All I can remember was half the train derailed as it was going through a cutting in the city centre which made the noise much, much louder and saying did I just see that? About 15 mins later a whole team of rail inspectors ask me and my friend what we saw and the whole line shut down. It was frightening and judging by these men getting spooked I ask you can you imagine seeing a derailment at speed in an enclosed cutting. It was THE most amazing thing my eyes have ever seen. Excellent video.
Best video I have ever seen. I saw a freight loco derail about 2 years ago. I dont have video of it but it was pretty cool to witness it. The train had 80 cars and 5 engines. When it happened, he was doing about 40 MPH. The Engines made it over the crossing, but the 8th car did not. The track had a wash out right at the crossing from a pretty bad rain storm that came through. 45 cars derailed at the crossing but kept up right till the whole thing stopped, then it was a domino effect.
I live about 20 miles south of this in Plaquemines Parish. Since Hurricane Katrina, I've seen a train that flipped 5 miles from my house, witnessed one flipping even closer, and then witnessed a car derail directly in front of my house. A year or two ago, they replaced most of the railroad ties and added more ballast to the stretch of track. Hopefully there won't be anymore accidents.
Wow! What a chance happening! Thanks for posting this. You see things like this in still shots and on the news after the wreck has occured! But this takes the cake!
@@southerncsxvlog In most of the railfan videos I watch, there is some sort of lock or bar that goes into place to keep the switch set. I noticed that the engineer didn't have to remove nor place a lock pin when he rolled the lever over, he simply pushed it down with his feet. I am not a rail operations guru, but why would almost all the rail videos I watch use a lock pin and in this case, not? I couldn't see the position of the switch post derail, but I thought that is why locks were put on these manyual switches, to keep them from shifting under weight or duress.
It's too bad about the train and it's a good thing no one was injured but, man, talk about being at the right place at the right time to capture this truly incredible video!
Chances are the enginneer called it in by the time he even got his cell phone out. There really are no dangerous materials shipped in those hoppers or they would have a DOT Plackards on them. Also the engineer has a paper printout manifest with him in his cab and know what he is pulling. Just wanted to inform you of that so don't bash the guy filming. Nobody was hurt except the rails & ties. AWESOME POST, LOVED IT.
These tracks go to the CN yard. The Family Lines System was absorbed by the Seaboard System which is now merged into CSX. The "C" is for Chessie, the "S" is for Seaboard.
Yep, your probably right. I haven't any idea what something like this would cost. The guy was spewing out all kinds of info on us. We have allot of respect for the rightaway. Especially after this little mishap. I appreciate your comments on here.
This is one of the best videos on youtube for derailment i've seen...simple railfanning gone chaotic. Good camera work, this should have a lot more views than it does.
In the USA you can always call "911" to report any emergency. If the car is carrying hazardous material it often has the number on the side of the car. But otherwise there is no central "emergency" reporting number stencilled on the side of a railcar as there is no centralized emergency number that is recognized by the US, Canada and Mexico.
@Squarerig We've been told a broken rail. We think it was a bad wheel flange. There was some metal shavings found in the frog. We saw the officials picking them out.It wasn't the switch points like most everyone here assumes. The first car came off the track long after the switch.
@jonnibiscuit Not fake, a few things i noted. Conductor never checked his points before throwing the switch, never check for tension on switch handle, nor did he double check the points. Im pretty sure switch points moved causing this!
I wish we had these portable digital camera back in the early 80's, as I saw a derailment aftermath that makes this one look weak. Trains were on hills, cars everywhere, rails pulled out of the ground and twisted like pretzels. There were excavators trying to pull the locomotives out.
This is the best derailment "caught on cam" footage on RU-vid! Great Job! I guess the switch had a fault or was not properly set. It could have been worse if the train were going faster.
@derail14 A loaded covered hopper is in general no heavier than a load of sand, coiled steel, coal or scrap metal. As the lighter loads have shifted to trucks or intermodal, railcars are designed to carry heavier and heavier loads. However, with that said I do agree with you. I've seen a lot of covered hopper accidents. Heavy grain on branch line railroading with a bit of rock and roll makes a mess.
Im a MOW maintainer in the UK. If you have a worn switch blade, a loaded cars wheel flange will ride up over that point rail real easy and drop inside and more so with a dry and grease free rail. The locos made it through because of differing wheelbase. Long cars have the efect of the leading truck opening the switch toe for the rear truck to ride up over. Looking at the bolsters on those trucks, they are way down on the springs and loaded also. Prety easy done with worn switches.
