Railroad companies used asbestos extensively even though it new that asbestos exposed a serious health threat to railroad workers. Up to the 1970s, the railroad industry used asbestos contaminated products at the detriment of the railroad workers. There are even some accounts that some locomotives contained asbestos until the late 1990s. The railroad industry had a long standing dependence on asbestos through its use to repair and manufacture a variety of train surfaces and parts. As a result, countless unsuspecting railroad workers over the past two centuries have been unknowingly exposed to asbestos.
Railroad Workers & Asbestos Materials
There were many railroad industry products that contained asbestos. Common uses of asbestos in the railroad industry were asbestos insulation or lagging that was attached to the steam engine, fireboxes and piping systems. Carriages and boxcars also contained asbestos. Asbestos was often used on cabooses and boxcars as coverings for walls or wallboards, ceilings and floor tiles. Brake linings and clutches in the railroad industry were often made from asbestos. Cloth packing materials and ropes even contained asbestos in the railroad industry. Gaskets were also composed of asbestos.
Railroad Workers & Mesothelioma
As a result of the widespread use of asbestos in the railroad industry, men and women who worked around steam locomotives, roundhouses, back shops or repair facilities were exposed to asbestos. The insulation and gaskets containing asbestos were often custom made for a particular engine. The making of these custom asbestos materials involved cutting, bending, sanding and grinding the asbestos material prior to installation. The result of this work released friable asbestos particles in the air exposing unsuspecting railroad workers to asbestos.
For railroad workers, the asbestos at the roundhouse, back shops or repair facilities was the most dangerous. When inhaled, asbestos can attach to the mesothelial lining of the lung. This exposure in railroad worker often resulted in mesothelioma, the deadly form of cancer that can affect the lining of the lungs or abdomen or the heart.
Legal Advocacy and Personal Service for the Hard Times Ahead
Attorney Michael Throneberry has first-hand experience with mesothelioma from his own father-in-law’s death from the swift-moving cancer. We work quickly and diligently to identify the work sites and specific exposures to file lawsuits as promptly as possible so that our clients do not have the added burden of financing medical care.
We take cases nationwide and we will travel to you. Call today for a free consultation at 888-506-1131 if you or a loved one has symptoms or a diagnosis of mesothelioma or asbestos-related occupational disease. Our lawyers will travel Nationwide to assist railroad worker victims and families.