Passenger Trains > Tiny Town train derails in colo 15 injured

10:40 am an amusement park train in the foothills derailed, reports of 20 injuries, airlife on standby (not needed I beleive) hope just scrapes hopefully (me talking)

Denverchannel.com source (ch 7), and ch4 and 9 now

5 cars derailed, tipped over on a 10 foot fill, some passengers getting transported,
hearing reports now 15 hurt, some broken bones, the little steamer was leading derailed took all but the caboose off the tracks, (helicopter coverage)

worried about the engineer, I guess he rides on the tender so maybe he is fine, was worried about getting him getting pinched, and one of the cars got close to a wrought iron fence.

guess the engineer said he hit the wrong lever, speeding up the train



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/10 10:46 by dan.

TINY TOWN, Colo. -- Eighteen people, including several children, were hurt after a small open-car train that travels through the Tiny Town amusement park tipped over on its side, throwing passengers out of their bench-style seats and down an embankment. The derailment occurred at about 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, according Jacki Kelley with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.
Of the 30 people on the train, 18 were hurt, and 15 of those had to be transported to the hospital, Kelley said.

From Airtracker7, the train engine and five passenger cars derailed on the first curve of the oval track. Most of the injuries are minor, with a few serious. The injuries range from cuts and bruises to head injuries, Kelley said. It's not clear how many kids are hurt or the extent of their injuries but no one is in critical condition, Hatlestad said.

"Most of the injuries appear to be walking wounded," said Intercanyon Fire spokesman Daniel Hatlestad. "We are conducting a mass triage to assess injuries."

What caused the kid-sized train to derail is under investigation. The engine tipped and five other cars followed and rolled onto its side. Multiple fire crews are responding to the incident.

Tiny Town is a small amusement park on South Turkey Creek Road off Highway 285. It bills itself as the "Oldest Kid Size Village and Railroad in the USA." The amusement park has more than 100 colorful buildings built just for kids. According to its website, Tiny Town was created at the site of the Denver-Leadville stagecoach stop in a scenic mountain canyon southwest of Denver in 1915. That's when moving-company owner George Turner began constructing one-sixth-sized buildings with a turn- of-the-century flavor to delight his young daughter. In 1920 the town was opened to the public. In just five years, it became one of Colorado's top attractions."

What caused the kid-sized train to derail is under investigation. It costs $1 to ride the train which is powered by authentic steam locomotive.

Agencies responding to the incident include Intercanyon Fire, Indian Hills Fire Rescue, Elk Creek Fire Rescue, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and West Metro fire department.
Helicopters were put on standby to transport the most critically injured but they were not needed.
The park is closed".


From the website for the rr it has several Cagney locomotives, so I would assume it is either a 15" gauge or a 19" gauge. Sorry to hear that it happened

Take the engineer to the hospital for a pee test?

says volunteer engineers....hope not csp is doing the accident investigation, bet FRA may assist

FRA has zero jurisdiction and will not exercise jurisdiction in this case. The State of CO has a rides inspector associated with the safety office who also inspects boilers and elevators. It will be the State of CO that will investigate this. There is no Interstate commerce involved, the Feds will not get involved. If they do, they are out of line.

Respectfully,

John E. Rimmasch

I said assist and here is why with the pending litigation...........
I know FRA has no jurisdiction, but they know railroading, and causes terminology, etc expert-ease and know what to look for, they could easily assist,the CSP whoever, with wide range of injuries, they are an agency for the public good after all. So i am talking assistance not jurisdiction unless anyone in state or jeffco can document stuff as well. CSP is there with their tape measures, but whether they know trackbed dynamics and causes ..........so i guess they can't help



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/10 21:19 by dan.

It's a kid-size railroad. 1 ft. 3 in. gauge.

How much knowledge and experience does the FRA have with those?

You want the Federal bureaucrats snooping around without the necessary expertise?

Maybe the reason for wreck is super evident, and no experts are needed. Guess it was a brake problem and the cars followed the enigne off the tracks from early reports . No one wants the feds on the property, but determine the cause of train going to outside of curve potential reasons excessive speed, track structure problems, engine problems, jammed pony truck broken joint bars, out of gauge, rotten ties , fasteners yadda yadda, sure the benefits of having expert ease up there is to eliminate potential problems in future, if the park can ever reopen, i am worried about the park, insurance , lucky to have it here today after floods wiped it out years ago. Say they are going to reopen friday.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/10 21:05 by dan.

Seems to me the amusement-park regulators in Colorado could handle this just fine. This is no more complicated than a roller coaster.

hope so

If this is a live steam operation, who does the boiler inspections and certifications? Does the locomotive have to qualify under similar rules to 1522, 844, East Broad Top, etc?

Does the engineer have to hold a valid certificate?

