More Rolling Fright

Tougher safety regulations governing U.S. railroads are a major goal of the National Transportation Safety Board, which has noted that derailments in creased by 71% between 1961 and 1968 (TIME, March 7). Last week the case for regulation was strengthened still fur ther when two more freight trains with potentially lethal cargoes jumped the tracks on the same day.

The 300 residents of East Germantown, Ind., were evacuated when 61 cars of a 110-car Penn Central train were derailed, spraying the area with chemicals that set fires and sparked explosions. In Texas, 13 cars of a Kansas City South ern freight train carrying inflammable liquefied gas were derailed south of Texarkana. Six families were evacuated when a fire seemed likely. No one was injured in the two derailments. But the rolling fright continues.

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