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Railfans go running as CN train derailment approaches them trackside.

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Posted by Euclid on Tuesday, June 4, 2019 8:16 AM

People have been catching video of more and more live derailments lately.  Traditionally few people had ever witnessed them.  This one (CSX Wellington, OH) is a very good example of a high speed derailment.  With high speed derailments in general, the effects are quite variable in how the derailing cars and wreckage develops.  At a fairly high speed, the cars have a remarkable ability to keep moving straight forward even though they have lost all guidance.  As they do so, the derailed resistance does slow them down and they being to gently nudge together, and thus jackknifing into a zig zag, or “accordion” effect.  

At first, the derailed cars do not have enough resistance to movement to be heavily damaged by the kinetic energy of the oncoming, trailing cars.  In this derailment, we don’t see that sort of devastating demolition until that one gray covered hopper really gets caught between immovable cars in front and unstoppable cars from behind.  You have to look close because it appears to crush only in the last split second before being obscured by foreground wreckage.    

 

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Posted by BaltACD on Tuesday, June 4, 2019 7:08 AM

Hulcher in action

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by ChuckCobleigh on Monday, June 3, 2019 11:06 PM

BaltACD

Call Hulcher!

 
Sgt. Hulka?Big Smile
 
(Only because the movie was running tonight on one of the cable movie channels.  “Incoming!”)
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Posted by BaltACD on Monday, June 3, 2019 10:00 PM

Call Hulcher!

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Gramp on Monday, June 3, 2019 9:46 PM

Well, that’s one way of getting some graffiti cleaned up.Confused

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Posted by tree68 on Monday, June 3, 2019 9:09 PM

When I first saw that a few days ago, I was amazed that 1.  Someone was recording when it happened, and 2. The signal bridge and all the utility poles in view remained intact.

It's worth noting that as the cars ran out of room, the stacking was working it's way back - even if you were behind the initial point of derailment, there could soon be cars derailing behind you. 

LarryWhistling
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Posted by BaltACD on Monday, June 3, 2019 5:40 PM

NDG
Now that is a derailment one needs to be running from!

Note the errant wheelset @ time 00:13, center right. 

Thank You.

Hundreds of thousands if not millions of tons of kenitc energy to be disapated in less than 40 seconds.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

NDG
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Posted by NDG on Monday, June 3, 2019 5:08 PM

Now that is a derailment one needs to be running from!

Note the errant wheelset @ time 00:13, center right.

 

Thank You.

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Posted by BaltACD on Monday, June 3, 2019 4:58 PM

NDG

Now that is a derailment one needs to be running from!

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

NDG
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Posted by NDG on Monday, June 3, 2019 3:06 PM
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Posted by Overmod on Monday, June 3, 2019 11:31 AM

tree68
If you look carefully at the end, there is a car on the ground in the distance that wasn't there before the train passed...

I meant 'non-derailment' in the sense of the OP's headline.  The actual derailment was nowhere near the railfans, and was likely over and done with long before the frantic mis-pointing of the camera and comical dialogue.  Which is not to say that the outcome might not have been far worse for them if that trailing car hadn't stayed resolutely on the rails after being subjected to what it was ... 

While we are on the subject of Canadian close-call accidents -- this was far nearer a disaster, and the photographer didn't lose focus for a moment:

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Posted by tree68 on Monday, June 3, 2019 11:07 AM

If you look carefully at the end, there is a car on the ground in the distance that wasn't there before the train passed...

But, yeah, this is a year old.

LarryWhistling
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Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

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Posted by Overmod on Monday, June 3, 2019 10:01 AM

Before y'all go off and waste nearly two minutes watching what turns out to be a non-derailment, we have seen and discussed this video already in at least two threads here, and it is not new.

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Railfans go running as CN train derailment approaches them trackside.
Posted by CMStPnP on Sunday, June 2, 2019 11:53 PM

So that was kind of a close call:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zzmEROlTnc

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