IMAGES FROM SHARON SPRINGS
This was emailed to me so I don't know who to credit with photos and text.
It was a normal day in Sharon Springs, KS when a Union Pacific crew boarded a loaded coal train to head on the long trek back to Salina.
Just a few miles into the trip a wheel bearing becomes overheated and melts off letting the truck support drop down and grind on top of the rail creating white hot molten metal droppings to spew downward on the rail. A very alert crew noticed a small amount of smoke about halfway back in the train and immediately stopped the train in compliance with the rules.
The Bad news:
The train just happened to stop with the hot wheel on top of a wooden bridge built with creosote ties and trusses.
The fire has spread across the bridge.
And it burns...
And it burns...
And finally the whole bridge collapses.
All the coal is just fuel for the fire.