Officials: Safety device, human error derailed Wash. train

ANACORTES, Wash. (AP) — The Federal Railroad Administration says a safety device meant to keep trains from tipping into Puget Sound knocked a train off the tracks last week, spilling 3,100 gallons of diesel fuel in Washington state. The BNSF Railway train was approaching a swinging bridge Thursday after leaving an oil refinery in Anacortes when it derailed. KUOW reports “derailers” on both sides of the bridge force trains off the tracks if the bridge is open. The bridge was not open that morning, but the train hit a derailer that remained in operation. Federal Railroad Administration spokesperson Warren Flatau says there was a miscommunication between the train crew and the bridge tender. BNSF Railway spokesperson Lena Kent has declined to comment.