Train Derails on Camera and Starts Bridge Fire! 

Skip to the derailment: 17:07 Subscribe to Dan's channel here: www.youtube.com/@TheRailfanDan A quick note to those who want to virtue signal, claiming we broke the law by transmitting via radio to the train crew: 1. There is absolutely no cell phone service along most of the Toledo District so calling the emergency number on the grade crossing tag would have been pointless. 2. Even if we could have reached the railroad, calling that number would have added a 2-3 minute delay. 3. That delay would have meant the train would have cleared Eddyville where there’s a switch to a small siding. If the boxcar picked the switch, the cars would have almost certainly flipped over, causing much more damage and potentially harming several nearby residences. 4. Neither Dan nor I knew that the handheld Baofeng radio he was using was outlawed a few years ago. That being said, thousands of railfans use that brand to listen in on communications. That's not a justification for owning or using one but more so an observation. Now that we're more educated about this brand, we won't ever use it to listen to railroads in the future and will do our best to educate others about the illegality of said brand. 5. The Amateur Radio Rules has an emergency communication clause that reads: 97.403 Safety of life and protection of property. No provision of these rules prevents the use by an amateur station of any means of radio communication at its disposal to provide essential communication needs in connection with the immediate safety of human life and immediate protection of property when normal communication systems are not available. You armchair railroad and communications lawyers can pound sand. If we took your advice, the railroad would've had a much more serious situation on its hands and the residents of Eddyville would have been put at risk of serious injury or property damage. On another note, thank you to those who gave insight about stepping out of the vehicle to transmit. We hope we never have to encounter a situation like this one again, but knowing this information in an area where there is no cellphone reception is very helpful. -Drayton

I am a train driver here in Australia, and in a "derailment school" we were told one of the worst things you can do is to go in to emergency with a derailed car as the hard braking can cause the cars to bunch up and heavier cars and lift lighter cars up off the tracks, so a moderate braking application is a safer option. I was involved in a derailment back in 2016 and we gave it a 100KPA/15psi reduction came to a nice gentle but firm stop and we were commended for our actions. Anway, a bit of food for thought, another great video mate, and well done for alerting the crew. You guys saved the day from what could have been a far worse outcome.

Great job guys, as a railroad employee I can't stress enough how much you guys saved the day. Railfans often get a bad reputation. Your attention to what was abnormal, stopping that train and putting out the bridge fire saved the company big money. Again, fantastic job! For future reference, use the # (on the blue tag) at the crossing to contact the railroad to make them alert of any problems... that's what it's there for.

As a former firefighter, thanks for putting that fire out because it doesn't take much for a large wildfire to develop and it always starts small like that. Usually, people don't notice until it's already big enough that it's probably going to take at least an entire day to put it out. If you have wind and/or dry conditions, it can turn deadly and almost certainly damaging really quickly and that's when you're talking about a long fire fight to get it out. Always best to catch it while it's still small and a 5 gallon bucket does the trick. It's definitely worth walking down the train bridge to do, especially since you know there almost certainly won't be a train seeing as how that derailed boxcar will be blocking the line for a time until they can get it back on the rail and moved out of there. I walk down a train bridge once on a dare and it scared the shit out of me even though I could see pretty far in both directions and there wasn't a train, plus I could see the lights for the track and they were all off. Wouldn't ever do that again for money or anything else unless I knew there was something like a derailment blocking the track. Even still, if another train did mistakenly end up going down that track, you'd end up as the meat in a train sandwich.

My grandfather lives a short walk from the spot where this occurred. I remember him mentioning it in passing, but had no idea it was documented like this. What are the chances....talk about being in the right place at the right time. Awesome video, thanks for sharing!

All of you guys should be commended for notifying the crew of the derailment AND for spotting the fire before it became a problem! I've seen enough fire destruction for one life time. I live in Sonoma County, California and saw the Tubbs Fire wipe out so much of my hometown of Santa Rosa. The fire burned for almost a month and it was sickening to see. Stay safe guys!

Great jobs Dudes. As an Oregonian living with wildfires in the mountains around my homestead, I am grateful for the keen eye of that resident and the braveness of Dan to walk the track and douse the flames.

