Weyauwega, Wisconsin derailment

Weyauwega derailment

Overhead view of the derailment site taken March 5, 1996.
Date	March 4, 1996 (1996-03-04)
Time	05:49 CST
Location	Weyauwega, Wisconsin
Coordinates	Coordinates: 44°19′47.5″N 88°55′59.6″W / 44.329861°N 88.933222°W / 44.329861; -88.933222
Country	United States
Operator	Wisconsin Central Ltd.
Type of incident	Derailment of a freight train due to a broken rail
Statistics
Trains	1
Deaths	0
Damage	train cars and a feed mill destroyed by fire; 2,700 people evacuated for 16 days
Weyauwega Weyauwega (Wisconsin)

The Weyauwega derailment was a railroad accident that occurred in Weyauwega, Wisconsin, USA, in the early morning hours of March 4, 1996. The derailed train was carrying a large quantity of hazardous material, which immediately caught fire. The fire, which involved the train cars and an adjacent feed mill, burned for more than two weeks after the actual derailment, resulting in the emergency evacuation of 2,300 people for 16 days, including the entire city of Weyauwega, with about 1,700 evacuees.

At approximately 5:49 am, an 81-car Wisconsin Central train traveling from Stevens Point, Wisconsin, to Neenah, Wisconsin, approached the city of Weyauwega at 48.3 miles per hour (77.7 km/h), traveling on a downward grade. The first 16 cars of the train passed a switch without incident, after which 37 cars behind them derailed at the location of the switch, at 5:49:32 AM. A subsequent NTSB investigation found the cause of the derailment to be a broken rail within the switch that was the result of an undetected bolt hole fracture. The derailed cars included seven tank cars of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), seven tank cars of propane and two tank cars of sodium hydroxide. The derailment ruptured three of the tank cars, spilling both LPG and propane, which immediately ignited. The conductor of the train cut the train after the first nine cars, and proceeded onward 1.5 miles (2.4 km). He informed local law enforcement of the hazardous material the train was carrying, and was instructed to tell the fire chief.

When the local fire crew arrived on the scene five minutes after the derailment, fireballs were exploding up to 300 feet (90 m) high that were visible for nearly 13 miles (21 km). Fire spread to a nearby feed mill and storage building that were both difficult to access by the fire crew because the derailed train was blocking the grade crossing. High tension power lines were also torn down by the derailment, which caused secondary electrical fires. In total, seven of the tank cars of LPG and propane leaked, and the two sodium hydroxide tank cars leaked their contents. Electricity and natural gas service to 25% of the city of Weyauwega was disrupted, and city water services had to be shut off because of a rupture in a water main.