Updated on 8/26/25
A 38-year-old male was fatally injured when a railcar he was servicing imploded, collapsing downward and striking the employee, resulting in fatal crushing injuries. There were no witnesses. Damage to the railcar rendered the investigation findings inconclusive. Investigators said the plant manager told them he heard a loud explosion outside and found an employee pinned under a railroad car.
UPDATE From Federal OSHA Database:
At 8:15 a.m. on February 17, 2025, Employee #1 was connecting a steam hose to the steam valve of the railcar to reheat and pump soybean oil. After partially opening the steam valve to allow gradual heating, the railcar suddenly imploded and collapsed downward, striking the employee. The employee sustained fatal injuries.
TN OSHA issued no citations, as it was inconclusive as to what happened to cause the implosion while a worker was servicing the railcar. My “guesstimate” would be “steam condensing” with the hatch closed; as the steam condensed, a vacuum was created, causing the atmospheric pressure to collapse the railcar.
The Ambient Temperature at the time of this implosion was around 25F; the high for the day was 40F.
Source: https://www.wunderground.com/history/daily/us/tn/memphis/KMEM/date/2025-2-17
Link to the company’s website showing their RailCar cleaning business: https://www.runyonind.com/railcar-cleaning-repair
Image from the company website showing “steam” involved in the RCar cleaning:
