I think it is possible that the wind effects caused by meeting the passenger train may have pulled the trailer into the fouling zone of the passenger train. Or the trailer was already riding in the fouling zone of the passenger train. I think the latter is most likely because the very front of the passenger train was heavily damaged and impaled with wreckage from the trailer.
I would like to see the mechanical principles of the flatcar-trailer connectors in a drawing or photos. Can someone provide a link to that information? It would be very interesting to understand exactly how this connector mechanism failed since inspection has shown that the problem is systemic.
Euclid I think it is possible that the wind effects caused by meeting the passenger train may have pulled the trailer into the fouling zone of the passenger train. Or the trailer was already riding in the fouling zone of the passenger train. I think the latter is most likely because the very front of the passenger train was heavily damaged and impaled with wreckage from the trailer.
If that is the case then the trailer was tilted in the upwind direction, certainly possible if the wind is gusting. One question I have is if the damaged nose shown in the photo is the front or the rear, as both ends are identical so that the aerodynamics are the same when moving in either direction, as the train is never turned.
The trailer is attached to the railcar in exactly the same way as it is to any truck cab, with a flanged kingpin. A likely problem area is that I don't believe that European Intermodal requires reinforced kingpin installations, unlike in North America. In Europe because of the much shorter train lengths and the tighter coupling system, slack action is much less. I think it is entirely possible if the windspeed was high enough that the kingpin could have been ripped completely out of the floor of the trailer.
beaulieu,
I believe this video is taken while driving eastward along the track. The video encounters a lot of wreck debris strewn out along the track before it reaches the stopped passenger train. So, I assume that this wreckage is behind the train as it was heading eastbound; and the first end of the train that is encountered in the video is the trailing or west end. Then after passing by the train, the video reaches the head end facing east, and there is considerable impact damage to that end. There is also trailer debris lodged in that end of the train.
https://globalnews.ca/video/4807320/six-killed-16-injured-in-denmark-train-accident
The news about the trailer connection failing seems to say that they inspected several of these connections on other trains and found the pins to be loose. Although they offer no clear explanation of what type of failure the loose pins would indicate. Maybe the connectors need adjustment, repair, or redesign.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.