Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 24, 2007

The Weyauwega derailment was a railroad accident that occurred in Weyauwega, Wisconsin, USA, in the early morning hours of March 4, 1996. The derailed cars included 7 tank cars of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), 7 tank cars of propane and two tank cars of sodium hydroxide. The derailment ruptured three of the tank cars and spilled both LPG and propane, which immediately ignited. The fire, which involved the train cars themselves and an adjacent feed mill, burned for more than two weeks after the actual derailment, and resulted in the emergency evacuation of 2,300 people for 16 days; notably, the entire city of Weyauwega was evacuated, with about 1,700 evacuees alone. A subsequent NTSB investigation found the cause of the derailment to be a broken rail within the turnout that was the result of an undetected bolt hole fracture. Nine individuals who were affected by the evacuation filed a class action lawsuit seeking punitive and treble damages against Wisconsin Central on March 26, 1996. By the end of the year, thirteen more families and two business joined the suit against the railroad, and another business filed a separate suit for damages in Waupaca County District Court. In 1998, the railroad estimated the costs from the derailment and class action suit to be valued at $28 million, of which Wisconsin Central had paid $27.2 million by the end of 1998.