Engine hit a small rail mounted excavator while running around the train at Leaman Place.
Ouch someone forgot to check the switch to make sure it was set right. Hopefully 475 can be repaired fairly quickly and looks like no injuries. But I wouldn’t want to be that crew.
So many mistakes there.
Who was operating the excavator? Strasburg or a contractor hired by Strasburg?
Where was the Flagman that is normally required when a contractor is operating on railroad property?
There are more than enough mistakes made by ALL employees and organizations that are involved in the incident.
It looks like there may have been just two employees involved in the cause of this incident. Apparently there may have been some distraction involved.
o boy
I posted a “short form” of the incident under “Preservation” before seeing this.
Looks like the 'Dude’s got the long-form version.
My take:
From what I can see, the backhoe was parked on a stub track, not on the main. I think the old steam crane you can see on that cam is parked there all of the time.
This raises the question of why the switch was left lined for said stub track. It also raises the question of why the crew of 475 didn’t notice the mis-alignment of the points.
And, if the target showed the switch aligned for the main/passing siding, why did no one notice the discrepancy?
As Balt says, plenty of blame to spread around.
I would opine that the smokebox door, etc were cast, which would explain why they broke the way they did.
I posted this on Preservation, too.
To my mind the crux of the incident is who owns/operates the excavator? Is the excavator a contractors’ piece of equipment operated by a contractor’s employee? Or is it Strasbug own & operated equipment.
My experience with CSX was the contractor was REQUIRED to have Qualified Railroad Flagmen when operating on railroad property. Qualified meaning that the Flagman knows the routine operations in the area he is protecting and was in contact with whatever authority was controlling movements in the area being protected - ie. not having a switch lined into the excavator.
I will have to assume that Strawsbug has some form of Timetable Special Instruction governing the ‘normal’ alignment of switches at the location.
As I previously said - there is more than enough failures for every person involved in the incident - including personnel not present at the time of the happening.
That backhoe folded up into a battering ram. I would not be surprised if there were damage to the flues on the inside. That is a lot of force pressing against that ram after it punctured into the interior.
FYI.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ThatLookedExpensive/comments/yk9nwj/bad_day_on_the_strasburg_railroad/
https://csrail.org/harz/2015/9/1/the-master-mechanics-front-end
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smokebox#/media/File:Superheater-front.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr5EztEPJS8
Thank You.
Looking at the side shot stills, it doesn’t appear that the backhoe boom proceeded into the smokebox even as far as the stack. Suspect the flues end short of reaching the stack to allow the smokebox to perform its functions.
Flues, tubes, and header end well short of the stack. Believe it or not, according to Kelly Anderson, who should know, there is NO petticoat pipe at all, just a hole in the wrapper under the stack (!) and yet “it’s one of their best steamers – go figure”. This is apparently a pre-Master Mechanics front end.
If the boom had been stowed slightly lower, or the excavator not free to slide a few yards, the front tubesheet might indeed have been pushed in along with the cinder screen and we might well have seen a major steam release. I think they were far luckier than most of the folks on RyPN say.
You, Sir, are SO RIGHT!
Note Switch Target crossways to track and position of Points.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ThatLookedExpensive/comments/yk9nwj/bad_day_on_the_strasburg_railroad/
BUT!
The Switch Target IS obstructed by Catenary Support and sign as Movement approches.
FWIW.
In recent years CPR has greatly enlarged many of it’s RED Switch Stand Targets.
Thank You.
Well, you know how it is. You do the same thing on the same route day after day, week after week, month after month, and nothing ever happens.
Until the day SOMETHING happens, because someone in the chain didn’t do what he was supposed to do.
Monday morning quarterbacking I know, I can see how a head-end crew can get complacent but complacency is something you just can’t have when working with heavy equipment of any kind.
As far as someone in the chain is concerned the best rule is the one I follow when driving, NEVER expect anyone else on the road to do the right thing.
They run three trains a day weekdays, and seven trains Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, on average, plus any special trains. Same thing, day in, day out. That’s based on their website.
As noted, one can get complacent under such circumstances. One shouldn’t, but it can happen. And now we know one possible result…
One further question -
Where was the Brakeman? Brakeman would have been at the point the engine cut away from the train and most likely would have stepped on the engine to ride to the switch to throw it for the engine to go down the siding for the run-around of the train. Why wasn’t the Brakeman riding the lead end of the engine as he would be required to throw the switch behind the train to facilitate the ending to complete the run-around move. Were the Brakemen riding the point he would (or should) have seen the switch on the siding lined to the track the excavator occupied.
Whoever the ‘ground man’ was with the excavator set the entire incident in motion when he DID NOT close the switch for a route other than directly to the excavator. Lack of vigilance by everyone else brought it to its crashing conclusion.
Spring switches.
Looks like normal ops is for one trainman to stay at the one end, while another trainman waits at the other end of the train. Paradise Railcam shows it every time.
Strasburg RR has released a statement on the incident.
The backhoe was apparently spotted on the stub the previous evening. The railroad said the MOW crew failed to reline and lock the switch.
The train crew “did not notice” the misaligned switch and entered the stub siding at 10 MPH - the designated limit for the track.
Images with the explanation apparently show welding already going on on the smokebox door, etc.
I’m sure there’s some time off (maybe even permanent) in the offing.
Kelly Anderson said the estimated repair time would be ‘one or two weeks’.