I’d guess it’s with a mile of 47.11503° N, 120.72613° W.
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| Posted by FSWood on April 3, 2024 | |
Only thing I can offer is that it is pretty much a certainty that "Perform wreck at milepost such and such" was not in their train orders. Wonder how long it took to clean up that mess and get the track back in operation.
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| Posted by mmi16 on April 3, 2024 | |
From the layout of the derailed cars - it was not a 'stringline' derailment.
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| Posted by SteveO on April 3, 2024 | |
I got some valuable info from someone who saw these photos - a set of letters regarding the accident. It appears that this was near Thorp, WA and occurred on April 2, 1961. The letters indicated that the accident was a result of speed (going 34 in a section where the limit was 30), and uneven track settling, which combined with the speed, cause the accident.
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| Posted by Andrew on April 4, 2024 | |
What is a "stringline" derailment?
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| Posted by mmi16 on April 4, 2024 | |
Andrew - take a piece of string and lay it down making several curves - then stretch the string straight. Trains with power on the head end and excessive tonnage toward the rear of the train can pull the train going around curves right off the track - stringlined.
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| Posted by SteveO on April 4, 2024 | |
mmi16 I'm not an expert by any sense in trains, but I am an engineer by degree, so I have to wonder out loud if this makes sense. A string pulled tight would tend to pull train cars toward the inside of a curve, would it not? These cars generally derailed to the outside of the curve, which would imply (to me) that the speed and track inclination was more a factor (centrifugal force) than tension on the couplers (which would be the result of too much force pulling too much friction or drag around a corner). Not an expert - just trying to address the mechanics of the string idea.
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| Posted by mmi16 on April 5, 2024 | |
Were it a stringline derailment - the cars would be on the inside of the curve - not the outside as pictured. With this derailed equipment there could be myriad of causes in addition to speed.
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