Model Railroading > Museum of Science and Industry layout disaster - Tire falls

Many of those in the Midwest know that the Chicago Museum of Science and industry has an amazing HO layout depicting the BNSF from Chicago to Seattle.

If you have visited you also know that there is an actual Boeing 727 that is mounted above the display, with a working landing gear.

This morning, before the museum opened, the tire of the landing gear broke free and landed and the display !!! Luckily, it was not an actual tire but a plastic tire filled with foam, but it still did some damage. There was no one hurt fortunately.

The operating portion of the display, other than the subway cars, were not impacted. So the layout continued to operate. However, several of the downtown buildings were damaged and will have to be rebuilt

Pictures below are of the damage. The pink foam scattered on the buildings and streets is the foam from inside the tire. The landing gear without tires can be seen above. I tried my best, but the pictures really don't show the extent of the damage.

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Note the raised panel in the third picture that allows access to the layout from underneath

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In picture #3 you can see that Chicago fire is on the scene to help people in the damaged buildings. :->

This is a view from the 727, looking down through the landing gear.

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wingomann Wrote:
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> In picture #3 you can see that Chicago fire is on
> the scene to help people in the damaged buildings.
> :->


hopefully they are hoping the poor folks that were in that overturned subway car when the giant tire fell from the sky :)

Ouch! I work in the real building that that red building in image 2 is based on.

Woah.... diameter of a Boeing 727 main landing gear tire is approximately 49 inches. Scale that up to HO dimensions, a 355 foot tire just fell out of the sky onto the heart of downtown Chicago! The scale of such a disaster in real life would be equal to if not greater than the destruction incurred in NYC on 9/11...

Any surveillance video of the impact?

Mr. MRL

kevink Wrote:
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> Ouch! I work in the real building that that red
> building in image 2 is based on.


There was a picture in the IHB 55th Street tower (about 53d & Kolmar) of the previous edition of the tower that was crushed by the wheels of one of the main gear of a plane falling off and landing on the tower. The train director happened to be outside at the time.

TAW

MrMRL Wrote:
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> Any surveillance video of the impact?
>
> Mr. MRL

I would guess the Museum security cameras would have caught it. I am not sure it will ever become public though. It happened before opening (I was told) so probably no visitor camera footage. We were there about 10:30 after a 9:30 opening.

Will the NTSB doing an investigation? Imagine if they found something about the landing gear assembly which grounded the entire remaining 727 fleet pending inspection. What would that be, 2 or 3 planes?

fbe Wrote:
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> ... which grounded the entire remaining 727
> fleet pending inspection. What would that be, 2 or
> 3 planes?


According to Wikipedia...

"As of July 2017, a total of 57 Boeing 727s (2× 727-100s and 55× -200s) were in commercial service with 27 airlines,[4] plus a few more in government and private use."


~ Mr. MRL

All the people whose home layouts have issues with giant cats have got NOTHING on this.

What numbskulls! Anything that is "flown" above a museum exhibit must be double-tied to a secure footings.

Sorry to see this...yikes.

Oh, the humanity! Sorry, that does really suck. Now the rest of us know what not to do with our 727"s! You guys got off pretty easy, knock on wood! See ya next time im in Chi-town.

Could have been worse. Godzilla could have made a visit!

Glad no one was hurt, bummer about the damage. That was a great museum and layout when we visited a few years ago. Hope to go back someday.

Nathan

railwaybaron Wrote:
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> What numbskulls! Anything that is "flown" above a
> museum exhibit must be double-tied to a secure
> footings.


Ok so the plane didn't fall just a simulated tire failed made out of foam. Need better type of foam or........so this does not happen again. Doesn't look like there was much weight to the pieces so would not have hurt someone very bad if at all.

I don't have a TV, but I know some folks who do-   isn't there a series of ads for an insurance co with off-the-wall claims?  This would certainly qualify!
SR

I used to go nuts to visit the earlier version of this layout in the mid-50's.   It was a bit funkier than today's version-  but the Blue F's on freights and Super Chief had me swooning at 5yrs old!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/21/18 09:40 by BoilingMan.

There's a prototype for everything.

Back when I was in college, a large and mysterious block of greenish, slushy ice was discovered in a suburban back yard near Buffalo, NY. It was wintertime, and it took a spell of warm weather before its identity became apparent--it was the sewage holding tank from a plane flying overhead.

As long as it doesn't hit me directly, I think I'd prefer a tire. (And if it does hit me directly, I probably won't care).