Train Camera Captured Deadly Derailment

The camera focused on the train's tracks

Video recorded moments before a deadly Union Pacific train derailment in Northbrook could reveal what caused the tragedy.

Federal Railroad Administration and Union Pacific investigators are reviewing the video that was recorded by the freight train’s “track image recorder.” The device focuses on the tracks, Union Pacific Spokesperson Mark Davis told the Sun-Times.

A Glenview couple, Burton and Zorine Linder, were in their car while underneath the bridge when it collapsed after the train derailed on July 4 during the heat wave gripping the Chicago area. Their bodies were found the following day.
 
The event recorder also captured the train’s brake application and reduced speed of 37 miles per hour. Trains were ordered to remain under 40 miles per hour because of a heat order, the paper reports.
 
Union Pacific claimed the intense heat created a track defect leading to the deadly derailment, according to the company's preliminary investigation.
 
Union Pacific will release a final report in the coming weeks. The federal government is expected to take up to nine months to finish its investigation.
 
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