http://globalnews.ca/news/3392493/train-accident-near-woss-lake-sends-2-to-hospital/
Two dead and several more injured. For those who are unfamiliar with it the Englewood Railway is located on the north end of Vancouver Island and is the last logging railway in North America. A brief video of some operations:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0fBrdFGR4w
In conversation with the fellow who filmed the video he mentioned that while loading the cars they winch them back and forth with a cable, and also that the line has very steep (2-3%) grades over much of their mainline.
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
Great posting. So sad and unexpected. Nice work by Global on the video and graphic's. Thanks for this.
This source appears to give some more useful details.
http://www.cowichanvalleycitizen.com/news/updated-two-people-dead-after-train-derailment-in-woss/
cx500This source appears to give some more useful details. http://www.cowichanvalleycitizen.com/news/updated-two-people-dead-after-train-derailment-in-woss/
Sounds like they needed a split rail derail, not a flop over derail. RIP!
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
-sounded more like a runaway track than a derail and the switch was not thrown. (Agreed that a split point derail is more effective than a hop-toad flopover derail, hands down)
A third person has now died in the hospital.
Thank You.
137' of drop (741-604) has a lot of potential speed (kinetic energy) available, enough to get to about 64 MPH if there's no friction. So 50+ MPH is quite possible.
- PDN.
And mostly straight as an arrow, except that curve at the end, which likely hid the oncoming cars until it was too late for the fellows in the hi-rail to get out of the way.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
tree68 And mostly straight as an arrow, except that curve at the end, which likely hid the oncoming cars until it was too late for the fellows in the hi-rail to get out of the way.
Cardinal rule of railroading - watch for movement in any direction at any time.
Even when 'by rule' you have the railroad.
If the reported facts are correct, the runaway cars were going far too fast to comply with even the most restrictive rule in dark territory other than an Absolute Stop - i.e., the part of the Restricted Speed rule which requires being able to stop within half the visible distance. And even if the speeder crew was following that rule, the violation of it by those cars removed any margin of safety the crew was entitled to and might have believed they had. For any safety, the crew would have had to have a watchman or flagmen way out ahead of it to give it sufficient warning, far more than is required or normally considered prudent under any rules.
I'm guessing here, but it appears that they might have been able to see 250 yards of track, tops. For sake of simplicity, I'm using 60 mph, or 88 feet per second - that would give them eight and a half seconds to react, assuming they were watching the track that far out.
It was probably less than that. They were essentially ambushed.
NDG,
Lots of good (mostly unanswered, at this point) questions in need of answers and clarification.
It is mind boggling how quiet a car with smooth wheels can be on the rails. Warning times can be measures in a few seconds only for those who are alert. Those who are complacent will pay the price.
Norm
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.