Today is the 67th anniversary of the Texas City disaster. It was the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history, and one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever caused by mankind. It started out with a mid-morning fire on board the French-registered vessel SS Grandcamp that was docked in the Port of Texas City. Its cargo of approximately 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate detonated after they tried to put the fire out with steam to try to smother it. The steam heated the ammonium nitrate accelerating the burning and caused a catastrophic chemical reaction that produced its own oxidizer. The initial blast caused a chain-reaction of further fires and explosions in other ships and nearby oil-storage facilities. It killed at least 581 people, including all but one member of the Texas City fire department. Two Texas City Terminal RR locomotives that have seen better days. April 1947, after the port and much of the town were destroyed by a ship full of fertilizer blowing up in the harbor.
It also was in our local paper yesterday. I remember it well because of the Life magazine photo coverage.
I've heard of the disaster but never seen any photos of railroad damage. it's a terrifying example of the power of ammonium nitrate, I believe a two ton anchor from the ship was hurled over one and a half miles by the explosion.
