Interesting show currently airing on the National Geographic channel about a San Bernardino derailment that occurred back in '89. Brakes apparently failed coming down Cajon. I’m finding it very humorous, though, that they keep showing the lead engine as an old SP high-nose Geep, and then interspersing other footage showing the same train having modern UP safety cabs. Anyone else watching? Chad, comments?
I Saw that show to. Just goes to show that they have know idea of who owned the line and what locomotives were used. That stuff makes me sick.
Yea, 2 engines didn’t have brakes and load was over a 1,000tons. The train should of gone no more 20mpr but them were going 30mpr and the last engine put the train in exmergence.
I worked as aerial coordinator on that show and coordinated ground shooting in the Cajon Pass area… I also shot the actual videotape of the explosion that was used in the program–I was the first cameraman on the scene when it happened. When I was approached by the production company making this docudrama, I mentioned the challenges of reenacting scenes with a railroad that doesn’t exist anymore. Despite what an earlier poster says, they were quite aware of the inaccuracy of all the UP locomotives in the show but there was just no way around it. In fact, the poster might have missed the statements later in the show that informed viewers that the SP ceased to exist several years ago. Additionally, the show was shot in a 16x9 “High Definition” format, so going to a railfan video producer for archival footage to look more realistic wasn’t in their game plan…they wanted as much 16x9 HD as possible, as that was one of the selling points of the show. Further, the only locomotive they had available for the engine scenes was an ex-B&O Geep on the Barrie-Collingwood Railway, a shortline near Toronto. The Geep was repainted in the SP red merger scheme to match the paint of SP 7551, the red and yellow SD40-2 that was on the wrecked train. All the reenactments were shot on a sound stage in Canada and on the Barrie-Collingwood short line. UP did not cooperate in the production, so one of the challenges was to have a camera appear to be on the front of a locomotive speeding downhill. For those angles, we used veteran Cajon Pass helicopter pilot Pete Gillies and a Hughes 500D helicopter flying just a few feet over the ex-SP tracks desceneding Cajon. Thought you might be interested in some background on this particular production from someone who was there…my involvement in the show was due to a friendship with the engineer who operates the Barrie-Collingwood Geep!
Fascinating insights, now I am going to have to see the show. Was this the same one on the Discovery Channel a few
Did not, or would not?
About two years ago we had a thread that went on for several pages on this accident.
Unfortunately, much of the good information was removed.
Thanks for the inside info, DRBusse. Now that I understand the difficulties, I won’t laugh so much next time I watch it.
I saw the show too. I was surprised to find out that when emergency air is applied, dynamic braking cuts out.
Wasn’t there a similar runaway that derailed in San Bernadino not long ago? I seem to remember something about a train with lumber on board jumping a curve into a housing neighborhood.
Erik
Yes this was also broadcasted on A & E some time ago. The NTSB investigation determine that the clerk in Mojave short weighted the cars. Then 1 of the engines brakes were not operating so it came flying down the pass & derailed @ Duffy St. in San Berno. It was on its way from Mojave to Colton then LAX.
I really couldn’t add to what has been said. Except that the explosion DRBusse mentioned was a caused by a pipeline that was damaged by the wreck. It was like a week after the wreck that it happened. It wasn’t that neighborhoods luck week.
Thanks for the behind the scenes insight into the program DRBusse.
I now know why I joined this forum. Many fascinating posts giving a wealth of information that is not available elsewhere. Thank you DRBusse for the insight.
EXACTLY! As was being discussed elsewhere in the Forum. Sometime things may slow down, and get a little strange, but then there will always be something pop up that provides insights such as the onformation provided by DRBusse.
The show played in this atrea and the inconsistancies were troublesome, but still the story was pretty interesting as to the timeline of events to this neighborhood at the foot of Cajon.