# Ohio train derailment - is there a media coverup? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 13, 2023, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-train-derailment-is-there-a-media-coverup/979695 "2023-02-13T04:01:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Eric1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3bc359/32.png) [@Eric1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric1)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-train-derailment-is-there-a-media-coverup/979695/21 "2023-02-25T13:00:51Z")
I meant inspiring thought in the first paragraph. I’m positive they’ll be able to clean this. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-train-derailment-is-there-a-media-coverup/979695/22 "2023-03-01T03:14:01Z")
Now I’m seeing things in the press about people in West Virginia and Pennsylvania finding white powder on their cars, lawns, etc. I haven’t dived into that rabbit hole, but I do suspect that these events are likely related. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-train-derailment-is-there-a-media-coverup/979695/23 "2023-03-01T04:56:22Z")
You know things are going well when there is (a) wall to wall coverage (b) allegations of a media coverup (c) dire predictions of death and destruction, and (d) allegations of a beat up. All over the same incident. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2023, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-train-derailment-is-there-a-media-coverup/979695/24 "2023-03-02T01:54:49Z")
Over the weekend my BIL was regaling us with reports he had read on Farcebook of people in the area being prevented from sending their tap water out of state for testing and others being followed by unmarked black cars to and from work. I left the room. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2023, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-train-derailment-is-there-a-media-coverup/979695/25 "2023-03-02T05:01:46Z")
Don’t worry about the black cars. But when the black helicopters start firing the black missiles, its time for BIL to get worried. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-train-derailment-is-there-a-media-coverup/979695/26 "2023-03-03T02:30:36Z")
I don’t know about a media cover up, the media seems to be all over this. Here’s an opinion piece about dioxins that surprised me. It mentions Times Beach Mo. which I was unfamiliar with. Having read the linked wiki on Times Beach, I have to say holy shit. Anyway, this opinion piece speculates that no one is testing for dioxins at the crash site because they know they’ll find it. > **[Here’s the real reason the EPA doesn’t want to test for toxins in East...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/02/epa-toxins-test-east-palestine-ohio-train-derailment-dioxins)** > > The agency is familiar with dioxins, having researched its adverse effects and if they test the soil in East Palestine for it, they will find it ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-train-derailment-is-there-a-media-coverup/979695/27 "2023-03-03T04:42:12Z")
When I started the thread, it didn’t appear to be getting the attention it deserved. Now, it is. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-train-derailment-is-there-a-media-coverup/979695/28 "2023-03-03T04:47:51Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > When I started the thread, it didn’t appear to be getting the attention it deserved. You started the thread more than a week after it happened, and several days after the last evacuation orders were lifted. It wasn’t getting coverage any more because it wasn’t happening any more. It actually got widespread attention when it was happening, and that naturally faded, because it was over. Then a bunch of social media propaganda went out making ludicrous claims about the consequences (my favorite was the chickens that died ten miles upwind), and the freakout made it a story again. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-train-derailment-is-there-a-media-coverup/979695/29 "2023-03-03T05:49:27Z")
I have quite a bit of experience with environmental incidents. I don’t think the author of that opinion piece is likely to be correct. By his own logic and facts, it’s extremely likely that dioxins will have been produced and everyone knows it - it’s been reported all over. It just doesn’t make sense for “them\*” to think they can just not test for dioxins and cover up the issue thereby. There is no possible way that could work - testing for dioxins is not hard and someone is going to do it even if “they” don’t. More likely (a) “they” have tested for dioxins but somehow the media think “they” haven’t (b) “they” are going to but are extremely busy right now and (sadly) such dioxins as exist aren’t going anywhere so testing for them is not an immediate priority or (c) there is some operational or scientific reason “they” plan on doing it later. There is a huge “fog of war” around incidents like this. About 80% of what you read in the media will be wrong, at this point. \*_there is invariably a mysterious “them” in these situations. I’m not sure who “they” are - a blend of government, mysterious corporations and black ops specialists, I assume._ ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-train-derailment-is-there-a-media-coverup/979695/30 "2023-03-03T13:25:49Z")
> **[Leaked audio reveals US rail workers were told to skip inspections as Ohio...](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/03/us-rail-workers-east-palestine-ohio-train-crash)** > > Exclusive: employee says manager told her to stop marking cars for repair, as Ohio derailment prompts hard look at industry’s record of blocking safety rules But this article refers to events happening in 2016. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2023, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-train-derailment-is-there-a-media-coverup/979695/31 "2023-03-05T16:04:12Z")
