Looking at this derailment from a logical view; https://www.designnews.com/industry/rail-car-wheel-bearing-monitoring-spotlight Operator Norfolk Southern employs a system of hot box detectors on the Fort Wayne Line, where the accident happened. According to the Villanova Center for Analytics of Dynamic Systems, there are more than 6,000 wayside detectors in North America dedicated to identifying defective rail vehicle components, including wheels, bearings, and truck systems. Most of these wayside monitoring systems are hot-bearing detectors, the school says in its Rail Vehicle Diagnostics report. These trackside sensors use non-contact infrared temperature sensors to monitor the bearing housing temperature as rail vehicles pass by. When the bearing temperature exceeds a threshold (typically 220° F (105° C) above ambient) the system triggers an alert. Such a temperature buildup occurs only under severe faulty conditions, says Villanova. That was the case in this derailment, according to the NTSB. The board found that at milepost 79.9, the suspect bearing from the 23rd car had a recorded temperature of 38°F above ambient temperature. By milepost 69.01 when the train passed the next hot box detector, the bearing’s recorded temperature was 103°F above ambient. Twenty miles later while passing a third hot box detector, the suspect bearing’s temperature had rocketed to 253°F above ambient and the alarm sounded. Norfolk Southern’s HBD alarm thresholds (above ambient temperature) and criteria for bearings are: ?Between 170°F and 200°F, warm bearing (non-critical); stop and inspect A difference between bearings on the same axle greater than or equal to 115°F (non-critical); stop and inspect Greater than 200°F (critical); set out railcar Great information mainstream media doesn't seem to report. Seems to me the bearing did not follow a typical failure pattern. It desintegrated more rapidly than expected. Am sure the National Rail Safety Regulator will study this accident and recommend changes to avert future failures such as this.
I saw that same information on ABC and the Washington Post. Nice to know they aren’t the mainstream media lol