Chaos on the Tracks: The 1978 Waverly Train Explosion

On February 22, 1978, a Louisville and Nashville train derailed in Waverly, Tennessee, causing a catastrophic propane explosion during cleanup efforts. The incident resulted in 16 deaths, over 200 injuries, and widespread destruction. This episode delves into the details of the derailment, the ensuing explosion, and the emergency response led by Dr. Subhi Ali. It also explores the broader impacts, such as changes in rail safety regulations, the creation of FEMA, and improvements in disaster management practices.

00:00 The Waverly Train Derailment: A Tragic Day
00:40 The Decline of Railroads in the 20th Century
01:45 The Immediate Aftermath of the Derailment
03:36 The Cleanup Efforts and Rising Tensions
08:52 The Catastrophic Explosion
09:44 The Medical Response and Heroic Efforts
17:28 Investigation and Long-term Impact
20:46 Formation of FEMA and Disaster Management Reforms
24:21 Conclusion and Call to Action

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Transcript

Andrew: 0:00

February 22nd, 1978. A Louisville and Nashville train passing through Waverly, Tennessee derailed. While only 24 of the train's 92 cars would come off the tracks, two of them were tanker cars containing propane gas. During the cleanup process, a boiling, liquid expanding vapor explosion occurred that killed 16 people, wounded several others, and destroyed a large section of town. I'm Andrew, and this is History is a Disaster. Trains, depending on where you live, not a very common sight anymore. Unless, of course, if you live near the tracks, or get stuck by one on your way to work, or wherever it is you're going. Probably not something you give a whole lot of thought to. But in the 19th and early 20th century, they were the main source of long distance travel and freight hauling. But as the decades went by and facing tough competitions from semis, the railroad was in decline. With the loss of so much revenue, many rail lines went bankrupt. And those that remained were severely strapped for cash. By the 1970s, with the lack of funding and budget cuts, many could not afford to properly maintain the tracks that spread across the country. With the tracks in such a terrible state, derailments became more common. Hell, some tracks became so bad that the trains did not have to be moving for the cars to fall off the tracks. Around 10. 30pm on the 22nd of February, a Louisville and Nashville Railroad train was traveling through the center of Waverly, Tennessee. A wheel slipped off its axle, causing 24 of the 92 cars to derail. At the time, Waverly was just a small town consisting of roughly 5, 000 people. The derailment could be heard throughout the entire town. First responders met a scene of devastation as they arrived. Train cars were thrown about like a child playing Godzilla and kicking his toys around. Most notably was two tanker cars, still connected to each other, laying on their sides and forming a V where they laid across the tracks. No one knew exactly what was in the tanks. Or that they carried potentially hazardous material. The most concerning of the two had come to rest laying across an intersection. The front end of the tanker had been smashed in and badly dented, and since this small town lacked the necessary equipment, they had to rely on their noses to sniff out if there was any kind of leak. The small police force, also lacking equipment, had to steal barricades from a local construction company to set up a 1, 200 foot perimeter to keep all the locals that had started to show up out. By 2am, the first news vans out of Nashville were on scene. The train wreck would make the morning news. A few hours just before dawn, representatives from LNN arrived, and without anything further for the fire department to do, most of them would end up going home for the night. By 9. 30 Thursday morning, a crew from L& N and Steel City were on hand and working to repair the damaged track and railcars so they could keep on going down the line. L& N's freight lines were at a standstill until they could get the train wreck dealt with. In other words, they were losing money. Two large boom cranes had been moved onto the tracks along with several bulldozers. Boxcars and busted wheels had been bulldozed out of the way. And an area had been cleared around the tankers. The salvage crew had several fire hoses aimed at the tankers, keeping them sprayed down as they worked to fix the tracks. Bulldozers roamed back and forth across the site, spreading gravel over the tracks and pulling boxcars down the fixed track to clear up the area. Wrecker trucks slowly lifted downed boxcars back onto the tracks so they could be moved out also. Members of the Civil Defense Service, with sniffer dogs, roamed the wreckage, especially around the tankers, trying to detect any leaks. During this cleanup operation, it came out that the tankers were labeled to be carrying ammonia, however they