Mine is when my SD70MAC and 10 of the 15 coal cars derailed and fell off my board and hit the concrete( layout is in garage ) and my nice genesis SD70 was all smashed up coupler boxes stripped, fuel tank cracked, snow plow mangeled. It was my first really really bad train wreak.
I’ve had a couple. The worst was when my Amtrak train derailed…and went down the steepest grade on the layout. Most of the cars were undamaged, except for the tail car. That had a damaged end, knocked-out glass, and a broken coupler. The F40PH wasn’t so lucky. The front Kadee coupler got snapped off, the pilot damaged, and a cracked nose. Oh, and the motor was knocked out of place slightly. However, a little Tenax on the nose cracks, new coupler, and re-seating the motor fixed it.
That wasn’t the worst of it though–about a month later, an F7 running light did the same thing. This too lost the front coupler, but that was the worst of it. The cab windows got knocked out, and the motor came out of its mounts. As if that wasn’t enough, the falling engine left a dent in my 100-year-old workshop floor! However, after some minor repairs, the engine was put back into service. Say what you will about Athearn, but they’re built tough.
Brand new Atlas sound equipped SD24 falling 4 feet to the concrete at high speed. Amazingly, everything but one end of a handrail snapped back together without a problem. Lucky for the person who left that switch to the staging yard (with a removable bridge to the layout) open.
A brass PRR M1a into the great chasm! Surprisingly only minor damage except to my heart.
The BLI M1a fell off a plywood riser over a foot and bounced on impact against the next level down off the plywood surface. 300 dollars out of the window. But amazingly she survived the drop and is still with us.
If she wrecks again, there are LOTS of shiney new Blueline M1a’s I can buy for parts. These things are just too expensive to be wrecking.
At an N-trak show we had a long car coal train derail. Another passing train tripped one of the first cars in the coal train, which lead to a domino-like topple that eventually tipped over every car in the train. Once it started all we could do was watch and laugh. The spectators liked it too. No cars damaged, but it took a while to clean it up.
My worst train wreck was when I had to answer a phone call at the club and did not even get to see the incident. I was coming downhill with one of my double weighted 5011 Class Santa Fe engines with about 25 reefer cars making up the train. When I had to take the call, my train would hold up the traffic on the single main and another club member said they would bring it on down the first siding where it could be parked. After I left, the member proceeded to run it down the 2.2% grade and did not notice the siding was occupied by the coal train since the detectors did not show it after the engine had cleared the block.
When I returned, everyone in the place was upset at the member who ran the train and probably me also but they did not say anything to me. The man who owned the coal train was attempting to pick up every car as my heavy weighted 5011 class SF and train had hit the coal train caboose and knocked over every single car on the curve. It was a big mess since some of the coal loads were loose material!
The coal train was owned by none other than my friend, Ray Brown, the person who wrote the “The Brown Book”. He was a very nice person normally, but on that night, was not a happy camper. He was not one to get upset often, but on that night, I just helped him pick up, pack up and go home.
We had many laughs together about it later, but at that moment, I did not blame him for being upset at all of us.
Union Pacific 4-8-4 trying to fly! Luckily only one of the steps on the tender broke, and it’s easily repairable. It was my fault though, I left the switch thrown the wrong way!
I have had two major wrecks so far and after I told the kids not to touch one was a amtrak aem 7from atlas hit an open switch and the ground lucky I returned it back tothe store no questions asked it was replaced. The others I nocked off the shelf 2 protos and a athearn two were fixable the other needed a new shell Proto 2000 gave me a new one for free lucky again! rambo1…
Worst…large scale indoor layout, LGB Porter on a run around, ran over a closed switch and derailed, right over the side of the layout and towards the garage floor…lucky for me, I had moved the dogs sleeping pad over next to the layout, where the loco landed right into it. VERY lucky with no damage at all, save some dog hair.[:I]
My worst wreck? I guess that would be when a general freight with two heavy-weight Athearn F7’s pulling picked a turnout and slammed into the head-end of a local with one SD40-2. The SD and ten of the cars behind were shoved aside like toys until the eleventh car wedged against a structure, causing the F7’s to come to a sudden stop. That second F7 climbed up on the first and toppled over, smashing a scratch-built crossing gate. The front coupler of the lead F7 was broken off and the handrails on the left side of the SD40-2 were knocked off.
Worst one of mine was when I was pushing some cars on the mainline into the yard; the track runs about 2 inches away from the edge of the table, the train derailed, knocking my coal load onto the floor, where it smashed. I might be able to glue it back together, but that wreck made me restrict trains on that line until I put up a safety fence.
My worst wasn’t as bad a some of those described already. I was using a P2K SD-9 to test some track. I brought it down the hill and around the curve at “full speed” which for this engine is about 50 smph. It was something I had done many times before. For some reason the front coupler decided to catch on one of the retaining nubs on some Atlas flex track. After its 42 inch fall to the floor, there was no damage to the engine other than glazing coming out and the shell separtaing from the body. It has been sitting on the shelf for the last three years awaiting reassembly.
Tom
My moto is dont talk to your Wife while operating the loco’s, I ran an SW9 off the end of the track onto the floor, darn thing never ran the same afterwards.
Dave
After losing a Brass 4-6-4 to the cement below (derailed on a #4 switch), I have vowed to end ALL derailments -ALL!
Replacing with ‘Top-of-the-line’ turnouts, was the first (and most beneficial) step. (There IS a difference in Turnouts with the same Number). Took care of 95%.
OTHER 5% - paying attention to NMRA RP’s.
You guys might like to take a look at our club website - ddmrc.com - go to Downloads, then - Video, then - Great Murwinnumbah Train Smash.
We tend to have quite a few at exhibitions and just laugh them off.
My worst scenarios are when I melt locos and cars down, I hold the club record for melting down the most locos at an exhibition - four - N scale.
Sort of a short story that would take ages to tell.
Teditor
What is a wreak? I dont have any wreaks on my layout, let alone bad ones…
David B
My cat “wreaked” havoc one time and knocked my new Bach Spectrum Dash 8 4’ to the cement floor.
Why is it only my good stuff takes the plunge? Never the real cheap crap.[:(!]
That is sooo true…
David B
Wow, some really wicked wrecks some of you have had.
My worst was when I caught the cord of an old Southern Crescent Limited steam locomotive “phone” and sent it flying to the floor where most of the details shattered. That phone lost all sound effects after that incident.
Other than that, I’d have to say the cumulative wrecks of my oldest brothers Lionel steam train around the ol’ Christmas tree while growing up. That poor abused loco & cars never quit running and even most of the animated cars survived all 5 kids over the years. Tough design!
[C):-)] Rob