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What’s Going On Here?
This is an interesting scene with lots of activity… but what do you think is really going on? Why is the loco on its side? What are the workers doing?
It would be interesting to get your feedback on what you think the situation is. Use the link under this posting to post your comments.
UPDATE: The good thing about the above photo is that the scene is not predictable and it gets you thinking about what might (or might not) be happening. If you click the comments link below you will see that readers have already come up with, not one, but a number of possible scenarios.
36 Responses to What’s Going On Here?
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Maybe ballast is to high on the inside of rail
I agree with Robert to much ballast on the inside of the rails
Workers putting wheels on loco.
I think it’s a tornado that is to blame. Note how there are several trees also on their sides as well as a lot of mess strewn about.
Obviously the engineer leaned out the window too far.
Family cat at work!
Robert, I haven’t a clue what caused that derailment. But if I HAD to make a wild guess I’d say it had something to do with those (?) wheels in front on the left tracks. If those are indeed what looks like the missing wheels on the rear of the loco, then I’d say it was a planned maintenance repair that went awry.
I’ll be anxiously awaiting the real reason for the “derailment”. Thanks for asking.
You have an awesome site, by the way. ~.^ (That’s an anime smiley, in case you didn’t know.)
I think the answer to the mystery is obvious. When ever you bring a Kiwi loco to the Northern Hemisphere, you have to turn it right side up to use it. They are only HALF done in the photo!!!
It looks as hough the crane that was lifting the loco for some tire changes or some other wheel related maintenance became out of balance, went over backwards and pulled the loco onto its side. . .Probably soft ground under crane or outrigger problem.
I agree with J E,
Seeing the crane with its cab up in the air, I think it was something on the crane that failed or when the train was tipped up a strong wind pushed it over when it was up in the air.
I agree with JPM — the family cat decided to look for a mouse, jumped on the table and knocked over the Unit!
MON DIUEX !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mes Ami’s,
Ze Problem begins and ends back at the ze turntable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ze cog lining for ze outbound track she is not is not proper!!!!!
Ze locomotive slides off the ze ballast into the speeder car barn SACRE BLEU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Quite elementary, Doctor Watson !
But this took me several minutes of carefully searching the picture to figure it out. The clue is right at the back. As the loco came off the turntable, the rails were not correctly aligned, so it derailed, and as the wheels slipped off the ends of the sleepers (ties on your side of the pond), it turned over.
Alternative explanation: the front of the loco came off OK, but turntable was moved before the rear truck cleared it. Which is more likely, otherwise the driver (engineer over there) would have noticed the vibration and stopped before going so far off the turntable.
Hi all, some very plausible answers. Frank B’s strikes me as a likely cause. Turntable not locked properly, loco front end traverses onto solid ground, pulling the rear bogle. The turntable slips, rear bogie is grounded. Normally this would not roll a loco, but poor maintenance on the turntable spur (or maybe they had a really hot day) has popped the rail from the baseboard causing a ramp, over she goes!!
Umm, someone wanted to create an “emergency” vignette (see firetruck) and tipped the loco over on their layout for that reason only? There is no other plausible reason visible that a loco of that size would flop onto its side!
I think the turntable not being locked properly is the most probable cause, although i really enjoyed the fun comments, especially the engineer leaning out too far.
The crane was to blame, if it was the turntable track that was not aligned properly, and the loco tippled over because of the track, the crane would have been on the other side to re-rail the loco.
You let the ex-captain of the Costa Concordia drive the train.
lol im not sure how it happened, but im sure the engineer’s gonna get dt’d for that one . lmao
All your contributors have correctly identified part of the problem; the scenario is: On leaving the turntable, the driver notices the track is out of alignment. Immediately, he skilfully executes stunt driving on one rail to avoid a derailment. He then spots a kitten stuck in a trackside tree but while performing an heroic rescue, he leans too far out of the cab window. The loco is now so far over, balancing on one set of wheels, that it collides with the brick building. Our hero crawls through the rubble into the building where he visits the toilet to change into some clean underwear before the emergency crew arrives to clean up the rest of the mess. As, Frank B stated, elementary, my dear whats-it!
