DENVER — The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its preliminary report into a train derailment that seriously injured a conductor at a BNSF railyard in Denver last month.
The incident happened shortly after midnight on Aug. 5 at the BNSF Globeville Yard.
The Denver Fire Department said one of the train cars derailed inside the railyard around 12:13 a.m., trapping a worker. First responders freed the worker and transported him to the hospital with severe injuries to his right leg.
Carl Smith with the Sheet Metal Air Rail and Transportation (SMART) Workers Union confirmed to Denver7 that the worker was rushed to surgery and had to have his right leg amputated.
According to the NTSB's preliminary report, the derailment occurred after a moving train collided with standing railcars at the Denver yard.
The crew of train BNSF H-LINDEN1-02A was "performing a shoving movement" to place the remainder of their train into another track when the train "traversed a crossover switch lined for an adjacent track and collided with standing railcars," the NTSB said.
The collision caused three of the standing railcars and five railcars from train H-LINDEN1-02A to derail. The conductor was thrown from the railcar he was riding, and it toppled onto him, according to BNSF.
Visibility conditions were "clear and dark" at the time of the collision. The preliminary report states property damages were estimated to be roughly $397,000.
The train, which was made up of two locomotives and 103 railcars, originated in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Aug. 2. The crew consisted of one engineer, one student engineer, and the conductor.
The train came into the Denver railyard on Aug. 5 on Track 104 from the north. Around 12:05 a.m., the crew separated 54 railcars and left them on the track. The train then continued south, pulling the remaining 49 railcars over the switch that led into the adjacent Track 103.
The NTSB said the conductor instructed the engineer to reverse the train and "shove" the remaining railcars into Track 103. As the train reversed into the track, the railcars progressed through a crossover switch that facilitated movement between Track 103 and adjacent Track 102. However, the crossover switch was not lined for the intended route.
According to the NTSB, the north switch of the crossover was lined for straight movement into Track 102, which was occupied with the standing railcars, while the south switch into Track 103 was lined for crossover movement from 103 to 102.
The train diverged into Track 102 and collided with the standing railcars. The conductor was thrown from the equipment, and the railcar he was riding toppled onto him.
The NTSB said its investigation is ongoing, and the next portion will "focus on industry hazard identification and mitigation strategies, training on the proper use of switches to establish track protection, and operating procedures related to riding shoving movements."
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