Railroad Public Relations Flack Downplays Seriousness of Derailment
(Lafayette County, Missouri – November 10, 2011)
Proving the vast discrepancies that exist in regard to the “facts” which frequently become fiction when utilizing railroad public relations or media relations personnel as sources for information, an unnamed Kansas City Southern communications and community affairs officer told Kansas City-based news media that a derailment in Lafayette County, MO early Thursday morning about 1:00 A.M. involved only four freight cars.
Unfortunately, a curious KCTV-TV Channel Five news director dispatched the station’s helicopter to take a little video of the derailment site once daylight returned, and found the four cars had multiplied to 30 cars.
The derailment occurred a mile east of Higginsville, MO along State Highway AA at the Salem Cemetery Road crossing and was being investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Sources also reported that no hazardous materials were involved and no injuries were suffered, but with earlier information proven erroneous, how much else could be accepted as gospel?
