That does sound serious, Chris!
Photos?
Chris
> On 30 Jul 2020, at 11:16, olympus-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>
>
> We have quite a catastrophe taking place here in Tempe. At 6:15 this
> morning a UP freight train derailed while crossing a long multi-section
> bridge over Town Lake. One of the cars that derailed was carrying flammable
> material used in making nylon, but it did not ignite. By the time I found
> out about this the entire bridge was on fire with the train stopped.
>
> The bridge is 105 years old. It's a multi-section Warren Truss design.
> The crossties and other portions are wood, but the structure itself is heavy
> steel. The approach on the south end was a wooden trestle, which burned
> completely. That first section of the bridge was turned into a pretzel.
>
> I bailed out of the coffee shop and headed home, where I grabbed a camera
> and a bicycle. I got a few shots from the south side just as the police were
> pushing people back from the lake and evacuating nearby apartments. I
> quickly cycled around to the west and got the opposite side just before the
> police closed off the north side path. I stayed there for a couple of hours
> with a couple of DPS cops and later a Tempe cop. Got a bunch of photos, and
> the scenes were pretty exciting. The middle span was still burning, as was a
> 60-foot open freight car (wagon) full of lumber. Coupled to it was a pair of
> tank cars that I was told were full of gasoline, and their skin temperature
> was around 200F. The firefighters on the east side couldn't get water on the
> west side, so the fire kept spreading towards the tank cars. A small power
> boat with a water canon showed up and the fire was soon under control. For a
> while it looked like four firefighters were trying to uncouple the tank cars
> from the burning lumber car.
>
> This is no minor bridge. It's the single rail route to the east and
> south from Phoenix. It will take at least a year to repair it, provided it
> can be repaired. In the meantime, rail traffic will have to be routed
> through Gila Bend.
>
> Chris
>
> When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro
> - Hunter S. Thompson
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