In the last 30 years of the late 19th century, America’s railroads grew from 45,000 miles of track to over 200,000 miles.[1] This growth and the continued expansion afterward played an outsized role in settling America’s West and in the country’s economic success. The railroad companies that carried both supplies and people across and around the country made significant use of asbestos to build and insulate their cars and engines, to heat their rails, to protect workers from dangerous hot surfaces, and for many other purposes. As a result, hundreds of thousands of employees from all areas of the industry were later diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, asbestosis, and other illnesses.
The Railroad’s Place in American History
It’s hard to believe there was ever a time when America didn’t have railroads, but the form of transportation was only introduced in North America in the 1830s, when the frontier was being settled and people needed ways beyond steamships to move people and goods from one place to another. Though the earliest trains were simply wooden tracks used on tramroads to move products relatively short distances, once steam engines were created for ships, it was only a short leap to adapt the technology to trains.[2]
In 1815, John Stevens was granted the first railroad charter in the country, and by 1826, he was testing steam locomotion on a circular track on his estate. By 1830, track was being laid for the Baltimore and Ohio railroad with horses pulling the train cars, and an American-made locomotive was put into service in 1831.[2]
Over the next few years, multiple train lines were built, including the Mohawk and Hudson, the Saratoga, the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company, and the Columbia Railroad of Pennsylvania. Most were short passenger lines, and few were successful, but when the Boston and Lowell Railroad offered alternatives to transporting goods via canals, the agriculture industry began to see the advantages that the new form of transportation offered.[2] Finally, in 1869, the Transcontinental Railroad was built, and people could travel between California and New York in one week.[3]
The importance of the railroad was immediate. Tens of millions of dollars of freight was transported from coast to coast each year, and American businesses went from local to transcontinental. Rail lines extended outward from branch points, carrying people north and south, and additional east/west parallels were built.[3]
While train cars that operated in the late 19th and early 20th century were insulated with asbestos, the use of the material accelerated dramatically at the same time that diesel locomotives began replacing steam locomotives. Though diesel use was first restricted to switch engines, passenger train locomotives soon followed, and in 1940, the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors began using a freight diesel. These locomotives were driven by an alternator in the engine that produced electricity to run motors mounted on the locomotive’s axles. These internal combustion engines improved efficiency, and locomotives could be coupled together to increase power. Though there were material shortages during World War II, by the 1950s, diesel locomotives had almost entirely replaced steam locomotives.[4]
Asbestos Products Used by the Railroad Industry
Asbestos is a mineral that insulates, adds durability and strength, and is inexpensive. As a result, the railroad industry made extensive use of it to insulate locomotives and train cars, in railroad equipment and parts, to heat the rails themselves, and in many of the buildings that the industry used for its operations. Today, the public knows that asbestos is carcinogenic and the cause of malignant mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases, but that was not the case between the 1930s and 1980s when the railroads used it most extensively. Still, there is significant evidence that the Association of American Railroads had been notified of its toxicity as early as the mid-1930s.[5]
The number of materials and applications in which asbestos-containing products were used by the railroad industry is extensive and has been linked to many cases of asbestos-related diseases among workers. These products include:
- Pipe insulation and covering
- Ceiling insulation
- Stove insulation
- Plaster
- Wallboards
- Cement
- Clutches
- Floor tiles
- Seals
- Brake linings
- Brake shoes
- Brake grids
- Brake bands
- Clutch gears
- Clutch assemblies
- Clutch plates
- Clutch gears
- Pipe thread sealant
- Rail car parts
- Asbestos sheeting
- Asbestos gloves
- Asbestos ropes
- Roof cement
- Boilers
- Pumps
- Concrete
- Floor tiling
- Doors
- Sealants
- Adhesives
- Gaskets
- Pipes
- Boiler cladding
- Firebricks
- Paint
- Welding materials
- Safety equipment and protective clothing
Despite knowing of the dangers posed by asbestos, the railroads continued using these asbestos-containing products for decades, exposing workers in many different areas to the carcinogenic material for decades, even after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration warned against exposure in the workplace.
What Asbestos-Related Diseases Affect Railroad Workers?
Though asbestos adds strength and makes the items and parts it is added to more durable, it is a fibrous material that breaks down easily into microscopic particles. When these particles are released by being cut, bent, sanded, or in some other way damaged, they are released into the air, where they can remain for hours. When people working with or around these materials inhale or ingest asbestos fibers, they frequently remain in the body and become embedded in the cells of the lungs or the mesothelium, where they can cause scarring, cell death, and mutations that grow into tumors.
Asbestos can cause several different illnesses, many of which don’t appear until decades after exposure:
- Pleural mesothelioma
- Peritoneal mesothelioma
- Pericardial mesothelioma
- Lung cancer
- Other types of cancer
- Asbestosis
- Pleural plaques
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
What Are the Asbestos Exposure Risks to Railroad Workers?
Railroad workers were at risk of asbestos exposure from the first time that asbestos was used to insulate steam locomotives and rail cars, and though trains have changed through the years, the risk remains the same. Even today’s railroad workers are at risk if they work around locomotive components or train cars that were built before the 1980s. Exposure to asbestos came from the installation of insulation in locomotives as well as in cabooses, where stoves that heated the remote car were insulated with the material.
