Trains vs DERAILS 

that poor GP30

They use automatic motorized derail devices to guard the Fort Madison IA swing bridge. They are near the signals and are visible on the internet cam.

Thank you for this informative video on what forms derails can take, what their purpose is, and what the outcome is when a train or a car meets a derail. That incident in Washington State with the derail prevented a more tragic incident if the train had kept going and engines and cars ended up in the water.

What you term as a 'split-rail derail' is here in the UK called a trap or catch point and works on the same principal, being used to protect mainline tracks. Some are interlocked or locked independently but still require permission to unlock.

Conductor: "I think we're on the ground!" Hoghead: "Nah, I'll just come out a few more notches!"

I didn't even know these existed. Interesting. Thanks.

I suppose the ultimate derail would be if the bridge were in the open position to water traffic. Even in dark territory, would not the bridge be protected by signals?

Seeing the derail as the last resort, I wonder how many other safety procedures were missed before they served their purpose.

With the technology that we have today, why hasn’t something been put in place for the train itself ( not engineer or conductor ) to communicate with the signals, & put the train into emergency if it passes the signal !?!? There has to be a better way than putting a locomotive on its side & jeopardizing the lives of the crew members & many more !

Too bad that happened to a classic GP30.

Nice footage and video on the derails!🛤🚂

I live in the Anacortes area and drive by the drawbridge on a regular basis and had seen the engines on their side at the time it happened. I didn't think I'd find out why it derailed and was happily surprised when you started talking about it and stopped to take a look at the derail, and it is a split rail. Thank you for the informative videos.

Enjoyed your report.

again thanks for the update 👍

Thanks for the info.

In Germany, devices for that functionality are usually called flank protection devices, as their usual use is to prevent flanking traffic from hitting mainline traffic. One common kind is a switch leading to a short dead-end track. These "trap points" are required on all high-speed mainlines (vmax > 160 km/h or 100 mph).

And that’s why those things are called “derails.” Worked to perfection! Bridge was saved, and the crew got to visit the unemployment office!

1:00 I count 11 blokes literally standing around with hands in pockets while 2 others work.

Another interesting video. Thanks for posting.

I'm impressed with how much a derailed locomotive digs itself into the ground!

Nice show. Thanks

may 19th was a few days ago so ill just say that csx8888 is the only train i know of that wasnt stopped by a derail

thanks great info

Great video news narration

Excellent content. I knew derail devices existed, but had no knowledge of how they worked. Not anymore. Cheers!

Interesting details of a very small device capable of taking out a BIG locomotive. Thanks

Great video. Very informative. I can tell you from personal experience that derails do work and they work very well. On the local that I work, we have three different types of derails in one area. We have the split rail, metal shoe operated by a switch stand, and lastly the flop over style.

First one happened right near me. I heard it all go down on the scanner.

there are a lot of possibilities that causes trains to derail and they are,, a collision with another object, a conductor error, mechanical track failure, broken rails, or defective wheels

aka: "Split Point Derail"

I’m just amazed that BNSF is still using gp30s.

Too bad there wasn't a derail in place at the Brazos Bridge over the Napa River back in the 1980's when two runaway GP9's dove off into the river.

Yeah, that DEFINITELY beats driving off a rail at an open bridge into a river, MANY feet below. Interesting vid. It is amazing the energy contained in just an engine traveling at 20 mph. That thing dug a hell of a ditch.

Nice Video V12

Heavener yard over in heavener Oklahoma has a split rail heading out of the yard towards rich mountain

Automatic switch point derail that’s interlocked with the bridge.

Hey V12, i got a story for you. So 2 days ago, in my city NS 378 had hit a flatbed semi dragging it a couple hundred feet. If you want i can send some terrain aftermath photos.

Of course, it has to be a Geep 30 I hope the crews ok

Its crazy thing is, I can go on McMaster and buy a derailer.

Oh no!

The portable derail appears to be on the wrong side. It should catch the wheel flange

what if the train was going way to fast??? will the derailer still be effective?

Ever notice how bad-news-crashes-mishaps-etc, appear in batches of 3>5's-or-more ?

Prime examples of why you ALWAYS spin brakes on equipment! Never take shortcuts, and this will never happen to YOU!

So Engineer ignores dispatch/signals + derail = Unemployed Engineer.🙄

i dont realy like derailers but they help

Flip over style derailers have been known to fail at speeds greater than 20 mph. They made a mockery out of that fact in the movie unstoppable. All that effort to install a bunch of derailers when they could have just cut the rail and pulled it out of gauge. A split rail derailer will work no matter what. I hate to see that car on its side like that but either the customer sent it down the hill or the crew that set it out did not properly secure I when they set it out which is more believable to me. With the new rules following the lac-megantic tragedy, train crews are expected to put more emphasis on safety when it comes to securing unattended equipment, especially when it comes to cars being set off at a customer track. But I'd be willing to bet my lunch that the centerbeam featured in the video was not properly secured. And furthermore could have been prevented if the train crew had simply provided the one car with improvised wheel chocks. Believe it or not, a scrap 2x4 or pallet gleaning would have prevented this car from rolling off had it been wedged beneath the wheel at the time of setoff. Even a chunk of old rotten cross tie would support the weight at rest and keep the car from rolling. In my career I learned to never trust just one handbrake. And as for crews actively running over derails. There's two reason in my books for it to happen. First is complacency and I am guilty of putting equipment over a derail by being complacent. Luckily the cars were going the wrong way but I think my heart stopped when I watched a wheelset become airborne for just a moment as it struck the derail at 10 mph and landed back on the rail. The other reason is failure to communicate. I knew the guy who perished in Sanford FL when his train struck a derail in the early dawn light while shoving a set of ballast cars down a yard track. No one told them there was a temporary derail in place. Signal maintainers were installing station crossing signals on the same track and had taken it out of service the night before. I don't remember if they had kept the track OOS or if they had simply forgotten to remove the derail but in any case there was a lack of communication. The crew which were not technically qualified to operate here shoved 10 cars into the yard and put 6 of those loaded cars over a temporary derail. The person controlling the movement was riding the shove on the conductor side and was subsequently killed when the cars flipped over on top of him. Both complacency and non-communication are preventable reasons for going over derails and yet it's still happening at about the same rate today that it was 25 years ago when I hired out.

Don't Mess With My Toot Toot

There is NO EXCUSE for something like this to EVER OCCUR unless an Employee gets Complacent. This will be Fatal to your Future at the Railroad and it should. 🤪👎

Details are aptly named, and yes they work. Darned near every time.

Wonder if the crew kept their jobs?

Are you using AI narration now? (Just wondering)

I remember back in the day these derails never existed.

😂😂😂No wonder pots going to be a schedule 3 drug. I forget stuff, but an authorized switch? That's impossible for refer madness! Just admit it. It's why they won't work with us. If they'd slow down and smoke one maybe they'll remember the derail. Super sober sofa kings!❤🎉

First!

ENGINEER JOE BIDEN !

Only in America. Here in the UK we hardly ever have derailments. That's because we invest in our railway infrastructure. The USA is going downhill fast.