Good Grief, Should the board create a separate forum just for Ohio train wrecks? Another one derailed [East of Springfield Ohio on 04 March 23](https://www.whio.com/news/local/deputies-medics-respond-train-accident-springfield/KZUQMTBAKVD3NHMSCLICGXCGYE/) and it’s the same track that had one derail a year ago [West of Springfield Ohio on 13 May 2023](https://www.whio.com/news/local/reports-least-20-cars-derail-train-clark-county-railroad/2CITFOCOXZFW5I3TH4HP2A23ZY/). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2023, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-train-derailment-is-there-a-media-coverup/979695/32 "2023-03-05T16:53:23Z")
Sounds like perhaps track maintenance in Ohio has taken a ~~back seat~~ caboose to profitability. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2023, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-train-derailment-is-there-a-media-coverup/979695/33 "2023-03-05T23:44:44Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Anyone know chemistry and can comment on this? It’s hard to _not_ make dioxins when burning chlorinated material. You basically need full oxidation before cooling below 700 C, which you can get in, say, a carefully designed waste to energy plant. Not so much in a trench burn. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-train-derailment-is-there-a-media-coverup/979695/34 "2023-03-06T04:45:28Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Sounds like perhaps track maintenance in Ohio has taken a ~~back seat~~ caboose to profitability. Trains fall into my area of interest and I will go out of my way to watch them go by. I’ve talked with people who operate the engines but I don’t have any real knowledge of the variables. From what I gather it’s more complicated than I thought. In the last few years I’ve noticed that they’ve increased the number of cars being pulled. I’m wondering if that changes something in the physics of it. This last one was interesting because you could see the exact moment it started. The 1st car that jumped looked like it was in some kind of up and down oscillation and the road crossing created a different flex point in the track. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-train-derailment-is-there-a-media-coverup/979695/35 "2023-03-06T04:51:14Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > In the last few years I’ve noticed that they’ve increased the number of cars being pulled. This is absolutely true, due to the railroads adopting an operational strategy called “precision scheduled railroading,” as they seek to maximize efficiency and profits, through running longer trains, requiring fewer crew members in the absolute (since a freight train requires two crew members – an engineer and a conductor – regardless of its length). From the Slate article linked below: > [@](#): > > Between 2008 and 2017, the average train length [grew by 25 percent](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-19-443) at two Class I railroads that submitted data for a Government Accountability Office study. Union Pacific has [extended its trains](https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/fra-administrator-sees-longer-trains-as-rationale-for-2-person-crews/) by 30 percent since adopting PSR in 2018. Some trains are now as long as 3 miles from the locomotive to the last car. > **[How Working on the Railroad Got So Screwed Up](https://slate.com/business/2022/12/freight-rail-strike-trains-csx-biden-congress.html)** > > The trains got longer and the job got worse. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-train-derailment-is-there-a-media-coverup/979695/36 "2023-03-06T05:09:56Z")
I too am curious about railroads but have zero expertise. If the trackage standards assume ideally maintained short trains and the train standards assume idealy maintained trackage, any legit design margin on either enables cheating on the other. Which encourages cheating on the other other, until all the design margin is used up twice over. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-train-derailment-is-there-a-media-coverup/979695/37 "2023-03-06T05:24:41Z")
I’m wondering if the techniques need to be upgraded for the longer trains. Maybe they need to re-engineer the braking system to avoid oscillations created from the slop of couplers. If we want to get trucks off the road I think it would be in the national interest to invest in a truck-to-train loader system that is faster and easier to use. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-train-derailment-is-there-a-media-coverup/979695/38 "2023-03-09T18:31:37Z")
Annnnnnnd another one – Norfolk Southern: > **[Norfolk Southern train derails in Alabama hours before CEO testifies before...](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/norfolk-southern-train-derails-alabama-hours-ceo-testifies-congress-rcna74183)** > > Thirty cars derailed Thursday around 6:45 a.m. in Calhoun County, Alabama. There were no reports of a hazardous leak. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-train-derailment-is-there-a-media-coverup/979695/39 "2023-03-10T00:26:09Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > Annnnnnnd another one – Norfolk Southern: Spielmaker told reporters that Norfolk Southern is looking into what happened and is “figuring out how we can become even safer.” “Derailments are a very loose term,” he said. "Derailment could mean as little as one wheel off the track. Wow, He must be a ventriloquist. It can’t be easy projecting your voice with both feet in your mouth. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-train-derailment-is-there-a-media-coverup/979695/40 "2023-03-10T01:56:22Z")
I just saw a clip of that session. He said, and I quote: “We run a safe railroad.” There was an audible giggle from the crowd. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-train-derailment-is-there-a-media-coverup/979695.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-train-derailment-is-there-a-media-coverup/979695.md?page=3)