The last auto derailment I was involved in was a bunch of Ford Taurus automobiles. The derailment was minor but the automobiles were banged up a bit. Could have easily been repaired, but as you say there is a liability issue. All the automobiles were given to high schools for use in their shop class. However they were not permitted to "repair" them to driving condition. They could just use them to practice with. Usually electronics (and appliances as you said above) are also destroyed.
as bad as it is to see a derailment, that is without a doubt, the best shot ever of one. you were beyond lucky to be able to catch that. and i am beyond lucky to be able to see it
I worked with railroaders for 7 years and I learned from them the first thing they do is blame the crew. I feel sorry for that poor guy who unlocked that switch last.😞
cement/gravel hoppers are much smaller. These are larger cars for products such as grains/corn/fertilizers. You're right in general. You do not often see hazmat moved in covered hoppers. There are a few products that I've seen moved in hoppers/boxcars (such as pesticides and fertilizers) that fall into the hazmat category....but it's not common.
dude i have been dying to see this since i was like 7 i used to wish it would fall everytime!.... im 23 now ...... that was intense !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thank you for posting!!
Perhaps the Engineer didn't feel it much (maybe it could be felt, but maybe he was talking) because if he was just throttling up, the second loco would've been pulling, and may have taken most of the strain. Also, if the train was longer than 100 cars, the engineer may've thought it was just coupler streching, its not uncommon to see a mixed freight, over 100 cars. CSX recently tried a 179-car consist on Q335 (toldeo-grand rapids) which had 40 coal loads on it. It stalled 2 times and recrewed 4x
You are completely right. Autoracks are now enclosed and locked and carefully inspected. Damage is dramatically down as a result. Hobos used to climb in the cars and destroy them during the trip. Use them as bathrooms and a place to just crash and tear up. Very sad. Atlanta is one hell of a railroad town. A few shortlines in the area as well.
Wow cool video! I once saw 3 engines by them selves slow, stop and then slowly tip over onto their sides due to a sinkhole below the tracks. It was neat but I never had a video as the smartphone was not invented yet :) The crane that rolled in the tracks to upright the engines was really neat too!
During derailment a train can still stay upright if pulled along, and has knuckle coupler. (During railroad terrorist attack in Russia- where the chunk of rail was blown out under passenger car - the engineer of the train decided to keep train going until it passes the bridge. By instruction he had to stop immediately, however this would of caused the cars to drop from the bridge.)
@derail14 I will disagree with this. Where I am located, the car type that derails most is not covered hoppers. In this order they are: Locomotives, gondolas, box cars, and tanks, and finally covered hoppers. That is in the last 16 years. Most concerning was the nature of the derailments. First was ice/snow over the rail (Human error). Then came wide guage, thin flange, and run through switches (human error). In this terminal, 60% of the cars we handle are covered hoppers.
As a rail manager I can tell you that this video shows the crew did their job. This is not a train handling issue here and the man on the ground checked the points.
I agree with you that coming up with childish acronyms based on rare individual events should be left to railfans. But not all railfans. Serious railroaders and railfans who understand the business recognize that CSXT hauls incredible tonnage safely, efficiently and profitably. They praise the amazing work railroads accomplish in North America. And while events such as Granite Island 7 years ago are serious, they are not representative of the industry or CSXT and the work they do.
As a child living in Ireland where our trains are a lot smaller than the US. but nevertheless as powerful (general motors locos) I always used to love watching the trains go past my nans. 1 evening as a train was coming by it made a horrendous noise with a mass of what looked like smoke then as the last 10-15 wagons go past I notice the wheels ripping up the sleepers and crushing the stones. Long before the web or mobiles(1990s) and it was terrifying as it was travelling at c.35-40mph.
P.S. don't get me wrong, but whenever I take a train trip in USA, most track switches are awfully maintained or not designed right. Nearly always cause the train to wobble, bounce or sag sideways at a frog. The best track switches I seen in Germany and France. Train passes them so smooth - can't even tell if that was track switch point.
@Vermont204 Now that you mention the "100 tons each" thingy...Its amazing how locomotive couplers can deal with all the weight of the train! Especially going up the hill! Hundreds of tons pulling on that one coupler!
