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            HQ-BNSF-2021-0303-1417
      

      
  Document Series
              Accident Investigations


      
  Author
          Office of Railroad Safety


      
Accident Date
              March 3, 2021

  Accident Type
              Derailment (DRM)

  Railroad Name
              BNSF Railway

  Location
              Ludlow, CAUnited States

  Accident Number
              HQ-2021-1417

  Investigation Status
              Finalized


      Subject
                    Accident Investigations


      
  Keywords
              BNSF Railway, BNSF, derailment, hazmat, train make-up


      

      
      
              
                  
      
              
  Document
              HQ-BNSF-2021-0303-1417 FINAL.pdf (1.64 MB)

      
              On March 2, 2021, at approximately 1220 p.m. PST, a BNSF Railway train (H-KCKBAR1-28A) derailed 45 cars approximately one mile east of Ludlow, California on BNSF’s Needles Subdivision. One tank car containing ethyl alcohol sustained significant damage, rupturing the tank and releasing its contents to the ground.

The temperature was approximately 78° F and sunny, there was hazmat involved in the accident, this was not PTC preventable, and there were no injuries.

FRA determined that train make-up was the probable cause of the accident (cause code H504- buffing or slack action excessive, train makeup). There were no other contributing factors.
      
            
      
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              Last updated: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

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