Careful When Backing

OUCH! And the fuel tank is taking a beating too.

J Daddy posted:

OUCH! And the fuel tank is taking a beating too.

Actually I was going to say hat's off to the fuel tank designer!  it doesn't appear to be leaking.

Not as uncommon as one might think. In my 40 years as an engineer I saw this sort of thing perhaps a half dozen times at various terminals I worked out of or into. No, none of them were my doing. Reasons vary. Air leaks off of dead parked units that nobody set a hand brake on, somebody fires up a dead unit in the shop and doesn't  wait to get enough air pressure in the main reservoir before attempting to move it, trailing units have been uncoupled and somebody neglected to cut in and setup the air brakes on them, just not paying attention as to where you are and how close to the pit you are, somebody else turned the table after you lined it for your move but before you made that move, etc. Most of these incidences happen at night butget photographed the next morning in daylight.
The closest I came to such a disaster was when we were moving a business car (passenger car) to t he turntable for turning. I was shoving it towards the as yet unlined  table with an SW15. The car's buffer touched the SW's pin lifter and uncoupled itself on uneven track. It was pretty scary to see the fancy business car rolling towards the edge of the pit when I stopped the switch engine. Luckily we were switching it with the air cut in so it stopped itself in emergency right on the brink. Whew!

Boy can I go for a Genny.....

It happens in real life too?

Quite common.

Leaking steam locomotive throttles put a number of locomotives in turntable pits. That is why one sees throw wrap around chains (don't know the industry name) employed with parked steam locomotives.

Not at a roundhouse, but there was an ATSF incident at LA Union where a locomotive or train went too far, and almost fell over the retaining wall!

Guess the ultimate was the PRR runaway SENATOR which ran into Washington Union.

I remember seeing a pic of a Conrail SD45 with its rear end in the turntable pit at Conway, PA.  Supposedly, the brakes were cut out on both trucks and no one informed the hostler...

Take her down, Virgle...

Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear...

Rusty

Dominic Mazoch posted:

Not at a roundhouse, but there was an ATSF incident at LA Union where a locomotive or train went too far, and almost fell over the retaining wall!

Guess the ultimate was the PRR runaway SENATOR which ran into Washington Union.

I've seen that photo - it shows a Warbonnet F Unit (I think) hanging over the wall with a busy roadway below!

Leave it, I like it.

Mill City posted:

That was Santa Fe's ill-fated attempt at the Flying Super Chief.

Rusty

The Santa Fe picture is very well known, called "The Flying F Unit." End of track at LAUPT, picture taken from what is now the Santa Ana Freeway, the 101. Engineer forgot to set brake when he was walking from one end of A-B-B-A set to other.

A former member of Our Kids club backed his Railking GS-4 to take it off and flames came out the top it tipped over and the side rods fell out of the engine. RIP to that 1 1/2 scale Nickel Plate Road Berkshire

Dominic Mazoch posted:

Not at a roundhouse, but there was an ATSF incident at LA Union where a locomotive or train went too far, and almost fell over the retaining wall!

Guess the ultimate was the PRR runaway SENATOR which ran into Washington Union.

These pics are definitely ...  "Ah-Ha Moments" .

Seriously I feel for those involved in the mishaps, having worked for company whose motto was 'Accidents can be prevented' followed by ' there shall be NO accidents'.

Ho Hum.

Wyhog posted:

The closest I came to such a disaster was when we were moving a business car (passenger car) to t he turntable for turning. I was shoving it towards the as yet unlined  table with an SW15. The car's buffer touched the SW's pin lifter and uncoupled itself on uneven track. It was pretty scary to see the fancy business car rolling towards the edge of the pit when I stopped the switch engine. Luckily we were switching it with the air cut in so it stopped itself in emergency right on the brink. Whew!

We had an incident with a baggage car and the turntable at Redondo Junction (Los Angeles) roundhouse.  The coach yard was about 3/4 mile west*, and it was gently descending toward Redondo Jct.  A switch crew at the coach yard bottled the air on a heavyweight baggage car and, while making another move, noticed that the baggage car was rolling away and they could not get to it to stop it.  They called the Yardmaster on the talkback speaker, he got the Roundhouse Foreman on the phone, who yelled on the loudspeaker for the Herder to line the car towards the table, which, by good fortune, was lined straight across into an empty stall.  The baggage car rolled across the turntable, through the roundhouse and through the rear wall, stopping in the dirt.  When they repaired the wall, they inserted green corrugated plastic where there had previously been windows.

* By Timetable.

In the movies they simply would have quickly spun the turntable 180 degrees while that baggage car was rolling across it and sent right back the same direction it came from :-)

Rusty Traque posted:

Mill City posted:

 

FAIL!

Ma Bell's cables seem to be the only thing holding it back.

I thought TRAINS did a photo article about turntable accidents?