were not correctly labeled. They were both full of liquid petroleum gas, or propane. Plans were being made to either move the tankers as they were, or bring in an undamaged tanker. And unload direct ones into it before moving them. Other plans were also being discussed on site between the mayor, the Tennessee Office of Civil Defense, Emergency Medical Services, Public Service Commission, LNN, and the police chief. Early Friday morning, the salvage crew was still working to repair boxcars. They let the local cops know that according to their test on the tankers, there was no leak so they were not considered a danger. Plus, come on, it's been two days and nothing's happened so far. What could possibly go wrong now? Since there was no signs of danger, the perimeter they had set up would be relaxed a little. Businesses along the street would be allowed to open back up. The train crew did, however, want to gas and electric shut off in the area. The only problem with this was the main gas line in the area ran to the whole county so only the houses in the area could be cut off. The main line had to stay on. By 11am, the crew was hard at work with reporters eagerly taking pictures and recording the cleanup operation for the nightly news. They watched as the boom cranes picked up boxcars and put them back on the tracks. They watched as an open railcar next to the tankers was picked up and swung over the damaged one. A set of its wheels caught on the tank as it swung overhead. As the crane pulled it off, the two ton set of wheels fell off and hit the end of the tanker with a loud metallic bang. Everyone jumped at the noise and breathed a sigh of relief as the expected explosion never came. As the moment passed, the crew got back to work. Some of the watchers would find an excuse to wander off. Most likely, they needed some new pants. Others would move closer to the tankers, because that just sounds like a smart idea. By noon, most of the rail cars were back on track and a large amount of the wreckage had been cleared out. With the cars being removed from the tankers. A cable sling was used to drag them 12 feet and off the tracks, because that's smart lets you drag a damaged tank across some tracks. The tracks were now clear enough that a train was allowed to pass through slowly, going right past those two tankers lying just off to the side. Most of that morning had been spent in discussion on what to do with those damaged tankers. The closest rail tanks were over three days away. A liquid transportation company said they could get a semi tank truck out there. The problem with this, when the truck arrived, It could not connect to the tanker. None of the fittings matched up. It'd take until mid afternoon to get everything fixed and hooked up. As 3 p. m. got closer, they still had not started the transfer. And all around, train and crane crews, along with the volunteer firefighters, were getting ready to leave. It was time for a shift change. It was chaos with everyone walking around. At 2. 55, the whole town shook. A mushroom cloud rose above the town, visible from miles away. A boiling, liquid expanding vapor explosion had occurred. Clouds of white smoke poured over the streets, chasing after white streaks of liquid propane spraying out of the ruptured tank before vaporizing. The explosion sent rocks and debris spraying over the area. The propane ignited, sending streaks of blue flames racing down the streets. The nearby lumber company was quickly inflamed as screams filled the air. People ran for their lives, their hair, skin, and clothes, all on fire. The explosion and fire would destroy the entire section of town. Within minutes of the explosion, the first wave of wounded hit Waverly's two room ER. The smell of burning flesh overpowered the typically antiseptic smell of the hospital. Triage in the emergency room was overwhelmed by the badly wounded. Everyone begged and called for help or for water. The fire had sucked all the liquids from their bodies. They were burnt beyond all recognition. The nurses did their best to work through the growing crowd. They had to rely on handheld flashlights since the power had gone out and the generator had not kicked in yet. The one positive was it was shift change so there was extra nurses on hand to help. However, they were all stunned and lacked guidance. No one really knew what to do in such a situation. They were also running low on medication. Dr. Subhi Ali, a well respected trauma surgeon and army officer, had arrived on scene and quickly took charge. He sent a nurse down to the radio station to broadcast Operation Black. Operation Black was the code for a potential disaster and would call for all available medical personnel to rush to the hospital. In order to call it, someone from the hospital had to go to the local radio station. And ask them to broadcast the alert on air. Dr. Ali also contacted Fort Campbell and requested the use of their helicopters to