I Department of Transportation '5 Rail and Public Transit Division Kate Brown, Governor 555 13th St NE Ste 3 Salem, OR 97301-4179 Rail Phone: (503) 986-4321 Public Transit Phone: (503) 986?3300 Rail Fax: (503) 986-3183 DATE: June 8, 2015 Transit Fax: (503) 986-4189 TO: Mark Daniels, Region 8 Administrator, Federal Rail Administrator 2 From: H.A. (Hal) Gard, Administrator ODOT Rail and Public Transit Division RE: Mosier Oregon Derailment Mark, While it is clear the investigation into this incident is ongoing, preliminary indications point to broken Rectangular Head Timber Coach Screws. There were a number of broken Rectangular Head Timber Coach Screws found at the accident site, many of which exhibited evidence of having been broken for a significant amount of time prior to the derailment. Given the nature of this defect, it was not detectable by normal inspection methods, either physical (Holm's late April 2016 CORTEX Inspection) or by recent GRMS (Gauge Restraint Measurement System) tests conducted by the Union Pacific Railroad by hyrail. It is unclear if the broken Rectangular Head Timber Coach Screws are the result of defective metal or manufacturing, over torqueing during installation or, if the fastening system is insufficient for these types of loads in this vicinity. New rail was installed at this location in 2013 so these fasteners are relatively new. Until the underlying cause of the bolt failures is understood and, a means of detecting this defect is developed, we request a moratorium on running unit oil trains over sections of track that contain track fasteners of this material within the state of Oregon. CC: via email John Johnson, Rail Safety Manager Travis Brower, Assistant Director