A thunder storm in New Orleans blew some container cars off the Huey Long Bridge. [video]http://player.ooyala.com/iframe.html#pbid=1af9f4729c77407baf4796020154bcb6& ec=xhdmFydDrij2qU8qYHeNi9WQnhwzo-R1&docUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nola.com%2Fweather%2Fi n dex.ssf%2F2015%2F04%2Ftv_shows_rail_cars_as_they_f al.html[/video]
I assume somebody is going to be called onto the carpet for dispatching that train onto the Huey P at that time. There was no excuse for letting that train onto the bridge. That storm system originated in east Texas and was tracked with tornado watches and warnings by the NWS Severe Storms folks across all of south Louisiana and into south Mississippi since about 8 this morning. Here's a local news report.
One way or another, this is going to cost the company far, far more than if that train had been delayed for an extremely extensive time.
I started thinking "why did the guy turn his car 90 degrees in the parking lot just then?" Then, decided he is some Marvel super-villain, wreaking havoc prior to the movie release later this week. Amazing video
The photographer was part of a WGNO-TV news team that happened to be at the right place, at the right time, at least for them and their station. It looks like they were just leaving Cane's after lunch, saw the train on the bridge and, being an alert news team, wondered what if. On the other hand, I'm sure the engineer and conductor further up the 4-1/2 mile span were having significantly different thoughts, including considerations as to their own mortality. The top of the span, where they were near if not at, is approximately 225' above the river.
Oh, that's cold, but funny. Fortunately the containers were empty according to a UP spokeswoman. That also is probably why they blew over so easily.
Looking at the picture in that link posted, it seems to my eyes as if there is spilled cargo from a container further back.
It's all about density. And that's why, fortunately for the train's crew, the locomotives remained on track. Remember a video that was wandering on the internet à few years ago, taken from a rear unit's cab, just ahead of empty hoppers that where blown out of track the same way in a tornado, maybe in a neighbouring location, as I remember it was in South-eastern US.. Dom
A news report this morning (Tuesday) said the train was coming down off the bridge and the locomotives were already at grade entering a yard. So the engineer and conductor at least were on the ground, not near the top about 225' above the Mississippi River during the height of the storm.
I believe that was a CSX train? It is still on YouTube: [video=youtube;a-smEEHYdGQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-smEEHYdGQ[/video]
Read on another blog that the westbound Sunset Limited (Amtrak #1) had just past that point a few minutes earlier. It then was held west of the bridge for over three hours while the weather and "chaos" cleared, though safely off the bridge and at grade.