SKOL Team Prevents Potential Derailment

Pictured left to right: SKOL Trainmaster Dustin Coester and Tony Jones, Engineer

The South Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad (SKOL) recently ran a special car for BNSF Logistics from our Kansas City Southern interchange in Pittsburg, Kansas, to Thayer, Kansas. The team was moving a large generator for a wind farm there. Kansas has been unseasonably warm recently, which can cause the rail to expand and warp. During the move, Engineer Tony Jones recognized one such “sun-kink” on a bridge and stopped the train carrying the massive generator before a hazardous and costly derailment could happen. He contacted Trainmaster Dustin Coester, and the SKOL track team came out to survey the issue. Upon inspection, a portion of the bridge had shifted nearly 12 inches. Jones saved a potentially catastrophic derailment. After repairs were completed, Jones helped bring the generator in the rest of the way to its final destination in Thayer. Thank you to Jones, Coester, and the SKOL Maintenance of Way team for putting safety first, and serving our customer so well.