Steam & Excursion > V and T derailment.

Officials are saying that the V & T train from Virginia City to Carson City derailed about 6:30pm.

It derailed near Gold Hill, so State Route 342 will be closed all night.


No injuries have been reported.

Steam locomotive #29 (2-8-0) has all wheels on the ground at the highway crossing just above the Gold Hill depot. Looks like a crane will be needed.

http://www.virginiacitynews.com/

Unfortunately.... this will be a job to get back on the rails...

Tom Gray says that a cloudburst had clogged the crossing with rocks and mud causing the crossing derailment.

The second photo is from this March at the same crossing.

This is all a part of railroading.

Martin



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/09/10 10:15 by LoggerHogger.

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That looks like a real mess

Marty Harrison
Knob Noster, MO

Bummer! Well, at least she didn't roll over! Looks awfully close to it! They need to get M of W to check the line ahead of time after such a storm.

No damn wonder it derailed, read the article, the thing weighs 650 tons!!!!!

That does look a mess...

How bad is it? The pony truck looks a bit
out of whack - swiveled or bent?

I'm wondering, if this kind of thing can
happen, what is done to make sure it doesn't?

/Mitch

Now that is a pucker moment!

There's a little short upgrade as the rails hit the crossing, the guard rails in the crossing
fill up with dirt pretty quick and has been mentioned before you need a run at the hill
to make it. Not a very good combination and in reality the curvature at that point is a bit
extreme for most anything running on the line. Do they consistently make it, yes. Is it
best practices, not even.

Where is their track inspector? upkpfan

Do they have one? And don't most tourist lines have an inspector precede the trains in areas prone to weather related problems?

Read the comment to the Virgina City News. Someone is upset with Mr. Gray and states he (the upset person) has filed a complaint with the "rail administration" about unsafe operation.

whistlepig Wrote:
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> Do they have one? And don't most tourist lines
> have an inspector precede the trains in areas
> prone to weather related problems?

whistle et al,

Some additional information is in order here.

Western Nevada experienced a very short burst of exceptional weather the afternoon of 8/8. There was rain up to 2 inches per hour along with 40 to 50 mph winds and pea size hail. This was happening from the valleys south of Gardnerville to Lake Tahoe to the west and as far north as Pyramid Lake. While thunderstorms and such are not unheard of in this area. The weather of 8/8 was indeed exceptional.

While many in the railfan, rail preservation and tourist railway industries have had questions on using eight coupled power on the Virginia City line. The Gray's have proven that it can be done and with some success.

While this incident was unfortunate. This was more an "act of God" than anything else.

J.

Yes, all very true but consider that the trains pulled by the 29 have been lighter in the past
necessitating less throttle at that point. We were shingling the ticket end of the station some
years back and I was sitting on the peak looking at the curve from above and I'm surprised
it hasn't happened more.

Cumbresfan Wrote:
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> Read the comment to the Virgina City News. Someone
> is upset with Mr. Gray and states he (the upset
> person) has filed a complaint with the "rail
> administration" about unsafe operation.

Sounds like a disgruntled former employee.

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

Maybe they could consider running a bus, rather than a steamer train. It might be more efficient.

reindeerflame Wrote:
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> Maybe they could consider running a bus, rather
> than a steamer train. It might be more efficient.


Yer Kiddin'...Right?

You didn't renew your subscription to "Bus World"????

blasphemy.

Rob
Panama City, FL