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            HQ-2019-1371
      

      
  Document Series
              Accident Investigations


      
  Author
          Office of Railroad Safety


      
Accident Date
              November 21, 2019

  Accident Type
              Head End Collision (HEC)

  Railroad Name
              Norfolk Southern Railway Company

  Location
              Bonsack, VAUnited States

  Accident Number
              HQ-2019-1371

  Investigation Status
              Finalized


      Subject
                    Accident Investigations


      
  Keywords
              Norfolk Southern; Head End Collision; Wrong Track; Bonsack, Virginia; Roanoke, Virginia; Hi-rail Dump Truck; and Roadway Maintenance Machine.


      

      
      
              
                  
      
              
  Document
              HQ-2019-1371.pdf (441.97 KB)

      
              On November 21, 2019, at about 11:15 a.m., EST, a westbound Norfolk Southern Corporation (NS) intermodal train 22AV121 (Train 1) struck an eastbound hi-rail dump truck, Roadway Maintenance Machine 310609, traveling on Main Track 1 at Milepost (MP) N250.3. The hi-rail dump truck was operating on the wrong track. The collision site is one mile east of Bonsack, Virginia, in Roanoke County. Bonsack, Virginia is an unincorporated community located northeast of the city of Roanoke. The train consisted of 3 locomotives and 45 mixed-freight cars with 40 loaded cars and 5 empty cars. The train was 9,232 feet long with 8,665 trailing tons. No cars derailed. The train had nine hazardous materials cars. No track was damaged from this collision; damage to the lead engine was $33 and the hi-rail dump truck was $10,533. The operator of the hi-rail dump truck was taken to Roanoke Memorial Hospital and received seven stiches to close a wound on his forehead. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

**Federal Railroad Administration**

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