As far as I know, the derailment and rollover of the Louisville Zoo train was done completely by the Department of Agriculture (Dept of Ag is responsible for all such rides in Kentucky.) They contracted engineering firms and consulted the original builder to determine the cause of the accident.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,2156938,2156938#msg-2156938

Like most accidents, you can't blame the accident on a single item. It was the engineer's 3rd solo trip and an experienced engineer probably could have controlled the speed better. The zoo let several items wear to a point where they were out of limits. If there had been only one or two items, the other parts would have "carried the load." The zoo placed additional duties on the engineer, such as making announcements as the train went through the exhibits. Tiny Town should be able to hire some civil engineers to review the manufacturers specifications, determine the compliance level and the mechanical conditions of the parts.

The original reports linked in the linked article have been removed from the web so if you try to read them you might be able to find them somewhere else.

John

I have seen just one poster who knows what the "score" is. I have been riding on this railroad at Tinytown, off and on, for over 60 years. This is a class act. In a day or two, the whole story will be known.
wag216 (right JR?)

inspecting amusement parks falls under the Colo Dept of Labor and Employment--specifically the Division of Oil and Public Safety.

from gloria neal's blog on KCNC site

think everyopne knows that tiny town is good operation -did you hear it questioned?

As many of you know, I have attended and continue to attend the ESC meetings. The ESC is the group that re-wrote the Steam Locomotive Inspection Standards for the FRA, otherwise known as 49CFR Part 230. Over the years, the discussion has been held many times about amusement parks and FRA jurisdiction. In the preamble of the 49 CFR (Transportation) there is a detailed section about size of operations and jurisdiction. This was specifically written and is reiterated at so many meetings; The duty of the FRA is to hold commercially operated railroads, operating over what could be public land (in any fashion) to a nationally recognized standard. That standard ends at any operation under 24 inch gauge.....period! If the railroad does not operate over a public crossing, navigable public water way or over public lands where by the public is in direct harm, the FRA has no jurisdiction and will not "assist" in any investigation. Their own rules specifically state, that this type of accident is in no way part of their duty to the public as a Federal Agency.

Legally, they can not even assist in an investigation and here is why; If injured person A says...."hey,I saw the FRA there and I want them on my side....and the defendant says....."yea, but the State conducted the investigation".... we get into a legal squabble over who has the right to do and say what. By Federal edict, the FRA can not investigate, or assist, or even show up! This is as much to protect the defendants, the complainants and the FRA.

A question was raised about who inspects the boilers. Interesting fact; the same office noted above also does the boiler inspections. I know this first hand as I have worked with the State Chief Inspector on CO Boiler inspections (Tourist Operations in CO). I can also tell you, new boilers have been installed at Tiny Town, a few boilers have "State Special" inspections and I suspect, that over the years, new boilers will be built and installed. Wasatch did not build any of the boilers, the new boilers are from Western Steel and Boiler in Denver. I have seen first hand the boilers. I believe Tiny Town to be a reputable and safe operation.

Finally, If there is to be a detailed battle over this deal, it will be between the States inspection agency and expert witnesses brought in to investigate. Expert witnesses would be industry professionals who do this for a living....on railroads 24 inches and less. Sad to say, whatever caused this; will be easily found....I am a 15 inch operator myself....I can tell you it takes a lot to get a Cagney to fly like that!

Has anybody mentioned the incredible amount of rain the place got yesterday? I was there driving through.....it was amazing! May have nothing to do with Human error.

John E. Rimmasch
Wasatch Railroad Contractors

http://wrrc.us

From the pic, if it was a full-size train speed could be suspected. Pretty tough predicting the scatter pattern of the small equipment in this event, so hard to know just by that.

---

Oklahoma has a branch of the state government that does inspections on park trains right along with carnival rides and such: 'amusement park' type things. If anything happens, they investigate if necessary. Coming off the track on curves is so easy to do, we slowed our operations down to prevent this. On a lot of park trains, you may find curves that have turned into 'corners' instead and as it happens slowly over time, the danger can escape those who are running the train. Sooner or later, the same speed they always ran at is now too much.

I thought the major cause of the derailment in Louisville was too high of speed on a curve...

jrimmasch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As many of you know, I have attended and continue
> to attend the ESC meetings. The ESC is the group
> that re-wrote the Steam Locomotive Inspection
> Standards for the FRA, otherwise known as 49CFR
> Part 230. Over the years, the discussion has
> been held many times about amusement parks and FRA
> jurisdiction. In the preamble of the 49 CFR
> (Transportation) there is a detailed section about
> size of operations and jurisdiction. This was
> specifically written and is reiterated at so many
> meetings; The duty of the FRA is to hold
> commercially operated railroads, operating over
> what could be public land (in any fashion) to a
> nationally recognized standard. That standard
> ends at any operation under 24 inch
> gauge.....period!


Thanks for the informed update. Good information

Engineer admitted he "grabbed the wrong lever" to slow the train down for the curve. He pulled on the throttle instead. So much for experience and training!