Any worker responsible for manufacturing, maintaining, or repairing locomotives or other railroad equipment was at risk for asbestos in clutches, brake systems, tiles and insulation of passenger cars, and more. Workers who installed the rail lines used and burned asbestos rope to heat the rails so that they could be shaped, and even the gloves that workers wore to protect themselves from hot surfaces were made with asbestos.
Because asbestos was used in so many applications, almost anybody who worked with the railroad was at risk of exposure, including:
- Engineer
- Conductor
- Insulation workers
- Brakeman
- Fireman
- Section crew
- Welders
- Electricians
- Pipefitters
- Equipment operators
- Car workers
- Trackmen
- Railroad administration workers
- Mechanic
- Demolition workers
- Ironworkers
- Sheet metal workers
- Signalmen
- Painters
- Security
- Forklift operator
- Loader
Numerous studies have drawn a straight line between employment in the railroad industry and an increased risk of asbestos-related disease.
- A 1999 study published in the journal Occupational Medicine clarified the cancer risk associated with asbestos exposure in railway carriage construction and repair. It analyzed 734 subjects employed in the industry between 1945 and 1969 and concluded that there was an observed excess of lung and pleural malignancies that were causally related to asbestos exposure.[6]
- In 1991, authors from the Institute of Oncology in Bologna, Italy, investigated the prevalence of asbestos-related cancers in workers of the Italian State Railroads and the groups at risk due to their asbestos exposure. They concluded that machinists were at particular risk, as well as traveling workers and family members of railroad workers.[7]
- A 2014 study published in the British Medical Journal investigated specific mortality among asbestos workers and potentially exposed workers in Belgium. It evaluated hundreds of thousands of workers and determined that there were excess risks of asbestos-related mortality among workers in the railroad industry.[8]
Can Railroad Workers Be Compensated for Illnesses Resulting from Asbestos Exposure?
Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA)
In 1908, Congress passed the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, or FELA, which provides injured railway workers the ability to seek compensation for injuries suffered on the job. FELA claims are similar to workers’ compensation claims in that they replace the ability to pursue a personal injury lawsuit or wrongful death claim against a railroad employer, but there are significant differences between workers’ compensation and FELA, and it is important for railroad workers diagnosed with mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases to be aware of these differences.[9]
FELA claims can be filed by any railroad employee as well as by independent contractors whose work was supervised and controlled by the railroad. It provides for past and future medical expenses, past and future lost wages and earning capacity, pain and suffering, and permanent partial or full disability.[9] Because railroad workers have such a heightened risk of asbestos-related diseases from their occupational exposure to railroad cars, engines, tracks, and railyards, FELA claims are common.
FELA claims require proof that the railroad was negligent and that its negligence was the cause of the employee’s injury or illness. This negligence can include failure to follow workplace safety rules, inadequate training, defective or inadequate equipment and tools, and understaffing. Importantly, even if a railroad worker’s actions contributed to their injury, they can still pursue a FELA claim. This is particularly important for lung cancer victims who smoked cigarettes while exposed to asbestos.[9]
Personal Injury Lawsuits and Asbestos Trust Funds
Railroad workers may also be able to pursue legal action against the asbestos companies that provided the carcinogenic materials that caused their illness to the railroad company. A personal injury lawsuit can lead to a jury trial and verdict or an out-of-court settlement. You may also be eligible to file a claim against the asbestos trust funds that asbestos companies that went bankrupt were required to establish to address their asbestos liabilities.
If you are a railroad worker who has been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, or if you are the family member of a railroad worker sickened by secondary exposure to asbestos that your loved one carried into your home, your best source of information is an asbestos attorney. These knowledgeable professionals can explain the requirements of FELA, how it applies to your particular situation, and whether you can pursue a lawsuit against any of the asbestos companies whose products contributed to your illness. They can also help you identify the responsible companies and explain the statute of limitations that controls how much time you have to pursue justice.
Asbestos Lawsuits Filed Against Railroad Company
Many victims of asbestos exposure from railroad work have successfully filed lawsuits against the companies responsible for their illnesses. Some examples include:
- Raymond Williams filed a claim against his employer, CSX Transportation Inc., under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, alleging that his mesothelioma was caused by his regular exposure to asbestos and asbestos-containing materials by CSX and their failure to warn him of the dangers of asbestos exposure. He presented evidence that CSX, as a member of the Association of American Railroads, knew as early as 1937 that asbestos generated “toxic dusts.” The jury found CSX guilty and awarded him $7.5 million.[10]
- A mesothelioma claim has been filed by the family of Anthony Ditcharo, who died of the disease in 2022. His suit includes both claims in federal courts against some of the companies whose asbestos-containing products he was exposed to and a FELA claim against Union Pacific.
- A jury found Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) liable for longtime railroad worker Kevin Howell’s lung cancer due to his extensive exposure to asbestos on the job. They ordered the company to pay him $2.3 million. Howell testified that he had worked for many of his 38 years at the company as a signal maintainer responsible for repairing and maintaining signals and signal boxes located alongside railroad tracks. Those boxes were constructed using asbestos, and he frequently had to drill holes in them, causing him to breathe in asbestos fibers.
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