Crazy Train

VIDEO

This caused my last night of three on the Texas Eagle to be on the Sightseer Lounge floor with an Amtrak blanket instead of comfortably in my [derailed] sleeper that was left in Dallas. No one was seriously injured. I sustained a bruise on my arm from our "I Love Lucy" style stop and 5 hour late arrival to CHI from LAX. Which to Amtrak = $200.00 voucher. It was an adventure!

Ouch. It does seem like an unpleasant way to spend an evening.

How does something like that happen? Of course, when one says "derailment," I often think of the car leaving the tracks. It doesn't appear to be the case here, but that photo looks wild.

Oh it was off the tracks all right. Here's a video of many of the springs and wheel parts strewn along the tracks.

VIDEO

When that happens, I suppose the conductor radios to the engine to stop or else an electronic safety signal. That is something.

roomette said:

Oh it was off the tracks all right. Here's a video of many of the springs and wheel parts strewn along the tracks.

VIDEO

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Notice the poor quality of the track in that video. The number of ties that have splits. The off center tie plates. The small amount of ballast.

Not surprised the train derailed.

HotlantaAl said:

roomette said:

Oh it was off the tracks all right. Here's a video of many of the springs and wheel parts strewn along the tracks.

Click to expand...

Notice the poor quality of the track in that video. The number of ties that have splits. The off center tie plates. The small amount of ballast.

Not surprised the train derailed.

Click to expand...

One little detail concerning this comment: The track you are seeing IS NOT the track the train is riding on. If you look at the pictures in the preceeding posts, you will see that there are concrete ties sticking out from under the train, and the ballast shoulders, which is all that you can see, look very good.

If you were to get three track inspectors, and I mean guys that do it for a living, out there, they would probably have to walk and discuss things to come to agreement. So why, oh wise one, do you think that a look at a video that gives you a few seconds of out the window look at a piece of track is sufficient to pontificate on its condition.

RTOlson said:

Ouch. It does seem like an unpleasant way to spend an evening.

How does something like that happen? Of course, when one says "derailment," I often think of the car leaving the tracks. It doesn't appear to be the case here, but that photo looks wild.

Click to expand...

Derailment means exactly that: Not all de wheels is on de rails.

The overwhelming majority of derailmemts amount this or less. Usually, they are freight cars in yards or on secondary tracks. They just do not make the news.

Wonder what caused it? Maybe debris on the tracks like tree branches etc. Maybe it picked a switch?

George Harris said:

One little detail concerning this comment: The track you are seeing IS NOT the track the train is riding on. If you look at the pictures in the preceeding posts, you will see that there are concrete ties sticking out from under the train, and the ballast shoulders, which is all that you can see, look very good.

If you were to get three track inspectors, and I mean guys that do it for a living, out there, they would probably have to walk and discuss things to come to agreement. So why, oh wise one, do you think that a look at a video that gives you a few seconds of out the window look at a piece of track is sufficient to pontificate on its condition.

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Hey, I can admit I was wrong, oh wise one. :lol:

We were told there was a 'chip' in the rail that caused it.

What are the odds of a train derailing? Is it somewhat frequent? I rarely hear of this.

Oh great. I'm taking the TE in 10 days. I like the occasional upset in travel. Last time I was on the Texas Eagle, we hit a tire which took out the brake line, screeching us to a rapid halt at midnight... But this time I'm going back to work. Don't need to miss a connection. I really can go without a derailment or hitting a car or, God Forbid, a person.

VentureForth said:

Oh great. I'm taking the TE in 10 days. I like the occasional upset in travel. Last time I was on the Texas Eagle, we hit a tire which took out the brake line, screeching us to a rapid halt at midnight... But this time I'm going back to work. Don't need to miss a connection. I really can go without a derailment or hitting a car or, God Forbid, a person.

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Dont worry, if the train hits a person, you'll hardly notice it. It's sort of like a june bug hitting the windshield of your car while traveling down the interstate.

inspiration100 said:

What are the odds of a train derailing? Is it somewhat frequent? I rarely hear of this.

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Because it is rare. Also, most derailments are similar to this one: Low speed minor damage, few or no injuries.
To give a picture of the relative issues between train derailments and plane crashes, here is a relatively extreme case:

There have been two high speed derailments of Shinkansen equipment, both with minor injuries to a few passengers.

The two mentioned were both due to earthquakes. One, in Japan, in 2004, I think, was at a speed of about 130 mph. It slid and bumped along the concrete track bed. There were several passengers with bumps and bruises, but everybody walked out. Forget the magnitude, but there was significant damage to mph.tures, roads, and buildings in the area. The other in Taiwan, more recently. Speed about 170 mph. One car only derailed. again, some with bumps and bruises and everybody walked out.

busboy said:

VentureForth said:

Oh great. I'm taking the TE in 10 days. I like the occasional upset in travel. Last time I was on the Texas Eagle, we hit a tire which took out the brake line, screeching us to a rapid halt at midnight... But this time I'm going back to work. Don't need to miss a connection. I really can go without a derailment or hitting a car or, God Forbid, a person.

Click to expand...

Dont worry, if the train hits a person, you'll hardly notice it. It's sort of like a june bug hitting the windshield of your car while traveling down the interstate.

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Duh.... But you gotta wait for the cops to clear the scene for a person, not a junebug...