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Train Stopped After Vandals Place Debris on Tracks

Train 436 was stopped after debris became wedged underneath it south of Odenton. Riders can expects delays of at least an hour on Wednesday night.

 

Trains on the MARC Penn Line were delayed by as much as an hour Wednesday after a locomotive got stuck on some debris south of Odenton.

According to an email alert from MARC, the locomotive of train 436 from Washington, DC, got stuck shortly before 6 p.m. after vandals placed debris on the track.

MARC rider John Nolan said in an email to Patch that the debris appeared to be a tire from tractor trailer.

Riders from train 436 were transferred to train 640.

Due to a lack of available equipment, MARC canceled train 449 from Baltimore. The next available train out of Baltimore was train 451, scheduled to depart at 7:35 p.m.

Train 640 left Odenton 47 minutes late, after picking up passengers from the disabled train 436.

Related Topics: Debris on tracks, MARC Train, and Train delays

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Mithrandir

12:16 am on Thursday, March 29, 2012

Trying to derail a train sounds more serious than just vandalism.

Sandra Dent

8:48 pm on Wednesday, March 28, 2012

We were lucky, it was a passenger (MARC) train and not up to speed, if it had been one of the freight trains... it would have been bad.

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Kevin Meetze

9:46 pm on Wednesday, March 28, 2012

It wasn't debris, it was a tractor tire MARC 436 ran over, saw it as I walked off the train.

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MAW

7:07 am on Thursday, March 29, 2012

A tractor tire on the tracks isnt debris?

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Tim Lemke

10:19 pm on Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Did anyone take a picture? I want to know what this tire looks like.

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Mark Weber

8:27 am on Thursday, March 29, 2012

I was on the 436 train and saw the tire when we were unloaded to get on the 640 train. Odenton VFD were trying to remove it. It was NOT a tractor trailer tire but a large ribbed tire like ones used on a tractor or heavy construction equipment. When the train hit it it smelled like a tire fire. Had the train not been slowing down to come into the station who knows how bad the situation would have been!

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Carol B

11:18 am on Thursday, March 29, 2012

At least one of the passengers took a video of the scene, Tim--and yes, it was a large industrial tire from the looks of it. It wedged under the train and broke several lines, apparently--the passengers were ultimately evacuated from the front cars, which were near the station's platform. This kind of "prank" could have killed (or seriously injured) people. Would the barbarians responsible think it was "cool" if the train derailed and their neighbors were taken to the hospital and the morgue, just so that that those who did this could inject some excitement into their own apparently boring lives?

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Brent

3:18 pm on Thursday, March 29, 2012

Back in 2005 or so I was headed south on the Camden line from Savage and we hit a lawnmower someone put on the tracks between Laurel and Muirkirk. We stopped at Muirkirk and were unable to proceed because of damage. Not fun.

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Brent

3:19 pm on Thursday, March 29, 2012

Saw a pic one of the staff at Union Station had on his phone. It was about 4 feet in diameter, a backhoe tire or such.

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