Good for CSX, which last week said it had released an online system that will allow first responders to find out quickly the nature of hazardous cargo when a train derails.

"The app allows first responders to securely access information about hazardous materials being transported by any individual CSX train using their wireless devices, laptops or desktop computers," spokesman Rob Doolittle said. "In addition to a graphically displayed train list that allows emergency responders to quickly locate and identify the contents of rail cars carrying hazardous materials, CSX Operation Respond provides emergency responders with a portfolio of other useful information designed to assist when responding to a rail-related transportation emergency."

CSX said it was the first of the nation's seven large Class 1 freight railroads to provide online access to such data.

As we've reported any number of times, there is heightened concern about freight train safety in many parts of the country, including upstate New York, due to the surge in shipment of volatile crude oil from the northern plains states. CSX told state officials earlier this year that 20 to 35 crude-oil trains a week traverse upstate on their way to Albany, a major transshipment point.

There have been several fiery derailments of oil trains in the last several years, including one in Quebec, Canada that claimed 47 lives.

In response to these concerns, CSX has shared more information with state officials about its oil shipments and offered training sessions to firefighters and other first responders.

And now it's offering the online data service, which apparently will inform them the specific location of cars carrying hazardous cargo on a given train.

Doolittle said the railroad plans to promote the service to firefighters and other responders later this year. Responders who want access right away should contact their local CSX hazardous-materials manager or call CSX's toll-free communications number, (877) 835-5279, he said.

Derailment scenes can be chaotic and information can be scarce. Firefighters, police and other responders need to know exactly what they're dealing with, but train crew members may not know exactly what's in the cars they're hauling, and the placards that indicate the presence of hazardous cargo may not be visible.

For an example of the problems that can be caused by lack of good on-scene information, go back to 2001. In December of that year, the brakes on a CSX train idling at what then was called Kodak Park were inadvertently released. The tracks to the north were slightly downhill, and the train rolled out of control in that direction all the way to Charlotte, where cars derailed and caught fire.

It was clear to responders that part of the enormous blaze was fueled by coal that spilled from overturned hopper cars. They did not know right away were the contents of three tank cars that also derailed, and commanders did not declare the scene a haz-mat incident for several hours.

It eventually was learned that one or two of those cars contained methylene chloride, a toxic industrial solvent that can, in the presence of heat, degrade into poisonous phosgene gas. Several dozen firefighters complained of sore throats and the like after the fire was extinguished, and the firefighters union complained bitterly that its members had been put in harm's way unnecessarily due to lack of information and communication.

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