Your Biggest Derailment

[nbrodar]

While discussing the Sandpatch derailment during the daily safety briefing, the trainmaster mentioned the largest derailment he'd seen was about 50 cars.   

So my fellow professionals, what's biggest wreck you've seen?  or been involved in?

The biggest one I saw, was 15ish cars - spread rail at the bottom of a grade. The slack ran in and piled the cars up in a curve.

Personally, my biggest incident was 5 cars.  My brakeman ran through a set of crossovers and then backed over them.

Nick

[wabash1]

37 cars. some went left some sent right oh and 2 engines

[JoeKoh]

The biggest derailment I have seen was on the NKP in paulding county.They derailed right behind a recycling place along st rt 613 near Broughton.Alot of top gons were stacked up. The first derailment I saw was on the B&O here in defiance in 1983. A hot bearing caused that derailment.

stay safe

joe

[K4sPRR]

In 1997 at the Berea OH interlock (CP 194) an eastbound Conrail TV train was on the connecting track from the Chicago line to the Short Line.  The third unit broke an axle and flipped on its side, several cars behind piled up and the trailers split open disposing loads of new televison sets and other goodies.  I got there about 10 minutes after it happened, smoke and dust was still in the air.  Seeing that locomotive laying on its side was quite a sight.  Fortunately no one was hurt, but Conrail's "Big X" was a mess causing some problems.  Despite the huge derailment, other traffic was creeping by within a short time.

It was impressive to see how quickly crews and equipment showed up to get things cleared.   

[CShaveRR]

My biggest derailment was 15 cars that took out the North Avenue area of Proviso. I lined switches according to what I was told, but it wasn't what he meant--so one vital switch was missed. Still, it was my fault for not thinking things out (why would the engines really want to go where he said they were going?). And I got sixty days of unemployment (yes, they fired me--then hired me back) for that one. (North Avenue sees all trains to the receiving yard from the west and the connecting lines, all power moved from the diesel ramp, and all shoves from the receiving yard to the hump--taking that out really did a number on the whole operation for a day or two.)

But the biggest derailment I ever saw might possibly have put the Sand Patch wreck to shame for the number of cars involved. A Penn Central train was coming into Proviso from the east, struggling like they usually did. At the same time, a transfer run for the PC (the head end of train 298 from the north--Black River Falls ore, Bain autos, and miscellaneous PCs) was coming out of Yard 9. The engineer was one who was known for really moving the cars, and, on the trackage we had back then, he really had 'em rocking. The PC guy was getting close to North Avenue when the Tower A operator said, "There's a lot of sparks coming from those trains on the main!" (at least that was the gist of what he said!). Sure enough, at some point, the transfer's rocking cars had kissed the cars on the PC, and the two trains were now derailing each other. The PC train finally stopped moving when one of its cars tipped over behind Tower C (I was working Tower B, so I had a decent view of a lot of this). When I went home that night, I could see cars standing crookedly on the tracks over North Avenue (the street, a few carlengths from the switches). If everything between Tower C and North Avenue on both mains was on the ground, that could have been 150 or more cars.

[zardoz]

The biggest on I saw was before my railroad career.  I was driving on hwy 20 in Racine county, just a few days after getting driver's license (1969!!).  As I approached the overpass over the C&NW New Line sub and started up the hill that went over the tracks, I saw the locomotives go under the bridge. I was initially irked because there is a road and grade crossing directly along side the overpass. If I had been a few seconds later, I would have used the ground-level crossing to watch the train go by.

No sooner had the locomotives gone under the bridge, the freight cars started piling up under the bridge. About 25 cars piled up. I actually got to see them in the process of derailing.  Quite a sight to a 16-year old!  You can still see the gouges in the cement support columns for the highway overpass from the impact of the cars. Rortunately, there were no hazmat cars in the train.

What is ironic is that if I had seen the train coming and had used the side road instead of the overpass, I likely would have been killed, as the grade crossing was buried under the freight car wreckage.

 

The derailment was caused by 1) A Trainmaster dropping the absolute signal at the automatic interlocking at Waxdale (after the train had passed the distant signal which showed 'clear'); 2) The engineer of the southbound train dumping the air at 50mph in the hope of stopping short of the possible collision at the interlocking; 3) the slack action while the train was on a curve: the resulting buff forces of the rear-end running in causing the train to derail.

