All’s well now, but yesterday I ran an entire A-B-B-A locomotive off the layout by leaving a bascule bridge up. I hope that an account of the accident and the repairs will be useful to someone.
The locomotive is a combination of a 2383P-2383T Santa Fe A-A set with a couple of 2243C dummy B units (the only B units whose black trucks match the 2383). I run the expanded set with the power unit at the rear, pushing the other units, to reduce the tendency to pull the train off my O27 curves. Of course, it looks like all the units are providing the power, no matter who actually is.
There were three distinct thuds as the 2383P pushed the dummies over the cliff and then a louder thud as it followed them 45 inches to the floor. I have since wondered whether having the heaviest unit at the rear pushing the others is a bad idea. But the B units are just empty plastic boxes and suffered only a few slightly bent corner ladders that were easy to straighten by hand. And the dummy A unit merely lost its empty shell (which I discovered had been held on by a completely inadequate screw.)
The greatest damage was to the front coupler of the 2383P, whose knuckle was bent in so far that it couldn’t mate with another coupler. Knowing that the knuckle had probably already exceeded the little ductility that zinc has at room temperature and having nothing to lose, I pried the knuckle out. It did not disappoint me and broke at the pivot.
In my stock of junk trucks, I found a decent-looking knuckle of the same type on an otherwise decayed and rusty truck. Compared to removing a knuckle pin by prying on its head, a much neater way is to drive it, using a slender ice pick put into the recess at the bottom of the pin. The hardest part is supporting the coupler head upside-down over an anvil, but with the head of the pin on the edge to clear the anvil as it comes out. As the pin comes out, the ice pick follows and replaces it, holding ev
in the future, please wait until NTSB team members have conducted a preliminary investigation of the scene, before making any repairs. Please submit all replaced parts for further inspection. Were there any injuries? Was the engine crew able to make any statements? Did anyone from Lionel Soni RR take pictures of the scene? We shall need to check the Signal Maintainer’s Log for last inspection of trackside warning devices.
Has your management located the bridge operator? Did he give a written statement? He needs to submit to a PBT, SFST, and will need to respond to the neareat Lab Corp for a specimen.
I have to put my border Collie out when I run trains but one time I diden’t and he was jumpig up to the 43 " from my carpeted floor. I didn’t think he could reach the train but he did and knocked my new from ebay down Rock Island 5100 Northern. All the tender trucks off and the trailing truck. onr marker light broken. SOS never worked after that. I was able to get it back together except the marker light. I have open grid with scenery not started.
Bob, I think you did not understand what the Brain Pills for Absent Mindness were for. They make you absent minded. The pills are called “Healthy” because they are organic.
Well don’t worry about it. You have reached the stage where you will forget to take the pills. You might have even forgotten you were taking them.
Yeah, I should have something like that. The puzzle is how to do it with three tracks converging at the bridge and still be able to have the dummy units on the point (or to back across the bridge). I would have to disable quite a lot of track to be safe. I keep coming back to some sort of mechanical barrier that the bridge could push down below the table when it’s safe to cross. Suggestions?