This information is preliminary and subject to change.
On November 04, 2024, about 11:00 a.m. local time, a BNSF Railway (BNSF) maintenance-of-way employee driving a welding truck was struck and killed by BNSF freight train X-PTNNGT2-31A at a private highway-railroad grade crossing at milepost 128.1 near New Rockford, North Dakota.[1] (See figure.) There was one passenger in the welding truck who was injured, transported to a nearby hospital, and released. BNSF estimated damages to equipment to be about $250,000. At the time of the accident, visibility conditions were daylight but cloudy; the weather was 36°F with no precipitation.
The crew of freight train X-PTNNGT2-31A comprised an engineer and a conductor. The train consisted of 2 lead locomotives and 106 empty covered hopper cars.[2] The train was traveling northwest from Dilworth, Minnesota, to Minot, North Dakota. The track at the accident site was single main track, and the grade crossing was equipped with stop signs but no active warning devices, such as flashing lights or gates.
The maintenance team included two maintenance-of-way employees in the welding truck and a second group of maintenance-of-way employees in other vehicles. Shortly before the accident, the employees in the welding truck were on the south side of the grade crossing waiting for the second group to arrive and establish track protection. As the second group approached the crossing, the employees in the welding truck decided to move to the north side of the grade crossing to prepare to start work. Immediately before the accident, the employees in the welding truck began to back the welding truck over the grade crossing.
Employees in the second group saw the approaching train and broadcast warnings over their radios in an attempt to alert the driver of the welding truck. The train was traveling about 46 mph when it struck the welding truck on the front-left side.
While on scene, National Transportation Safety Board investigators conducted sight distance observations, examined the track at the accident location and the damaged welding truck, reviewed images from the forward-facing camera of the locomotive and the inward-facing camera of the welding truck, tested the radio in the welding truck, reviewed BNSF safety practices and employee training, and completed interviews.
The NTSB’s investigation is ongoing. Future investigative activity will focus on BNSF’s safety practices for maintenance of way employees.
Parties to the investigation include the Federal Railroad Administration; BNSF; the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen; the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division; and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers.[3]
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welding truck is similar to a heavy service truck with storage space and hydraulic systems for construction and maintenance equipment. The truck was a hi-rail vehicle, meaning it could operate over both tracks and paved roads.
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hopper car is a freight railcar that is used to transport dry bulk commodities such as grain. It has doors on the undersides for easy discharge of cargo.
- The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division spells employees with one final e.