[zardoz]

Carl, do you remember that mess in Glen Ellyn back in the early 70's? The one where the locomotives ended up in the street.   I didn't get to see it in person; I only saw the pictures that were in the employee newsletter.  I wonder how many cars hit the ballast in that one.

 I also saw the aftermath of the coal train derailment in Waukegan by the depot, and the Falcon derailment in front of M19A.

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

Back around 1960 - plus or minus a couple years, because I was only 7 at the time - the PRR had a major wreck on its Trenton cut-off.  I'm not sure if it was a shifted load or a derailment, but it took out a bridge in the Fort Washington*, PA area, and of course the train piled up in the resulting hole.  Which hole was occupied by the Sandy Run Creek - and also the Reading Railroad's double-track electrified Bethlehem Branch, which was then heavily-trafficked with freight, commuter, and regional passenger trains.  It was quite the mess of I-don't -know-how-many-cars - my father shot some 16 mm color movie footage of it, but I haven't seen that film for like 20 years now.

The PRR replaced the bridge with an all-wooden trestle, which lasted for many years.  Only in the last 20 years or so were the wood spans over the ex-RDG line replaced with steel beams.  The rest of it is still there - maybe only single-track now. 

*Northern suburbs of Philadelphia, in lower Montgomery County.  Just about 100 yards west of the new RR bridge over recently reconstructed PA Route 309 Expressway, and parallel to and maybe 50 yards south of the Pennsylvania Turnpike = I-276 there, maybe 1/2 mile west of its Fort Washington Interchange.

- Paul North.

[CShaveRR]

zardoz

Carl, do you remember that mess in Glen Ellyn back in the early 70's? The one where the locomotives ended up in the street.   I didn't get to see it in person; I only saw the pictures that were in the employee newsletter.  I wonder how many cars hit the ballast in that one.

That was probably the most notorious wreck I ever saw. I remember it well. I was working days at the time, and the 6:15 news on my radio station occurred in the time between when I left our apartment (in Glen Ellyn at the time!) and got into the car to go to work. So I knew nothing about it until I got to work. But the first move we had was to send a bunch of ballast to "GLENELLY" (as the hump sheets called it). When I asked about that, I was told about the wreck. It was impressive to me that they could get cars destined for the wreck into the computer as quickly as they did.

Pat and I drove over to downtown Glen Ellyn to have a look at things after I got off from work that day (it was a Sunday). I can't remember how far away we parked, but we got fairly close to the wreck scene by walking down the bike path (former CA&E) from Prospect Street (the crossing west of Main Street). What I saw was mostly mangled pigs--the locomotives in the street were on the opposite side of the wreck. Evidently the danger from the anhydrous-ammonia tank cars had disappeared by then.

The official report (all I have to go by) states that two locomotive units and 27 cars of train 242 derailed, and the two units and nine cars of train 380 (those were the ones that wound up in the street). You can still see the rebuilt entryway to the apartment complex at the derailment site. Train 242 was the first high-speed intermodal train to run eastbound on the main line; it derailed at 60 mph. That curve is restricted to 50 mph for everything to this day.

[Kootenay Central]

.

[Redore]

LTV Steel Mining Company Railroad, around 1996 at Taconite Harbor, MN.  4 locomotives, 96 loaded ore cars, 10,000+ tons.  There were too many defective brakes on the train and it couldn't control speed going down the 10 mile or so grade to the ore dock.  The engineer radioed ahead that he was coming as soon as he realized he didn't have brakes and the train was diverted off the lead to the dock track to keep it from piling up in Lake Superior.  The engineer and brakeman hunkered down on the floor and received relatively minor injuries.  Four locomotives (a matched set of F-9 A's and B's and all 96 cars came off on their sides   All were scrapped on the spot.  The dock crew had enough warning time to block off Hwy 61 at the bridge to stop traffic and about four ore cars landed on the road.

Some of the other local ore trains on Missabe and GN/BN/BNSF have piled up too, often with a heap two or three cars tall and 45+ cars involved.

