Well Thats No Real Loss

[MalahatTwo7]

Beer Spill Creates Train Traffic Pretzel

POSTED: 9:10 am EDT May 24, 2007
UPDATED: 9:35 am EDT May 24, 2007

DENVER -- The beer was flowing in Denver -- but it wasn't a party.

A beer train derailed Wednesday, after a string of runaway rail cars crashed into a parked locomotive. Authorities said no one was hurt in the accident at a downtown Denver rail yard.

A spokesman for BNSF Railway said a car carrying asphalt was damaged and leaked. Another tanker carrying Coors overturned and resulted in a flood of beer.

Imagine, all that brew -- and not a pretzel in sight.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press.

Now if it had been the Guinness train car..... That would have been a sad day in a hot place....

However on a good note, there were not personal injuries in this incident.

[HotTrotter]

Saw that on CNN, thought that is one spill I wouldn't mind trying to contain. Clean up would be fun too

[KenNFD1219]

I was a little saddened at first, then I saw it was Coors. The article should have said "beer" instead of beer.

[doughesson]

I was a little saddened at first, then I saw it was Coors. The article should have said "beer" instead of beer.

It's better than "Buttwiper".
I cried for the first time since I couldn't save that dog in the flood of 1993 when I saw that item on the news.

[Firetacoma1]

Some other interesting points in this incident. The incident occurred approximately 0430. A 911 call was apparently placed but was never routed to the fire department as the caller downplayed the severity. A news helicopter happened to notice something was amiss as they were reporting on traffic at approximately 0600. The fire department saw the news reports and responded to the scene. As they were arriving the rail company positioned heavy equipment on the access road to the facility apparently in an attempt to block their access. It turns out there was approximately 3000 gallons of beer, 3000 pounds of asphalt, and several thousand gallons of diesel fuel (2 locomotives worth) spilled. It should be mentioned that this facility is quite close to a major river. The train company was issued 2 summonses for failing to report and for releasing hazardous materials. The fire department met with representatives from BNSF and came away feeling confident it would never happen again (read, they got their asses chewed).

I'm not sure how many saw the pictures, but this yard is on my way to work and the damage was incredible!

[hwoods]

Tacoma, Thanks for the update. Make that 30,000 Gallons of Asphalt. Tank Cars built for carrying "Heavy Oils" of which Asphalt is one, are usually 30K Gal. capacity. They are also insulated, and have Heating Coils built in. Asphalt, Bunker Oil, and similar Oils have to be at a temperature of at least 150 Degrees F. to flow smoothly. The Flash Point is high on those, but add a lot of Diesel........ Also, those Locomotive Fuel Tanks are anywhere from 3,600 to 4,800 gallons each. Lotta potential there. In this area, we deal with CSX, Norfolk Southern, Amtrak, and MARC. So far, they have all been great to work with.


RICK - Check your PMs

[MalahatTwo7]

RICK - Check your PMs

CHECK. Roger - Out.

[doughesson]

I'm back on the river as a towboat deckhand at a company that handles container on barge shipments.It's similar to those big container ships you see on History Channel's Modern Marvels shows but the barges are usually 195'-200' long by 35' wide,unless they are former tank barges which are usually 300' long by 50' wide.
Yesterday,we were loading some tank containers and the deckhand next to me was asking if I knew what the some of the stencils meant.I explained that one told the weight of the container both loaded and empty,and how much pressure the tank could be loaded to.I then explained the chemical name and my personal policy of it:If it has more letters than the alphabet and is unpronounceable the first time you try to say it,it's a good idea to get as uphill and upwind as quickly as possible if you see that something goes wrong with the container.

[StillLearning]

They ship beer in tanker cars? I hope they clean them good.

Years ago a Miller truck overturned in Milwaukee on the interstate right by Marquette University spilling a full load of can cases. To say there was chaos, bystanders on scene, and a free-for-all would be an understatement. Lots of free beer and parties on campus that night.

[eaglesrule1024]

yeahhh i heard about this and when i heard a "beer" train had derailed it really caught my attention then i found out it was in Denver and said to my self beer ? thats more like a water spill...damn people mis-leading the public to actually say that "beer" was spilled they should be prosecuted because of this!!!

If Guiness or Budweiser or Becks or Michelob or Miller or Heiniken or ANY other TRUE beer i have left out which is my fault since im on a bit of a heat exhaustion as result of diggin a trench...THEN NOTIFY me of this DISASTER!!!

If its a sh**ty "beer" like coors or anyother cheap no good "beer" Please do not inform the public of a water spill

[hwoods]

I'm back on the river as a towboat deckhand at a company that handles container on barge shipments.It's similar to those big container ships you see on History Channel's Modern Marvels shows but the barges are usually 195'-200' long by 35' wide,unless they are former tank barges which are usually 300' long by 50' wide.
Yesterday,we were loading some tank containers and the deckhand next to me was asking if I knew what the some of the stencils meant.I explained that one told the weight of the container both loaded and empty,and how much pressure the tank could be loaded to.I then explained the chemical name and my personal policy of it:If it has more letters than the alphabet and is unpronounceable the first time you try to say it,it's a good idea to get as uphill and upwind as quickly as possible if you see that something goes wrong with the container.

Doug, How many of those suckers do you lock thru at a time??