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Hello Ernie, This is a simple derailment that happened this afternoon (1.21.2009) in Puyallup, WA, (between Seattle and Tacoma) but it fowled the mainline for BNSF causing Sounder commuter trains and others to be delayed. You can see the front of the train in the distance in the first photo. Apparently there was some slack in the train and the coupler was pulled out at the base of the shank. It fell to rails causing a pole vault action that lifted the front of the flat car off the wheel set and making a bit of a mess. Good thing the train automatically went into emergency when the air hoses separated or it could have been a bigger mess. As simple as this looks, it's still going to require a new wheel set and there was a lot of brake gear scattered beneath the rest of the train. This is the mainline between Seattle and California. I got there about an hour after it happened. As much as I respect law enforcement, I had to laugh as a young Puyallup police officer told me to get back on the other side of the street because this was a "dangerous situation." As you know, it takes quite a bit of force to lift the trucks off the axles as in this case where both axle sets are out of the frames. Harald. Tacoma WA

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