Worst derailment ever

[Justin The Steam King]

9:00am July 15 on my day off started off pretty normal at the engine shed got a cut together for my bachman 4-4-0 american got them on the mail line no problem untill I started crossing deadmans trussle wich is 8 foot long and is situated 4 feet above my gold fish pond (quess whats comming next) Then the train runs over the switch mid trussle and smacks a cut of box cars sending them and the loco and its cut over the edge must not have been my day  

[Tom Lapointe]

The first of my 2 large-scale 4-4-0's collided with the rear end of it's own train when the last coach of the 3 car passenger train it was pulling split a switch on a siding where my Accucraft live-steam Shay happened to be parked; as far as the coach as concerned, the live-steam Shay was an "immovable object"  ;it stopped the coach dead, causing it to uncouple from the rest of the train.  At the time, my garden railroad was in the early stages of construction, with only a small loop operational.  The 4-4-0 quickly made it around the loop (naturally, just as I had stepped back in the house for a minute!) & collided with the rear coach, which was derailed 45 degrees across the mainline; the long pilot of the 4-4-0, plus the derailed angle of the coach, sent the 4-4-0 off the rails & off the side of my elevated trackwork (@ 2 feet off the ground).  I stepped back out of the house just in time to hear the crash  ; it looked like a real train wreck, with the stack & smokebox front off the 4-4-0, & 1 wheelset out of the tender.    Happily, it looked a lot worse than it actually was  ; most of the loose parts snapped back in place, & the loco survived the wreck with no mechanical damage.       Tom

[panniertankboy8751]

My worst train wreck occurred on Christmas. I was playing with the Hogwarts Express. My dad had switched the couplings on it to knuckle couplers instead of NEM couplers. The Train ran over a switch, and the three coaches uncoupled. The engine came around again and actually managed to knock the shell off of the back coach  . So many plastic Christmas's ruined.

[Santa Fe buff]

My worse derailment...

Well, had to have been when I first tried to run a train by itself. I had it set-up on the layout (Plywoodland at the moment) and I stepped outside the door. I hear one heck of a noise. I go back in there, and the engine is what's left of a 40 car train! Just going around and around. What happened was one of my Bachmann connections wasn't proper, the rail jutted up over the joint piece. Thus, when the rate cut of the cars hit it, they uncoupled, and you know what happens to that on a circle... Boom! Knocking all the car to the side, or either off the edge. Leaving my rigorous U30B to stand alone. (What a show off.)

Don't forget when Ryan's over-weighted Athearn GE Dash-8-40C fell and hit my foot!  That's the only time I wish Die-Cast, was plastic.

Joshua

EDIT: http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4673362/12491562 -Here's a video, the actual video has some derailments, but that's not what I want you to see. Skip ahead, or watch the video. After it, there are Bloopers... Just watch.

[Stephen D. Richards]

Joshua,  good job on the video.  Make more!           Stephen

[Santa Fe buff]

Sure, Ryan has tons of footage of his and my layout that hasn't been released yet from his evil relams of the Sony.

Joshua

[simkon]

I was running an 8 car PRR passenger set on minimum 24" radius with some overhang and a 6 car Erie passenger set on minimum 24" radius as well, so I did not have enough allowance for the overhang and if they met at exactly the right time...they make contact...when its all said and done I had 2 passenger sets on the floor, one car was irreparably damaged the locos remained on track though, also 2 freight trains passing by also got involved as one passenger car knocked over a freight car causing a melee of freight cars displaced amongst the other two main lines and some scenery and buildings were taken out. I now have a 7 car PRR set and 2 less ac&y hoppers, 1 less w&le caboose, and 1 less interlocking tower, and 1 damaged pilot on my santa fe 4-8-4 northern, which I later sold because I couldn't fix it.

[CNE Runner]

No...I'll show you the worst train derailment ever:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azV5bC2br-Q

Now you see why train crews earn every nickel they make.

Ray

[Santa Fe buff]

Ray,
If my plans go through, I'll become a train engineer. Hopefully Class I. I hope I'll never see that, but if I do, I hope I live. Speaking of that, I hope I never see this:

A CSX Engineer brings on his own camera, and catches something more than the scenery...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZP8ppi23MA

Joshua

[CNE Runner]

Josh, great video...I really thought that second kid was going to be another bug splatter on the front of the engine.

Class 1 train crews make a very good living and have a good retirement package; so I would say you are entering a secure field. Secondly, there is a shortage of railroad personnel in the country today and it is only projected to get worse down the road.

Some time ago, I had a young client (we'll call him Bill - he was 18 if I remember correctly) who wanted to become a railroad engineer. The problem was that he came from an extremely wealthy family (they were in the sugar refining business) who wanted him to go to college (Ivy League of course). After much discussion, the family agreed to send him to the best railroad training facility in the country ('sorry; but I don't remember where he went).

Some years went by and I chanced to visit with Bill when he proudly showed me his limited runner card from Sperry Rail Services (this meant he could run one of their power units only...if it was required in his job). Some more time went by before Bill and I again spoke. This time he had an engineer's certificate from the Burlington Northern/Santa Fe on Dash 8's! He runs hotshot freight across the country and earns a very, very respectable salary. I guess I should also add that Bill enjoys virtually every day he is on the footplate.

Most times for every positive there can be a negative...that is true in this case. Being a Class 1 runner means that Bill is rarely home. He works differing shifts and is adept at living out of his suitcase...something that isn't for everyone. If you can live that sort of life then I say good luck and go for it.

Ray

[Santa Fe buff]

That doesn't sound too bad. I'll try to see if I can get so many days off every month, but I don't mind living like that. The only thing that might suffer is my Model Railroading hobby. So I'll go for a locomotive engineer, but it might not work out. I didn't make that video, but I agree, it's a great video. I'm looking at BNSF currently, they have great programs, but I'm really hoping for Norfolk Southern. I love the East Coast. If I get a job with Norfolk Southern, I can't turn it away, no matter what. I can't turn that down. Even if I don't end up near Pennsy, I'll still enjoy it. If I can find an opening in a Pennsylvannia District, then I'll move to Pennsylvania. (I wanted to move there anyway.) I love the Applilation Mountains, but I don't want to end up in Pittsburg.

CSX I would go with if I had too, but I don't think they cover the areas I want. Again, this won't probably work out, but I'd still want to find a great job that I like. I would love to own a Model Train Hobby Shop, but I don't want to be in constant debt. I don't want to be not making enough. That is what gets in the way of that dream - money. I might work for a local one for a part-time job in High School, but that's about it. If I can find a great job with trains, in any field, I'll take it.

Joshua

[CNE Runner]

Josh,

Booker T. Washington once said; "Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed."

Keep your eyes on the rail,
Ray

[Santa Fe buff]

Thanks Ray... That's very encoraging words.

I'll go for the Hobby Shop idea, if I can. I'll still try for the locomotive engineer, but I'll go for the Hobby Shop when possible.

Joshua