[zardoz]

CShaveRR

The official report (all I have to go by) states that two locomotive units and 27 cars of train 242 derailed, and the two units and nine cars of train 380 (those were the ones that wound up in the street). You can still see the rebuilt entryway to the apartment complex at the derailment site. Train 242 was the first high-speed intermodal train to run eastbound on the main line; it derailed at 60 mph. That curve is restricted to 50 mph for everything to this day.

Wow!

Questions: was anyone hurt in that wreck? And why the 50mph? Is it that sharp of a curve?

 

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

Carl, and or zardoz -

Was that wreck at Glen Ellyn the one where where a BN bridge was dropped onto a train on an IHB main, or vice-versa ?  I recall that it was discussed here a little bit about a year or so ago - kind of a 'worst-case scenario', as I recall. 

- Paul North.

[bajadog]

I was standing out side the low-line tunnel at Everett (Wa) depot, early one third trick morning waiting to hand up to the caboose of the Auburn Everett time freight back about 1979.  This was the slowest, longest freight drag you ever saw, and it was cold outside.  Suddenly, to my great shock and surprise, with a tremendous crash and bang, a switch engine's headlight burst through the side of the (slowly) moving train, not 100 feet away, knocking box cars akimbo!  I was up the stairs and on the DS phone as quick as could be, now fully awake.  "Call that yardmaster and find what the **** is going on," the DS barked. 

 It seems the switch crew had lined one leg of the crossover for the main and left the inside open.  Engineer was looking back for signals as they pulled a big cut of cars out of Bayside yard.  They had a big mess. and I had seen my first train wreck!

Not the biggest derailment ever, but the closest I ever got to one.

[CShaveRR]

Jim--the report said 14 injuries, mostly as a result of the anhydrous ammonia. Can't remember how the crew fared, but it was nothing serious.

Yes, the curves are that sharp! There is a series of curves between Glen Ellyn and Wheaton that carry the restriction. As far as I know, that's the only slow spot on the Geneva Sub that has to do with curvature.

Paul, that was a different wreck altogether, though the timing was close (8/27/1977, as opposed to 5/16/1976 for Glen Ellyn). There wasn't a train on the IHB tracks at the time, but the freight train on the BN derailed directly into the path of the westbound Amtrak San Francisco Zephyr, which also was wrecked (my information on that one says "numerous injuries, some serious, but no deaths). I don't have a report on that wreck, but I don't recall any Amtrak cars falling onto the IHB (which they would have, from the location, had the damage to that span been serious enough). The span under the derailed freight did collapse onto the IHB tracks below.

(I remember seeing some of the aftermath of that wreck, and the picture was linked to the Forum a while back, but that's not as big as the ones I've mentioned previously--though it was spectacular! I remember seeing gouge marks in the ties at--and even west of--the LaGrange Road station, suggesting that the initial derailment took place as much as a half-mile west of where the pileup occurred.) EDIT: Found it... http://media.photobucket.com/image/fail/frosteees/fail.jpg?o=20

[tree68]

So far I've managed to miss seeing or being involved with any derailments.

Three recent events occured within a few thousand feet of each other, but far enough off the road that it was very difficult to get close to them.  One involved the locomotives, one occurred well behind the locomotives, and the other involved two runaway container flats and some MOW equipment.

I saw (well after the fact) the aftermath of one that was easily visible from a state highway - in fact motorists on the road at the time would have had a front row seat.  It was probably 20 cars.

[BaltACD]

Been around too many derailments to count, two however stand out in my mind.

Was working as a Extra Operator and instructed to report to a Temporary Train Order Station at Boughtonville, OH on my first day back to work after my Honeymoon....Went to the Division Office to pick up supplies to open the station which was being required as a result of July 4, 1969 flash flood damaged culvert that prevented operating on #1 track over the stream.  MofW had installed a pair of crossovers between #1 and #2 tracks on both sides of the damaged culvert to create a Shoo Fly to permit trains to operate on the good culvert on #2 track but not tie up the full block between Willard and Greenwich.  Arriving at the TTOS I was greeted by 37 cars of derailed coal from a train that had been reversed from Greenwich to Willard....MofW had not properly secured the rail after the installation of the crossovers and the rail 'ran' under the train as it passed derailing the cars.  The first 3 days of the TTOS assignment was spent watching the wreck clearance operations  with the use of both the Willard and New Castle wreck trains.  The next month of the assignment was spent watching the B&B forces construct a bridge to replace the damaged culvert.

