bridge and then across the River to Baltimore County. The building next to the tracks is the old train station and is now a museum. There's easy access to the tracks. From the news reports it's not clear where the girls were. The girls posted photos of Main Street just before they died. The view is from the track looking to the left. They could have been on the rail bridge or on the public sidewalk below the bridge. The loaded coal cars fell to the right. I don't know where they were found, but they could have been on the public sidewalk on the car bridge to the right of the tracks. There are railings and a place to hang out. The coal would have poured down on them from above. The top center shows rail cars to the right of the tracks. There is a parking lot there. That's where the cars were crushed. 22 cars came off the tracks. All fully loaded with bituminous coal. The three story building right next to the track are apartments. There is a traffic light very close to the bridge. So close that when red you will be stopped right under the bridge. Next time I'm that way and I see the train going by, I'll wait until it passes. The silos on the right are part of Wilkins-Rogers a maker of custom flour mixes widely sold to the the baking and restaurant industry.

Thanx for the info Yanche. Yep, a sad day in that Town

I share all the previous comments. Even from Canada/Québec, that kind of accident make us feel very sad, can imagine the pain of their family,friends...

Yes, it is very sad. Railroad Tracks are dangerous places. The engineer is going to be put through the mill, investigated, interrogated and probably sued by anybody and everybody. It looks like there is a speed restriction there at that curve. If it is found that he was speeding, even 1 mile an hour over the restriction, he is toast, regardless of what really caused the derailment.
I as an engineer fear this daily. We have fatalities often at my job. Many of them are thoughtless kids who are trespassing on the right of way.
Many engineers never get over a fatality. In these instances no one ever considers the engineer who is always held responsible until all other causes or faults are found.
Trains are dangerous, Railroads are dangerous. Stay off of the track.