@Richie C. posted:That makes more sense to me than potential explanations from others who have used the terms "buckle" and "kink".
Well, the Railroader's term for such a condition is indeed "Sun kink", and when witnessed from the cab, there is definitely a noticeable deflection in the track, i.e. both rails. Hitting such a "wow-eeee" at speed is not something one wants to do!
Remember that Amtrak derailment some years ago in the middle of the night, out in Kansas or Oklahoma, when a farm feed truck "got loose" and rolled out of a farmers lot, across the local highway, across the bar-ditch, and ran into/onto the BNSF main track. The Amtrak stated that he saw the "wow-eeee", and applied the brakes in emergency, but at speed the train still "went into the ditch". That track wasn't all that much out of alignment, but still created a heck of a mess. Yes, the police and investigators did find out the exact cause, and one of the guys at the farm admitted that the truck "got away", but he backed it back into the yard, and didn't think any damage was done, in the dark.