assist in transporting the wounded to better facilities. The small town hospital was not equipped to deal with a catastrophe of this size. Ambulance radio dispatchers put out the call for any and all ambulances to head to Waverly. Dr. Ali, led by example, calmly working among the patients. The nurses were encouraged by his calmness in such a chaotic situation as more and more wounded came in. With the lack of ambulances, they arrived via all manners of transportation, from cars to the beds of pickups and walking in. The poor souls were badly burnt with white smoke still pouring off of them. People stepped up to help out, helping to direct traffic and transport the wounded. Often helping out friends they could no longer recognize. Dr. Ali worked through triaging patients as the helicopters from Fort Campbell began arriving within an hour of the explosion. Every medevac chopper they had was sent. They took turns landing and taking off again once they had patients loaded. By 4. 30, the first of the out of county ambulances began to arrive. 30 counties had responded with 49 ambulances showing up, bringing much needed medical supplies and taking off with severely burnt patients heading for the burn centers in Nashville. By the time the ambulances had arrived, every patient had been through triage and Dr. Ali was ready to begin operating on patients that would stay in town. Surgery would involve debridement or removal of burnt or non viable tissue, along with a thorough cleaning of the area to help with healing. The town was specially fortunate to have a trauma surgeon who could do this rather quickly. Uh, the quicker they got looked at, the better their chances of survival were. Prepping the patients for surgery was a nightmare for the nurses who had to clean the patient head to toe in the areas that needed to be debrided. Everyone was covered in dirt and debris from the explosion. They managed to make it through and assisted Dr. Ali with surgery throughout the night. Everyone who came through the hospital would end up surviving. Across town, a warehouse in back of the County Gas Company building had been turned into a makeshift morgue. Medical examiners from Memphis had come down to help with identifying the dead. Five people had died immediately in the explosion and none of them were recognizable. They had to use whatever articles of clothing that were left, like leather belts, shoes, and wallets, to aid in identification. Leather didn't burn in the fires, so these had remained untouched. Throughout the night, outside resources came pouring in. More law enforcement and fire departments arrived to help out. The fire departments quickly set out to push back the fires, as well as getting hoses on the undamaged tanker laying surrounded by flames. They were greatly concerned this tanker would go up to creating more damage and more casualties. A command post was set up for the multiple police agencies that had arrived, the governor and other politicians, along with the general of the Tennessee National Guard in the president of l and n gathered in city hall. Everyone was shaken. The phones in town were jammed and no longer worked. The only exception was a dedicated civil defense line that connected every police department and the governor's mansion. Patients were being transferred out of Waverly to bigger burn units where they could receive better treatment. Things were tense as an undamaged tanker was brought in and began unloading the propane from the second tanker. By 1030 that night, the transfer was completed safely. A second wave of patients would stream into the hospital over the weekend with minor wounds from smoke inhalation, mostly from people wandering the explosion site looking for loved ones. Dr. Ali continued to work on patients throughout the weekend. In total, 16 people would lose their lives in the disaster, 5 immediately during the explosion and the other 11 would pass away in the burn units. Over 200 more were severely injured and faced a long hard road to recovering from their injuries. Total property damage was estimated at 1. 8 million dollars. Which is 6. 9 million in today's money. 18 buildings were completely destroyed. Another 20 were severely damaged. 15 railcars were destroyed. And a 20 foot deep crater was left in the road. Every window in the downtown area was blown out. It would end up taking four years to settle every lawsuit with over 10. 