by William E. Cleary Sr.
SHOULD YOU BE WORRIED?–After watching the news report about an oil train derailment in West Virginia, it was good to see Conrail workers in the area installing new railroad ties and track ballast. The ballast is used to bear the load from the railroad ties, to facilitate drainage of water, and also to keep down vegetation that might interfere with the track structure. This also serves to hold the track in place as the trains roll by. It is typically made of crushed stone, although ballast has sometimes consisted of other, less suitable materials. The new material was placed along the Conrail line that runs south and north from Camden through Gloucester City, Brooklawn, Westville and beyond.
The project was long overdue. Many of the railroad ties were rotten and broken.
For some time now trains carrying flammable Bakken crude oil, just like the one in West Virginia, use that route to reach the Sunoco refinery in West Deptford. The crude oil product is also shipped to a refinery in Linden, NJ.
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