…investigation is not as simple as it seems. It requires training and a lot of shoe leather. First, the actual point of derailment must be identified and clues searched for. This could be some distance previous to the secondary derailment, in which case you have to follow marks on ties and rails to find it.
To back up Tom’s point.
Sometime in 1981 there was a pileup at Tuttle, OK on the Frisco Chickasha sub. One wheelset of a car near the middle of the train came off the track and cut ties for dozens of miles until it came to a facing-point switch and “went flying”. The conductor on this job was not a very observant man nor a talented railroader. He should have seen the problem from the caboose.
