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The Philadelphia Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society Established in 1936
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Railfan Pictures of the Week - 11/01/2009
| CSX Lansdale Yard Lansdale PA October 25-29 2009 |
| Part Two can be found here. |
| On the afternoon of Sunday October 25 2009 it was discovered that between 2000 and 3000 gallons of diesel oil had leaked from CSX SD40-2 8868 while it was sitting in Lansdale Yard. Earlier in the week, the engine had derailed at Conte Luna in Warminster and was brought back to Lansdale for inspection prior to being shipped out. The leak was not believed to be related to the derailment but rather to a broken sight glass in the fuel system. The oil ran down from the ballast into Madison Parking Lot, finally making it to a storm drain that emptied into a local creek, which was where the initial discovery was made and traced back to the engine. |
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| October 26 2009 After assessing the extent of the spill, it was decided that an approximately 200 foot section of all four lower tracks in the yard (Bethlehem Industrial, Bethlehem Runner, Track 1 and 2) would have to be excavated in an effort to retrieve what oil remained which, since only 50 gallons were reported to have made it to the creek, was substantial. |
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| October 27 2009 The affected area is fenced off, rails and ties removed and excavators brought in; unfortunately the rain came in as well. With the removal of the rails, the only access to the Bethlehem Branch was now via the wye and the switch from the Doylestown Branch at Seventh Street. This threw a wrench into SEPTA's plan to replace a bridge down at Gwynedd Valley, as the bridge sections on flat cars were on the other side of the tracks from SEPTA. More on that later. |
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| October 28 2009 The rain complicated the recovery effort but excavation continued. The spill required the first few feet of contaminated material to be dug up and trucked out. |
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| October 29 2009 The skies cleared as more material was removed. |
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All pictures October 25 through 29 2009 Copyright © 2009 John P. Almeida Photographs for personal use only. All rights reserved by original owner of image. Reproduction or redistribution in any form without express written permission is prohibited. |
| Click here for previous RPOTW |
Last Updated November 1, 2009
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Website created June 12, 2002
Website copyright © 2009 John P. Almeida