From the vantage point of this video how the hell can you tell this? You must be one damn incredible miracle judge of rail operations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've worked in this industry 30 plus years and do not have your insight.
Actually a railroad official there told us, that they would salvage what they could of the loads. But they would more than likely be sold at a reduced price.
Multiple Unit control, MU for short. Modern locomotives have large size cables above each coupler that plug in and send electrical signals to all motive power. There is also Distributed Motive Power where locos at the middle or end of train are controlled by radio.
We weren't there very long after the wreck. but one of the guys that was with us was from there, and went back a week later. He said all the track was repaired, but one car was still on the ground out of the way.
Thank you for sharing this awesome video. Great commentary and relaxed with no swearing. Thumbs up! Did you follow up on the clean up of the wreck too?
LOL. Right on CNW. I'm not knocking all railfans. Most are polite and respectful of what we do. As best I can I answer questions about trains and movements and point out good potential sights for setting up cameras. And I am as aware as most that our industry has many opportunities to improve. But I am always amazed at that small percentage of fans like southshore who take delight in trashing what we do.
I think the switch shifted ever so slightly back to its original position (before the engineer/ conductor) "threw it." It didn't go all the way back, but enough to cause the derailment. It is easy to see that before he got back on the train, he had to use his foot to finish the job.
Actually....the crew on the train are the right people to call in this accident. They know "EXACTLY" what is in the cars, and have instructions on how to call in the emergency. They know the numbers to call, the people to alert, and those people in turn know how to relay on the appropriate information to the appropriate parties depending on what is "EXACTLY" in those cars. This includes product, how to handle it, quantity, etc. If anyone knew the "proper officials" it is the train crew.
Holy cats! It is amazing that you filmed those cars going off the tracks! Do you know what caused them to derail? How long did it take CSX to clean up the mess? That was nice camera work! And I like that the camera doesn't shake, like I see in so many railroad videos.
@Vermont204 Right on man! Most conductors I see when their out on trains normally they do all the stuff that is requierd of them and also double check the points on the switches
In general railroads in the US, MX and CN are privately owned and the maintenance is the responsibility of that company. There are exceptions where local communities have purchased lines to preserve the traffic. Amtrak in the US also owns a fairly long corridor in the Northeast which is maintained by that organization. Love riding your trains by the way. Good beer.
I've railroaded in both the USA and Germany. Vastly different operations designed to haul different types of trains. Germany excels in fast, low-tonnage operations. In N/A (US/MX/CN) the trains are in general far heavier and longer. Neither is wrong. They are just different.
@railfisch I'm glad you said that. We were all wandering the same thing. How could the engineer not feel the the first car on the ground. Can't you guys feel the whole train.
@DOLRED This isn't a model train. This is the real thing. The conductor/trainman did his job. He threw the switch, pushed down on it till it locked, and looked back to make sure the points lined. Good employee.
A lot of matters in life are in fact taken for granted. My pops, my brother, and I up to 12 years ago used to go to Fullerton Amtrak station in Southern California. Many freight trains would pass through there at a very rapid velocity. My pops, a railroad employee for some 40 years recently retired, used to tell me that if one of the freight cars would come off the track in our direction we'd be killed instantly. I'm not an animad person, howevr, trains are awfully dangerous to be around.
@mmats69 May not have to throw them twice, but they are required to check before throwing, check for tension, then double check the points. Im sure its the same on every class one railroad, not just NS
I can see the wheels of the first carriage sinking below the rail at 3:07 when the wheel makes a church bell like sound, and it makes a rattling sound at 3:14.
@MaxInterjects Safety is all about attitude, as well as decent equipment. If someone is backing units into a turntable pit, perhaps they are not taking the time to be more aware of what is going on. In this video for example, I heard the cars go off before I saw them. That is situational awareness. And what was the engineer feeling as he pulled that cut of cars? Was he only aware once the air went? Think about it.
@cnwtrain Let's do it again. Avg. cost of used 100ton covered hopper - $30,000. Carload of corn at $6 per bushel - let's say $20,000. So we're at $50 to $60k per railcar if they were totalled. Clean up and trucking cost less salvageable price for the corn - $15k. Hulcher pickup cost - $40k or more. Repair of 1000 feet of track - $50k. Train delay is hard to determine as I don't know traffic in the area, diversion costs, etc. Not that expensive of a derailment.
