"That leads me to my last point: anyone speculating about what happened, didn’t happen, or should've happened is misleading a suffering community – PLEASE STOP SPREADING MISINFORMATION." -
Jennifer Homendy, NTSB former chair and investigator, on Twitter (X).
Railcar 23: This blog intends to do just that: It will beat back the wave of misinformation regarding the East Palestine derailment, especially that misinformation that is aimed at blaming Norfolk Southern (NS) exclusively... and the notion that its "accountable" for this tragic accident. This tragic accident, I strongly believe, cannot be blamed solely on Norfolk Southern, if at all, but was a result of the need for the implementation of better technology and legislation that addresses such issues, like the spacing of "hot boxes." The fact that the current Railway Safety Act of 2023 addresses the problems that lead to the derailment shows us less guilt on the part of Norfolk Southern and more about the need for rail safety policy.
This blog will focus on Railcar 23 and its demise, and debunk generalized arguments, misguided blame and what can be rightfully called propaganda about the East Palestine Derailment.
1. Generalized argument: "Norfolk Southern opposed common sense railroad safety policy" and "lobbied Congress against common sense railroad safety."
What policy is that?! Is that the ECP braking rule? Well, according to NTSB's Jennifer Homendy, this train, with only three qualifying railcars, would not have been subjected to this rule. Some of the garbage also forms part of the State of Ohio's lawsuit against Norfolk Southern!
2. Misguided blame: Directed against especially Norfolk Southern. The debunking of blaming starts with Railcar 23, the real cause of the accident, which was NOT owned by NS, but by another company. Misguided blame continues into the area of workers' rights, sick leave, layoffs, stock buybacks, "profits over people," and, of course the "Culture of Safety" of NS by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)...which actually has nothing to do with derailment. N-O-T-H-I-N-G!
Why? Well, according to the NTSB report, the Norfolk Southern crew did everything right before and during the derailment. They were traveling below the 50 mph speed limit. When they passed the third hot box, they were finally notified of the problem with Railcar 23's wheel temperature. The crew applied the brakes, which caused the final failure on Railcar 23, which then derailed and started the derailment of other railcars coming up from behind. When the crew saw the fire, they knew that a derailment had occurred and reported it to their dispatcher. Well, so much for not enough time in conductor training..!
More to come...and it will challenge the common crap thinking about East Palestine...
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