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Last saturday in Austria a narrow track train was actually blown from the tracks. A woman died at this accident. The storm that wrecked the train caused wide spread havoc from Austria to France. It was a 'local' Foehn storm. What is Foehn: http://www.cloudwall.com/wind/local/l15.htm This links to a thread in a german weather forum (16 pics included) http://www.wetter-zentrale.de/cgi-bin/webbbs/wzconfig.pl?read=257456 Ok, a light weight commuter train on narrow tracks is a little more 'sensitive' as an old steam loco. This morning I've read about a similar accident on the same route in 1925. At that time the Foehn derailed a train including(!) the steam loco. Even the assistance train was derailed by the Foehn as it came to help. This links to the news site of Austrian TV. A few old pics from the accident in 1925 and some german text. http://salzburg.orf.at/oesterreich.orf?read=detail&channel=5&id=231162 It's somewhat disturbing to know that not only planes and cars can be victims of the wind. Does someone know about similar problems on normal gauge tracks?
Yeah, two got knocked off the tracks in Ohio (USA) last week during some storms. It wasn't the whole train, just a single car in each case, I believe. Never heard whether they were straight-line winds, or tornadoes. There were several tornadoes in the midwest that day. Pop
It could have been what's known as a 'microburst'..Not quite a tornado, yet powerful enough to be almost as destructive..We had one up here in Maine a while ago...Tore @$$ across the state in a few minutes; randomly uprooting old-growth trees and downing powerlines..Blew my mother's fan out of the window, causing it to smash into the far wall..It happened so fast nobody knew what to make of it..Didn't know what it was until a meteorologist on Channel 5 News speculated that it may have been a microburst..
This is from Trains Newswire, from Monday, November 11:"High winds apparently derail two CSX trains in OhioThe tornadoes and associated heavy storms that spread a path of devastation across five states on Sunday, November 10, killing more than 30 people, apparently derailed two CSX trains in Ohio.No one was hurt in the Sunday afternoon wrecks, which were cleared overnight, said CSX spokesman Gary Sease. Although as of this morning the railroad hadn’t officially determined a cause for the derailments, they apparently were caused by high winds.In Hamler, Ohio, a flatcar and the trailer it was carrying were blown over at 4:35 p.m. Three other cars derailed on 22-car train Q165, which was bound for Chicago on the former Baltimore & Ohio main line.In Fostoria, around 5 p.m., a loaded multilevel car derailed south of the diamonds where the former Chesapeake & Ohio and B&O main lines cross. No other cars on the 70-car Q202, bound for Cleveland from Birmingham, Ala., were involved in the derailment, Sease said.Norfolk Southern spokesman Rudy Husband said the railroad did not suffer any damage from the Ohio storms."Pop
This is what i got from www.railpace.com CSXT TRAINS HIT BY TORNADOES: Severe weather in Ohio wrecked havoc with rail operations on Sunday afternoon. CSXT intermodal train Q-165-10 was westbound on track one just west of East Hamler, Ohio when it was struck by a tornado. The train was powered by C40-8W 7849 and SD70MAC 757 and consisted of 22 empties that totaled 2,648 tons and stretched 4,470 feet in length. Containers were scattered along the right of way. Hulcher and R.J. Corman were summoned to the scene to aid in the clean-up. In a second incident at Fostoria, OH, train Q-202-09 derailed one multi-level autorack car on track two fouling track one. The train was powered by CSXT SD40-2 8104, HLCX SD40-2 7195, and FURX SD40U 3039 and consisted of 63 loads and 7 empties that totaled 5,709 tons and stretched 7,080 feet in length. Luckily, there were no crew injuries reported in these two incidents. (Conrail Technical Society E-mail Update - posted 11/11/02) csx_dudeRiverline for ever!
For you Southern California Folks, a foehn is caused by the same Meteorological conditions as the SantaAna winds, though you don't normally see the cloud caps out there. They are, however, apparently stronger because of the steepness of the Alps and the lack of Man-made structures to break up the winds. I would imagine the accident took place in a valley between two high mountain ridges, where the wind had nowhere else to go and was funneled through the valley. (Added) The page linked in the original message is from Austrian Skywarn, an international organization of Amateur Radio Operators trained to watch and report Meteorological phenomena, especially cyclonic activity. Though my German is not all that great, I think the first sentence translates: "This is not one" (referring to Tornadoes) or "This was not caused by one." Do any of our German-Dutch-Austrian members care to help? And man...look what it did to that forest!
JOhn Oldrailfan Railfan means anything on rails! Trains Trolleys Rollercoasters - you name it.
Labor Day 1935. The end of the line for Florida East Coast's Overseas Railroad. 4-8-2 locomotive #442 was enroute, in reverse, to rescue Key West's stranded residents when it became victim itself.No hurricane hunter planes, no radar. Railroads had names--not hurricanes.The story of the Overseas Railroad is the colorful tale of 23 successful years of steam passenger service to the Key West Conch Republic which ended on that windy day, aided by the depression and the FEC in receivership--unable and unwilling to rebuild.It might not be a scenic train ride through the snow-capped mountains, but here's a simulated route begging to be built, in period, and as prototypically faithful to the era as is possible with today's tools.Thanks to Florida State Photo Archives and to J. Ingram http://www.geocities.com/jingram05/ for making these post-card images from his personal collection available on his website.Peace,MikeA http://www.geocities.com/jingram05/