I was a railroad crew shuttle driver for over 20 years and on several occasions, I used the bottled drinking water to put out cross tie fires. It happens more often than you might think.

Because that car derailed to the right side of the track, it would have been REALLY bad if it had gotten to that switch just past the crossing. You guys saved the day and stopped the train just in time!

You guys always catch the CRAZIEST stuff, and your professional videography and production as well as assisting everyone involved in these incidents is top notch.

Great work guys! A big step toward good relations between the railroads and railfans.

It's strange... I haven't done any model railroading in years, yet suddenly my recommends are full of railroad videos. THIS video makes me want to take up the hobby again! This line is absolutely gorgeous and ticks ALL my boxes: mirror-like river running through forested mountain, wooden tressel bridges, tunnels, tree tunnels, and slow-moving bright orange engines that draw the attention

All involved are real heroes. I hope the RR reaches out to you for recognition. Thanks for your actions that undoubtedly saved property and perhaps lives.

G&W should give him a Golden Spike award for saving them so much money. Great video...

Congratulations, you officially have the YTs best camera quality and stability of a train derailment

Great video. My grandpa worked for the TP&W/ Santa Fe railroad out out Peoria illinois on the derailment crew for 35 years. He retired and would train watch a lot. He passed away in 2000. He would be proud of y’all for what y’all did. So thank you and keep making great videos

When I was a kid, I grew up on the Gainesville Midland RR. The old steamers started fires all the time w/ the sparks they produced. I'm 70 now and I still remember that so well.

The narration here is fantastic. Extremely educated and the same tone that made “How It’s Made” famous and easy to listen to, as well as connect with. Great work. Further incredible quick action to solve the fire and mediate damage

As a resident of Eugene who grew up next to the huge railroad sidings, I've always wondered where those cars are coming from, and where they're headed. It's nice to learn about Toledo and how it connects to the rest of the rail network.

Splendid video, Drayton! I enjoyed the drone footage of the train as it was slowly making its way along the tracks. You and Railfan Dan were at the right place at the right time to see that boxcar that derailed. It was a good thing that you two were able to get to that railroad crossing in Eddyville, Oregon to flag down the train. You two saved a disaster from happening. It was nice to see Railfan Dan in this video. I have been a subscriber of Dan's RU-vid channel for at least two years. I enjoy watching Dan's videos and I usually comment on his videos. Dan in turn usually takes the time to read my comments and answers my comments. When you announced early in 2021 that you were going to Oregon to take videos, I was hoping that you would contact Railfan Dan to obtain information about the various railroads in Oregon.

This is why true honest railfans are good for a railrod

Wow! An epic adventure from what started as a simple railfan video shoot. You folks are impressive! Thank you for your efforts in avoiding a much larger accident and your fire control. Kudos!

A lot has been said about the incident, and it's great you were there to help. My comment is about the videography. Stunning! Especially the drone shots, and the quality of the video, that brought out the lushness of the area and the gentle, slow crossing of the countryside by the train. A great video all around, with beauty, excitement, great shots and heroics! You guys make great videos!

Although this happened two years ago I want to thank you all for all you did.!! May God bless you for all your help .

Love the slug with the little dynamic blister, model railroading stuff there. A-1 response on the trestle fire, well done.

Awesome work. I loved the history lesson and the videography was superb. It was wonderful of you to help out and flag down the train and keep the fire in check. I respect that kindness and responsibility.

Drayton, please don't be a stranger!! And welcome Dave, your narrative style is wonderful!

I like your explanation describing slug cars and I learned that they are not electrically powered on their own. The shots taken by the drone are remarkable.

Talk about perfect timing! Your intervention saved a ton more damage and things could have been much worse for the next train. Really cool to see rail fans in action!

Thanks for explaining the slugs! I'm not a railfanner, but it makes perfect sense under the circumstances. As the line seems to have a high portion of curves and has to be driven at an unusually slow speed, I can understand the railroad company preferring this configuration versus standard 6-axle locomotives. Thanks also for acting resolutely on the twofold incident!

