**looking for info on a wreck that has been shown often on tv, 5-7 years ago, location unknown… this is a csx engine on a small trestle above a creek. rains have weakened the trestle foundation; the engine falls nose first into the creekbed, the footage ends… the track is approx. 10-15 above ground level… i’d like to know how the engine was removed and where it was dropped… did a crane pull it out of the silt and up to the roadbed? did the crane pull it out and leave it on the r-o-w? i’m interested in details as the crane capacity and what was factored into the recovery, weight of the engine, including fuel, sand, etc. the trestle must have been restored to super-reinforced condition to support a crane, the engine weight and the grip the creekbed had on the engine… maybe eqpt. on the ground was used to pull it out of the silt by pulling it along the ground… any recalls of the event or ideas of how it might have been done?
It was trains mag order a back issue from september 1997 I have it right in front of me it has two color photos and a sidebar article. UPTRAIN
Usually, RRs call wrecking contractors like Hulcher, who show up with a army of tracked vehicles with winches mounted on cantolevered crane arms attached to them (called “sidewinders” by Hulcher). You get enough of them together and you can move and lift just about anything.
In years past, RRs had large 200/250 ton capacity cranes stationed on each division as part of a wreck train that would clean up derailments. They had enough axles and length to them so that they could support themselves and what they were lifting w/o exceeding bridge and track loading limitations (generally). RRs also have big, 200 ton capacity highway cranes that they can drive to wreck sites.
It happend in charlotte NC coal cars reportings SEFX engine # 237.
It was over Little Sugar Creek in Charlotte, NC. A hurricane that came inland dump about a foot of rain in Charlotte causing flooding. Not sure what they used to pull it up, but it was put back on the rails and towed to the repair shop. I have a picture somewhere showing it being towed down the tracks with a foot of mud caked on the nose. It was repaired and I believe is still in service.
Derrick
The CSX use a contractor that use 2 heavy duty cranes to put that locomotive back on the rails.I recall seeing a pitcure in Trains or Railfan of these huge cranes lifting that locomotive…
Does anybody have any pictures of the locomotives in this accident?
I was Mecklenburg County’s representative sonsite during and after the derailment and photo-documented the event.
I have available a Rail News article in PDF format as well as numerous digital pictures and if I can locate the file, also text and data.
Basics … old circular stone masonry culvert collapsed due to rainfall from tropical storm Danny parking itself over the Little Sugar Creek watershed just North of downtown Charlotte, NC on July 22,1997.
3 cranes; replaced with bridge;
Ah! I remeber that! It was on a show called Real TV on Spike TV. Pretty cool video, shows one thing that can cause more damage than trains, LOTS-A-WATER!
hummm… That reminds me of the Tsunimi wave… I hope Asia gets all the aid they can get, poor people… [:(]
CSX 237 CSX 248 ?? cars CSX coal hoppers I got that train on tape when it came though Hamlet,NC it’s in TRAINS magazine they got a nose shot getting pulled by a Chessie System unit
Dose any one know where that unit is
kevin
Alive and kicking…
Yeah I saw that one too on real tv. Any online pics of the wreck?
Adrianspeeder