@4Mr2ThC0 Actually, all switches are not locked if they are within yard limits. In these situations, as you are seeing here, the crews approach switches understanding they can be lined against them. This is true on all Class I roads in North America (US, Canada and Mexico)
If you notice at 3:15 you can see at the end of the first train cart, the cart bounces off the track following the second cart it derails as well and so forth. If you guys were paying close enough attention you could have flagged the engineer(s) down and prevented the whole situation. (Possibly)
That was just a guess by one of the officials we were talking to. You have to under stand also, that this wreck was holding up allot of traffic on a busy line. While we were there. there was 6 trains that were ordered to be tied down. So on top of the damage caused, freight wasn't being moved.
@Sgtkiller79 reroutes are not that expensive. Normally just a nominal trackage rights fee as railroads have a tendency to assist in other when these things happen. I re-routed multiple trains a day over a 80 mile NS main and the costs were in the thousands...not millions.
This De-Railment kinda reminds me alot of the 2 train de-railments that happened here in Kentucky (Bullitt County) 1) occurred in 2005 or 2006, 2) occurred in 2008, 2009 or 2010, although # 2 was carrying auto carriers , it de-railed at the same location as # 1 (Location of both de-railments was Coral Ridge Rd., & Hubert Station Rd.) Just before the city of Shepherdsville, Ky.
Just realized that you were one of the guys posting this. Great video by the way. Very unique and you guys look like you were very responsible in the way you were shooting. My gut feel, based on decades of doing this, is that the official who gave you this figure was just throwing out numbers. Now, if there is something going on here that I don't know about I suppose it's possible. However, in general an accident like this, including delays, would be dramatically less. Again, good video.
If this ever happens around you, here's what you do. Wait for the disaster to be over. Walk up to the track and examine it. Bend over and reach down. Come back up and ask, "Who put this penny here?!" You get bonus points if you can convincingly palm a penny so it looks like you got it from the track. Extra bonus points if you use a pre-flattened penny.
@eosrk Looks like to me he made sure the switch locked and then he looked over at the points twice. Also, the derailment did not appear to occur at the points. Hard to be sure.
Around the 3:10-3:15 mark if you look closely to the left of the screen you can actually see the first hopper sag a bit and at 3:15 can see the rear trucks of the first hopper hit the ground and begin to drag.
You are, for the most part, correct as it pertains to automobiles. IN a minor derailment the cars are inspected and they can be sold. But in a major derailment where railcars end up on their sides, even if the automobile is seemingly ok it is not sold to the end consumer. Some are given to high school or college shop classes. others donated to other causes. The caveat is....they can never be driven. Safety reasons as you said.
@HaloCE14 Actually railroads are spending massive amounts right now upgrading tracks, buying new cars and locomotives. Railroads abandon lines when there is no traffic on the lines anymore. Factories close down or shift production. It happens. As a result those lines are abandoned or sold. There will be huge opportunities to work in the rail industry. We are faced with incredible # of retirements. Go to school. Major in logistics. Jobs will be waiting. Good luck to you.
@MrTroll199 Mass Coastal did not buy out CSXT. The state of Mass entered into an agreement with CSXT where the state would own the trackage with the intent of operating passenger trains. CSXT wanted no part of having passengers move over those lines. Mass Coastal will serve as a short line rail carrier and shuttle the freight traffic up to CSXT. The lines will see significant upgrades in the next year or two. The Mass Coastal operators are a class act.
WOW I love trains, and where I live there are 63 - 64 trains passing through every day, so if your anything like me, this just must of made you EXUBERANT to see!!!!
The engineer tried several times to "force" the switch over (without ONCE "checking" to see why it was not going smoothly) & HE did nothing to alleviate the problem (as something "stopped" the toe of the switchblade from closing cleanly. ie: something kept the toe of the switchblade JUST open enough so that it DID NOT LOCK OVER & note also -the rotor signal DID not rotate fully) BOTH loco's had "close-axle-sets" & both loco's past over, but the LENGTH of the wagon's allowed the toe to "split" !!
The one thing an engineer has to watch is his amp meter. If his amp meter suddenly goes up that means he's pulling harder than he should have to to keep the train moving. This means that somethings wrong back there. But sometimes they don't know anythings wrong until the air blows then the cond takes a stroll and finds himself in the middle of what looks like WWIII. Nice catch.