the locomotive came off the turntable with the back bogie off rail because the turntable slipped or was possibly moved too quickly for the following loco the engineer noticed the problem and stopped where it lays and called for a crane to reposition loco on track however they brought a crane that was obviously too light and short for the job and when it took the weight the crane over balanced and the loco swung back towards crane and toppled onto it, they would have been lifting the loco from the left outside of rail and tried to bring it back toward the right resulting in it going too far and over balancing. should have placed crane at rear of loco straddling tracks.
interestingly I have seen this occur several times with container trucks and the swinglifter doing the same when reaching too far and overbalancing.
well that’s my theory or they just wanted to paint the roof and never had a ladder
The loco really wants to pull sleeping cars and is demonstrating that it is as capable of having as good a snooze as any carriage.
I’m not sure exactly what happened but I’m reminded of that old saying, “I’m not the one who runs the train but just let it run off the track and see who catches……….”
I believe the quote is: “They never let me run the train, or even ring the bell, but let the damn thing jump the track and see who catches hell” lol
Agree with others that the turnable caused the rear bogie to derail. Notice the front bogie is still aligned with the track while the rear bogie is farther off the track. The damage building and tree is from a rollover without any forward motion so loco was stopped before it rolled. Small crane suggests that the rollover was a slow process giving said crane time to get in place. The whole scene looks wet from rain. Perhaps rear bogie is so far off track that it stopped in wet soil that was unable to support the weight of the loco. Front bogie is on the sleepers while rear bogie is not which adds to the precarious angle. As the loco slowly lends over the crane was brought in to stabilize the derailed loco. The small crane being all they had on hand, was not enough to stop the rollover due to unstable wet soil conditions, not to mention the weight of the loco itself. Emergency vehicle on scene due to possible fuel spill, but no rescue on hand so no one was hurt also supports a slow rollover theory. Nicely done scene, congrats to the modeler.
A non American engine of course.
Most of the comments are very interesting and plausible, however, I feel that this is some kind of mishap and the guys on the roof are trying to rescue /help the engineer trapped in the cab.
A cat invasion from the planet Catonia. That’s what I think.
Probably, just a blowout.
wheels being installed in trucks. my guess is that they wore out or brakes stuck! lol
I think the there are 2 things wrong. 1st the turntable was moving and the loco rolled off and over she goes. Also if you notice there is little to no ballast on the left side of the track and lots on the right. I think the track bowed down. Also if they were retailing the loco the crane should e on the other side of the track to pul it over. The crane was just sitting there and the loco fell onto it.
Robert,
After working with and as a derailment contractor for over 19 years. Just a quick look at the scene involved with the over turned power, I would have to take a calculated guess and say the clutter around the turntable service rails, fouled the unit on the front truck as well as the clutter way too close to the proximity of the trailing truck. Model railroad scene look good sometimes, but then if you put into perspective foul limits, you find most folks on average don’t have a clue as to the distance. Usually, 5 feet minimum or standing with both arms stretched out parallel to the ground, for minimal just get you by distance. For derailments, and mainlines, it is usually 25 feet from the outside rail, if you have rolling stock, unsalvageable or power that is going to be scrapped. Most engine servicing facilities are very well cleaned and F.O.D. (Foreign Objects or Debris) is kept to a very minimum.
Maybe the Peugot world rally team got the contract for servicing the diesels
From my observation the M.R.R. tried to depict as to what happens when a violent storm hits . Very well done
Driver had to have a crib break so the loco decided to have a rest while waiting.
The way I see it it’s obvious:
Looking at the scenery it’s clear that the derailment was intended to appear as if a hurricane or maybe a tornado struck that place wrecking the loco which fell on a building and a crane (coal loading maybe?) affecting the area around, knocking trees out and such.
The cat might have been just passing by and entertained as the “natural” disaster took place, but it was not the cat that did this, it was a skilled railroad modeller who neatly placed a guy on top of the damaged building by the falling loco as if he was inspecting the damages.
Just my humble opinion 🙂
The cat did it, shoot the cat, workers are all looking for the wayward moggy