7 million being awarded. The National Transportation Safety Board wasted no time launching a year long investigation. They found that a broken high carbon steel wheel had caused the initial derailment. The wheel broke due to a failure in the braking system, and of course, the shitheads at LNN did not follow regulations to check the braking system, so they never caught the issue. The wheel would end up cracking just outside of Waverly, and when it hit a switch in the track, it completely shattered, causing it and the 23 cars behind it to derail. The report also said the tanker that had exploded had been more seriously fucked up in the derailment than believed. The dent in the side of it had caused several fractures in different welds. The tank's steel walls filled at a pressure below that of the safety relief valve. These fractures in the tank would end up blowing it apart in four sections during the explosion. It's also believed that moving the tanker off the tracks could have helped spread the damage. The derailment in Waverly was just the latest in a series of train and hazmat accidents. Less than two days prior to the explosion, another train derailed 60 miles away from Waverly. An accident which involved a tanker full of caustic lye. Within a year of the Waverly accident, at the NTSB's recommendation, the way railcar wheels were manufactured was changed. The Federal Railroad Administration issued emergency orders to remove high carbon steel wheels from use. The high carbon steel wheels were prone to breaking and had been the cause of a lot of the derailments like what happened in Waverly. Other safety standards were put into place regarding not only the wheels but the braking systems. In October of 1980, Congress passed the Staggers Rail Act. The goal of the act was to rebuild and rehabilitate the rail system to meet the needs of both interstate commerce and also national defense by reforming federal regulatory policies. The new legislation would be extremely beneficial to the railroad companies. Allowing them to be more efficient and adjust pricing based on demand. They would soon start to become profitable again. This would end up pulling the railroads out of near bankruptcy, which would lead to better maintained tracks and further investment into safety. Since 1980, the rail lines have invested over 740 billion dollars of their own money into making things safer. The Staggers Act, which deregulated the rail lines, was a win for everyone. The Tuesday following the explosion, the National Governors Association issued a report calling for the formation of a federal disaster management agency to consolidate federal emergency preparedness and disaster relief responsibilities into one office to make everything more efficient. The report went on to highlight how the current approach was extremely fragmented and there was a huge disconnect between local and federal responses. At the local level, disaster response was handled by civil defense offices, which had been around off and on since World War II. On the federal level was the Federal Civil Defense Administration. These would be the geniuses behind the duck and cover movies. You know the ones. The ones that taught kids to hide under their desk in case a nuke went off. Cause nothing's safer than hiding under a desk. So to say the federal agency wasn't great is probably a bit of an understatement. Between the 50s, 60s, and 70s, there would be a revolving door of different federal civil defense and disaster management agencies. They would change names often, sometimes combining into one agency and then splitting back into two separate ones. The 70s saw a rise in the number of disasters, both natural and man made. This would lead President Jimmy Carter, at the beginning of his term in 1977, to push for reforms in this area. So when the NGA issued the report in 1979, he was more than happy to jump on it. In March, he issued Executive Order 12127. This put into effect a reorganization and merger of five agencies from the General Services Administration, Departments of Defense, Commerce, and Housing and Urban Development into a single organization. And on April 1st, 1979, FEMA was born, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. They would be given responsibility for civil defense, as well as federal disaster assistance and federal preparedness. They would vastly improve emergency management, disaster planning, and personal training. FEMA would set a standard of professionalism that individual states soon sought to emulate and set up their own local versions. Like in Tennessee, the Tennessee Civil Defense Agency became the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency in 1984. In 2003, FEMA would become part of the Department of Homeland Security. But their seriously major mishandling of Hurricane Katrina would lead to more reform and them becoming a separate office once again. This separation into its own distinct entity once again would strip them of any civil defense responsibilities and allow them to focus strictly on disaster relief. And that was the Waverly Train Disaster. Thanks for listening! And if you enjoyed the show, please consider leaving a rating and review on your Apple choice and reach out to the show at historyisadisaster at gmail dot com or through social media with any suggestions or comments. Or share the show, cause sharing is caring and if there was more caring in the world, maybe history wouldn't be a disaster. Thanks and goodbye.