TRIS Online Record

Printable View

Title	SPECIAL INVESTIGATION REPORT - THE ACCIDENT PERFORMANCE OF TANK CAR SAFEGUARDS
Accession No	00317997
Corp. Authors / Publisher	National Transportation Safety Board
Publication Date	19800308
Description	27 p.
Abstract	The derailment of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company freight train near Paxton, Texas, on September 8, 1979, provided the Safety Board with the opportunity to examine the effectiveness of tank car safeguards during a derailment. Reconstruction of the accident damage sequence showed that safeguards did, in fact, reduce the potential for a spill and catastrophic overheating of thermally coated cars. It was also observed that damage to the top fittings and lower outlet valves, which occurred when cars collided with each other and with other objects after they left the track, was the most frequent cause of product loss. The Safety Board made recommendations to the Department of Transportation concerning the extension of safeguard requirements to all types of tank cars; modification of cars to prevent collision damage to top fittings and lower outlet valves; investigation of the effect of car placement in collisions; and crashworthiness testing of new tank car designs.
TRT Terms	Accident investigation ; Couplers ; Crash injury research ; Crashworthiness ; Derailments ; Fires ; Fittings ; Freight cars ; Hazardous materials ; Head ; Heat insulating materials ; Measures of effectiveness ; Pressure ; Railroad safety ; Railroads ; Research ; Safety ; Safety engineering ; Safety equipment ; Safety hats ; Tank cars ; Train makeup ; Valves ; Vehicle design
Geographical Terms	Texas
Identifier Terms	Southern Pacific Transportation Company
Other Terms	Accident Prevention; Bottom fittings; Collision research; Effectiveness; Head shields; Pressure control valves; Safety devices; Shelf couplers; Tank car design; Tank car heads; Tank car safety; Thermal insulation
Subject Areas	R12 SAFETY
Report Number	NTSB-HZM-80-1
Availability	National Technical Information Service Order Number: PB80-162787 DOTL NTIS
Document Source	National Technical Information Service Source Data: u8014
TRIS Files	RRIS
Database	TRIS Online

TRIS is a bibliographic database funded by sponsors of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), primarily the state departments of transportation and selected federal transportation agencies. TRIS Online is hosted by the National Transportation Library under a cooperative agreement between the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and TRB.