As a resident of Sacramento I thank you guys with all my heart for your help in preventing a possible wildfire. I was living in Oakland, CA in 1991 and still remember the awful wildfires in the Oakland hills back then. My sister-in-law and her wife managed the apartment building where me and my son lived and I helped her assist several tenants who evacuated. The skies were grey with smoke and embers were falling onto the roof. We finally evacuated to my folks house in San Francisco and were lucky to find the building intact when we went back several days later. Three decades later and I still remember that fear.

Thank you so much for your discovery and help!

You guys did a great job. Most railroaders will appreciate the positive interaction with the railfans. It's the foamers and "know-it-alls" that are less appreciated.

Great that you were able to notify the crew. Also great that you spotted the bridge smoldering. Thanks.

Thank you so much for your accurate and concise description of slugs! Much appreciated!

It's good that those guys were there and they were able to catch up with the train to notify the conductor and the engineer

the scenery on that layout is top notch! well done to all for making the video 😀

Great video, thankful for your action in reaching the train engineer and the damage could have been much worse. Your attention to trains saved this one and bridge, Good Job, Guys!!!

Excellent video. Amazing timing that you were there to help them. The damage you prevented could have been catastrophic. Hope this one goes viral.

Wow! You all helped a lot, I’d imagine there’d be a million more in damage if you didn’t stop them with those two switches and long trestle it stopped on. There was a similar situation I helped a G&W crew avoid extensive damage when I spotted a very large tree down just around a blind curve, I was able to notify the crew soon enough for them to just ease up to the tree’s location.

Great video! Good job guys!

FYI, if you have to use water on a fire in creosote soaked timbers or ties, add at least a quarter cup of dish or laundry detergent to it. (per 5 gal. bucket) That will break the surface tension of the water and help it soak into the wood. You can see how much plain water beads up and just runs off the wood. There's usually a lot of cracks or fissures in the wood, and it can smoulder internally for HOURS.

a) History, can't get enough. Love it! b) Tech info, nails. c) The setting. Bullet proof.

This was a cool video. Thanks for being 'lucky' enough to be on the scene to avert two possible tragedies. A dangerous derailment accident, and a bridge fore. Way cool!

I had a Varney brand HO set in the late 1960s and I suffered from derailments ALL THE TIME! Sure wish I had someone alerting me!! Good job!

Congratulations to all involved! As a 60 year Fan of the NY,NH&HRR, around the corner from me where I lived in CT for 19 years, there was a daily Freight Train that stopped a half mile from where I stood Train Watching. There was a Crew change in Cedar Hill Yard, NB. There were also SB Freight Trains and Passenger service 24/7 with a big curve in both directions. SB traffic would be slowing for New Haven Union Station so sparks from brakes was common. Also, rolling stock did not yet have roller bearings so hot boxes were also common. There were grass fires along the tracks. Between the creosole oil, lube oil, fuel oil and grease built up on the ties, they easily ignited. I would try to put out those fires as I had a good 1/4 mile line of sight in either direction and if it got bad I rode my bike two blocks and told the Fire Fighters at Our local Fire House who would bring an Engine (#10 or #7) with Indian Packs to put out the fires.

You guys were at the right place at the right time. You prevented a serious fire risk, plus stopped more damage to the rails and roadbed. Excellent videography and narration. Very well done. Thanks.

That was an interesting story! It looks like nice country out there. The cabless yard slug was an extra bonus. Well done all around!

Nice Video, a beautiful location. Glad the Train Crew responded to you. You guys did great job, I am sure the Bridge fire would have smoldered until it burnt down if you had not gone into action. The Train Company should give you a Citizen of the year medal.

Great video and awesome y’all helped the crew and railroad out! Hats off to you fellas!

I like people like you. I've tried stopping people because of random things but they all ignore me. Nothing to this magnitude but I try being helpful.

Thank you so much for feedback, I really appreciate it. Love the train videos♥️♥️

Great shots. And interesting to learn about the sludge. Good thing you guys managed to alert the train crew. And that you managed to put out that (beginning of a) fire on the bridge.

Great vid. Really appreciate the historical background and the areal photography. Hope to see the next vid. of the area.

