Bomb Trains
@RichardMeister (5328)
Otis Orchards, Washington
May 18, 2016 4:39pm CST
Would it catch your attention if you lived near railroad tracks if you saw a news article with the words, “Bomb Train” in it. It sure caught my attention.
I live fairly close to railroad tracks. Actually I live between two different tracks. One set is closer than the other, but I can hear trains on both tracks. So, of course, I wanted to know if there are any “bomb trains” traveling on either set of tracks. What I discovered was bomb trains speed down both sets of tracks.
What I envisioned these trains were carrying were live bombs. The type the military drop from B–52 bombers. The type that would really go BOOM! and annihilate anything for miles around. In other words, if one went off I wouldn’t even be a crispy creature because I’d be blown to bits.
I hear a train tooting it horn right now. Am I going to be vaporized by a bomb explosion? It turns out that “bomb train” was actually a news writer’s creative word play. Along the tracks there is what is called a “blast zone.” This writer took a word that connects with “blast,” which was “bomb,” and came up with “bomb train.”
What the article was about was trains that carry oil and plans for evacuating people in what is known as the blast zone.
You can read the article and at the end there is a link to a map that shows all the railroad tracks in the U.S. and Canada that have a blast zone.
SPOKANE, Wash. - This afternoon, the Washington Department of Ecology is holding a public hearing in Spokane to take your comments on a new safety requirement for oil shipments by rail. Under Chap...
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5 responses
@much2say (57760)
• Los Angeles, California
20 May 16
Such alarming terms! They're not exactly bombs, but I suppose if something happened, they potentially could could be like bombs. I see that I am near the blast zone, but not quite in it. I had no idea such a plan existed, but I guess they'd have to.
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@much2say (57760)
• Los Angeles, California
20 May 16
@RichardMeister There have been some hazardous spills out here too - big and small. I do think about explosions when I see those gas tanks - but haven't thought about the evacuation process. I remember last year on the way to the county fair on the freeway, a large diesel type truck caught on fire from something it was carrying. The fire was out from hours earlier apparently, but the HazMat guys were there for a long time cleaning the stuff up (it took a long time for me to even pass that area). They didn't close off the freeway and to my knowledge I don't think they evacuated the area . . . and I've seen that a lot - so I guess that's why I don't think of people needing to get the heck away from the spill sites.
I just looked at the link again. We live between 2 sets of tracks too (though they are miles apart), but only one of them is in the blast zone. At least I know we can head south! 
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@RichardMeister (5328)
• Otis Orchards, Washington
20 May 16
@much2say Not all spills are hazardous. The day they stopped the semi that was leaking they had to detour the traffic off the freeway. That caused a surge in traffic going by my house. I can remember wondering where all the traffic was coming from. Then on the news I heard about the spill and the detour and knew right then that was where all the traffic came from. They didn't have to come all the way down pass my place but many did probably because once you get out here it's shorter to continue this way into Spokane rather than going back to the freeway.
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@RichardMeister (5328)
• Otis Orchards, Washington
20 May 16
I've always known I may have to evacuate if a train carrying chemicals derails nearby. There was a train that derailed down the tracks several years ago but it wasn't carrying anything harmful. Just a couple of years ago there was a semi going down I-90 dripping something. It turned out to be a very dangerous chemical. Once the truck was stopped they had to evacuate homes and business in the area. HazMat had to come and seal off the leak. Have you ever thought about the dangerous chemicals that are going down the freeways, highways, roads and even the city streets? And people seem to get all blown out of shape when it comes to shipping oil and coal by rail. What would you do if a semi carrying gasoline exploded right in front of your house?
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@RichardMeister (5328)
• Otis Orchards, Washington
19 May 16
Yes, a good title, even a misleading one, is common in today's writing. It's a way of bring in more readers. I'm glad the trains won't be carrying real bombs.
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@RichardMeister (5328)
• Otis Orchards, Washington
18 May 16
I'm safer than if the trains were carrying "real" bombs.
@sallypup (69157)
• Centralia, Washington
19 May 16
Years ago we lived in a little town. Railroad tracks were super close. One evening we were visiting someone in another town. Suddenly the radio blasted the news that anyone in our town was not allowed to go back there due to train issues- I think it was dangerous chemicals or gas that could have blown up like you say. Pretty spooky. We waited it out and in a few hours everything calmed down.
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@RichardMeister (5328)
• Otis Orchards, Washington
19 May 16
So far I have not had to evacuate.
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