The next derailment of note was about the 1st of March in 1971 in the vicinity of Dover, OH.  A coal train traveling from Holloway, OH to Cleveland on the Lower CL&W Subdivision of the B&O derailed 39 loads in the 'middle of nowhere', where only access to the derailment site was walking down the track for about 1/2 mile through a several hundred foot long tunnel with the derailment occurring just outside the tunnel.  This derailment was my first experience in seeing Hulcher, a wreck clearance contractor, in action.  Cat D9's with A frame side booms...2 or 3 of the D9's could hook up to a car an move it anywhere the Wreckmaster wanted in the time it would take a Wreck Train Crane to set up the blocking and make a limited pull on the same type of 'situation' and then the WTC would have to knock the blocking down, reposition the crane, re-block and set up another pull.  Hulcher's operations were able to clear about 80% of the work while the WTC was only able to handle 20%.  Viewing this operation, I knew the days of the Wreck Train were numbered. 

[caldreamer]

Luckily the only derailment I ever saw was the in the Santa Clara yards.  The switcher at the Santa Clara end of the yard could not get a box car to couple no matter how hard he tried.  Finally he hit it so hard the the car lifted up and rolled on its side.  The Yardmaster came on the radio and his language was such that he could have been fired.  I was in the tower and the operator and I laughed so hard we were crying.  I would loved to have been in his office when he had explain to the Trainmaster in San Francisco why he needed the big hook from the Bayshore yard.

[cptrainman]

There are so many minor mishaps that I think the general public would be shocked to know what is going on. There is always a disagreement  about the cause. Was it maintenance or operations?

FRA keeps track of all this stuff. What is interesting if you look at the numbers is that human error is the reason for most accidents. A close second is track maintenance. But, if you were to add together all non-human reasons for accidents, then you would find that most accidents are not caused by  operating employee error. 

 

[rrboomer]

Biggest seen was 1976 on BN near Ardmore, SD,  IIRC was 46 cars out of a 106 coal train about 50 mph. There was a string of about 15 or so, all upright and coupled together out in the field at right angle to the main,  just like they had gone around one leg of a wye.  Burned off roller bearing, no one hurt.

Even though I worked for Rock Island for ten years, the only main track derailment I was ever in was one car 85 deep on the Soo/CP at west siding switch Kilbourn, WI in 2005.  Too many minor yard derailments over the years to count.

[spbed]

I witnessed this derailment in the Cajon Pass in S. California 

 

http://vgalleries.com/members/railfan1/BNSF+Derailment+%40+Cleghorn+Road+April+2006.vrg

 

 

 

nbrodar

While discussing the Sandpatch derailment during the daily safety briefing, the trainmaster mentioned the largest derailment he'd seen was about 50 cars.   

So my fellow professionals, what's biggest wreck you've seen?  or been involved in?

The biggest one I saw, was 15ish cars - spread rail at the bottom of a grade. The slack ran in and piled the cars up in a curve.

Personally, my biggest incident was 5 cars.  My brakeman ran through a set of crossovers and then backed over them.

Nick

 

[waltersrails]

Only one ive seen is when ns derailed west of sims il hauling coors beer tankers.

[steve14]

Like BaltACD, there have been too many that I have had to pick up after.

The couple that stick out are 7-4-72 when I was working on the section crew in Lawrence, KS and an EB PFE train piled up 35 or so cars at Bonner Springs on the UP. Worked 36 or so hours straight to get one main back in service. Hot time, but one of the cars had 55 gallon drums of frozen strawberries. Set on of those next to the water cooler..... 

The  other was Fall River, WI 10-9-86 when Amtrak #8 went through a #10 crossover at 70 MPH and derailed both locomotives and 10 passenger cars. The only thing that didn't derail were the 5 privae cars on the back end that were on their way to the AAPRCO convention in Milwaukee.

[enr2099]

 Biggest derailment that I've been in, 14 autoracks on the ground but upright after a rail rolled at CN's Thornton yard in Vancouver.

[Tugboat Tony]

I really enjoy cleaning up wreck sites, but have seen enough to know I don't need to go to another. best I had was 8 locomotives tied together under the I76 bridge in Denver.