Thanks for the information on the slug.

Hi Fellows I am a Rail Fan from Connecticut been some 60 years for me I am 81 years old and in a wheelchair wonderful video, as are all of your videos.

Awesome video like always! Glad you guys were at the right place at the right time. Keep up the good work!

Amazing footage, well edited and voiced over. Thanks to all for sharing with us.

I love the shot of the moving train shot through the covered bridge!

Great video! Good thing you guys were there. Well done! That is some nice country in that area.

Wow, a great video of some local action, and I did not have to correct your pronunciation, instead I got to enjoy a well made video. I am glad that you teamed up with Railfan Dan and were able to use some of his drone footage. Thank you for explaining the slug's use. Pre pandemic, I used to see the Toledo Hauler travel through OSU campus with two slugs.

Great to see such public spirited chaps! It was a pity about the derailment but thanks for the wonderful scenery.

this was a bit of a surprise ! There are a good bunch of railfan chasers hoping for events to happen but fortunately rare as they are get missed. Thank you Railfan Dan and company for doing your part you never want to happen , strange as it sounds.

Stunning cinematography.

Quality ground based camera work, and superb drone skills.

Great video with great narrative and information !!!! My first thought was "why are they using GP's instead of SD's, and you explained that well.My second thought was on that slug, which you also explained extremely well - I have never seen a slug with dynamic brakes! I think your handling of the derailment and notifying the crew was awesome, and as you said, gives us railfans a good mark in their eyes for a change, instead of just being a nuisance . Very well done!

Great video...stunning scenery!! Thank you for this beautiful post!

the railroad should give you guys some recognition you guys kept the derail at a simple rerail with wedges from turning into a multi million in damage

We witnessed a UP coal train derailment west of Fairbury NE. We were camping when I heard the train coming at a fairly high speed. The train didn’t sound right so I looked up just as the first car derailed. It was an incredible sight with the noise and rail cars laying over tearing up track and spilling coal. The momentum of the train was amazing it seemed it would never stop. I no longer sit close to a crossing when stopped by a train. Nice video.

amazing job to alert the crew!

Cool drone view of the train and the beautiful country. And the old scary footbridge.

I am in no way a train guy but I found your video very informative and made watching the video that much more enjoyable! Thank you for how you do your videos most RU-vid videos that have a specific theme assume those who Watch understand all that is being said. That’s is why I appreciate how you do your descriptions of the different things that are going on, I found it very informative. Thanks 👍

For all the virtue signalers out there not familiar with the area a couple facts to consider: 1. The nearest crossing from the point of discovering the derailment is 3700 feet away. A radio attempt is the quickest way to alert the crew. (When that failed they did manage to beat the locomotives to the nearest crossing in Eddyville, a nice save). 2. As mentioned elsewhere there is 0.0% cell coverage in Eddyville and all surrounding areas. Making a jingle on the phone ain't going to happen. 3. Just past the crossing they flagged the train at is the Eddyville siding. Had the derailed car picked this switch (and it would have) entropy would have had a field day. There is also an occupied house located very close to the tracks at this point. 4. Oregon was not as green as it may seem in the video in August of 2021. If you pay attention to the hillsides near the beginning of the video you can see a lot of Douglas Fir trees with brown needles on the south facing slopes of the hill. This was a result of the record shattering heat bubble in late June of that year that put a tremendous stress on all the trees. The location of the trestle on fire is at the eastern edge of the Toledo Fire District, and the main manned station in Toledo would have required a long response time. Creosote trestle fires are very hard to put out once they get going, and the possibility of spreading to the adjacent area is real. A case in point would be the Tillamook Burn which was a series of fires (some of the largest in Oregon history) that also burned in the Coast Range of Oregon, and these started in July and August.

When the railroad through my city was still SP owned, 2 trains derailed behind our house, both times as they went through a switch. They subsequently took the switch out and abandoned the spur.

He's a little FYI regarding the Baofeng handheld transceivers, as well as most other brand handheld units... They're usually dual band, VHF and UHF. You can monitor all the frequencies that you can access, BUT the radios are restricted to transmitting only on Ham Radio frequencies. And to do that, you need a Ham Radio license, except in an emergency. The Railroads usually operate in the 160Mhz range, which is outside of the Ham Radio frequency range. Baofeng radios are programmed from the factory to only transmit in the Ham Radio ranges. So even if you do try to transmit on a railroad frequency, they'll never hear it, because the radio is not transmitting. The same applies to radio frequencies in the UHF band as well. PS, Baofeng radios are not illegal to own and monitor. But you do require a license to transmit.

Stuff like this is why I always note the cell phone number on grade crossings when railfanning at stations. I have only called a few times to report trespassers to the dispatcher and they take it seriously thankfully.

What a great variety of things to cover in the one episode! Well done on doing all you could to assist. Would be lovely if the railroad recognised your efforts as you've saved them many thousands in further damage to the track. I do wonder if any improperly dimensioned grade crossing might have been the cause; or one with too tight a tolerance that after being shaken by the passing train shifted slightly to become out of tolerance? One of the crossing in the shot it looked like it featured brickwork.

This was pretty darned awesome. Splendid work, everyone. And is this video production top-notch or what?!!! 🙌🏾

Crazy that you were there to witness this! Love the new narrator, Love DIB Productions

That's being great ambassadors of rail-fanning. All lines should appreciate the extra eyes we provide. That said I think they should invest in a few defect detectors.

I was amazed at how much damage was done to the tracks.

Tonight, I learned what a _slug_ is, in regards to railway terms. I saw one once, coupled to several beautiful NS locomotives that were leisurely going to the Lambert's Point rail yard in Norfolk, Virginia. Some nights there are a couple of grade level crossings that get blocked for upwards of 20 minutes, while the coal cars either arrive or get stitched up for their outbound travels. Anywhere from 100-180 cars are in the consist, and it is an eerie feeling being stuck in traffic under the train bridge, while 2 or 3 fully loaded coal cars are directly over you.

Beautiful scenery along the river and thru the woods...

It took me a while before I figured out this rail line is out west!! The terrain clued me in. There are Toledo, Oregon sister cities in Ohio!!

Awesome video. Great job alerting the train crew. It could have been much worse. 👍👍

Thanks for this video. Loved the quality of the details, history, and the video both drone and handheld. What a fun afternoon you had! I am definitely interested in checking out the Toledo district for a scenic drive after watching this.

Rail Fan Dan’s the hero of the day. Great job guys!

Glad you saw the smoldering bridge and put it out. I'm betting there was a very good chance that would have taken off and burned the entire bridge. Wooden ties combined with creosote make them easy burners.

I wonder what caused that boxcar to derail on such a slow track?? That trestle fire was scary. I'm glad someone caught it before it lit up! Great job guys!

Glad there’s an old hound dog there to supervise! ❤

“There’s a fire on the Trestle! Anyhow-“ Omg I died laughing even though I shouldn’t have 😂😂

I was glad the smouldering fire was so easily extinguished given that those rail ties are soaked in creosote. Major disaster averted for certain.

Great job guys. Foamers are not all bad.

Railfan Dan is on it! The Railroad owes him a huge thanks and the guy that spotted the Trestle fire. R.R. owes!

I'd hope the railroad awarded them for saving so much of their rolling stock and their infrastructure.

Very interesting the Drag didn’t tip the Crew off since it may be noticeable to some. Midwest Railroads have Emergency Signs with #’s at each RX Crossing. 👍

I live in Hamilton and worked at steel car for a bit. Kinda neat to see.

I've been watching trains since a kid & mainly in Wisconsin & have traveled amtrak from Minnesota-Oregon-California Minnesota-Montana Minnesota-Michigan

'Happenstance' recorded. Excellent. A slow-moving train gets a derailed car and the rail-fans notify the driver who stops the train and inspects the damage. Excellent video in beautiful, wooded countryside. All very slow and peaceful.

It looks to me like something hit one of the trucks in question. As it goes by the first time, and as shown later, the sides of the springs and trucks have fresh gouge-like scrapes on thier sides; a rock falling off a mountain would do that...or a truck large enough at a crossing. Non of the trailing cars behind the blue one were derailed.