Incident with N&W 475

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An update from TRAINS Magazine. 

-Phil Miller

 

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/strasburg-collision-damage
s-no-475-no-one-hurt/ 

 

 


Strasburg collision damages No. 475, no one hurt


 <https://www.trains.com/authors/?_article_author=dan-cupper> By Dan Cupper
| November 2, 2022

1906 Baldwin 4-8-0 could be back in service next week


Strasburg Rail Road’s 4-8-0 engine No. 475 (Baldwin, 1906) runs around its
train at Leaman Place Junction (Paradise, Pa.) adjacent to Amtrak’s
electrified Keystone Corridor, on Sept. 15, 2022. The locomotive was
involved in a collision with track maintenance equipment while making a
similar runaround move on Wednesday. Dan Cupper

  _____  

PARADISE, Pa. — Strasburg Rail Road’s 4-8-0 steam engine No. 475 collided
with a tracked excavator or “trackhoe” parked on a spur Wednesday morning,
Nov. 2, punching a hole in the engine’s smokebox. No injuries resulted and
the engine, running light, remained on the track.

A combination of a misaligned switch — apparently left open when a
maintenance crew tied down the trackhoe on the spur — and the engine crew’s
failure to operate the engine at ”restricted speed” contributed to the
collision.

Damaged were the smokebox front and door, some auxiliary metal pieces, and
the headlight, as well as the bucket, piston, and hydraulic hoses on the
trackhoe. The trackhoe arm did not pierce or deform anything vital to steam
operation, such as No. 475’s flues or front flue sheet.

Operating rules define restricted speed not as a set velocity, but a method
of observing the track ahead while in motion, in such a way as to be able to
stop in half the distance to an obstruction, broken rail, misaligned switch
or other irregularity. It applies mainly in yards and on sidings where
trains or engines are moving at 10 to 15 mph max. Only where functioning
block signals are in place — not the case here — and displaying that signal
indication does it apply on main lines.

The accident occurred at 11:23 a.m. as the first passenger train of the day
was reversing ends at the connection with Amtrak’s electrified
Philadelphia-Harrisburg, Pa., Keystone Corridor, a location that is commonly
called Leaman Place Junction. As is customary, the train departed the
station at Strasburg with its engine running tender-first on the 4½-mile
trip to Paradise. There, the train was left standing while the engine cut
away and ran around to couple to the west end of the cars for the return
trip. It was during this routine swapping of ends that the incident took
place.

Contributing further to the situation is that, during the runaround move,
the engine crew typically waves to the passengers on the standing train,
potentially diverting attention from the track ahead.

The accident was widely viewed online via a Virtual Railfan streaming camera
that is affixed to a pole at the exact switch involved, and also by a
passenger riding the train who was taking video of the runaround movement.

After it was determined that everyone was safe, Strasburg dispatched its
ex-New York Central SW8 diesel switcher No. 8618 to retrieve the passenger
train, and it handled the two remaining scheduled passenger trips of the
day. Afterward, No. 8618 ran to Paradise to bring No. 475 back to the
Strasburg shop for examination.

Meanwhile, the railroad began firing up No. 89, a 1910 Canadian Locomotive
Works 2-6-0 engine, to handle weekday trips for the remainder of this week.
On Saturday and Sunday, when two trains are scheduled, No. 89 will share
duties with the railroad’s third operable steam engine, No. 90, a 1924
Baldwin 2-10-0. No. 90 has 75 days remaining on its 1,472-day certification
before a federally mandated inspection is required, and is expected to
handle Christmas-train service before going down for overhaul.

According to sources, the damage on No. 475 looks worse than it actually is,
and the shop crew believes that the engine can be repaired and back in
service next week.

Federal Railroad Administration staff is expected at the railroad on
Thursday to look over No. 475 and interview the crew.

Founded in 1832, Strasburg Rail Road is the oldest short line in the United
States. Beginning in 1959, it was transformed from a weed-grown feeder line
to the Pennsylvania Railroad into a major steam-powered excursion carrier
with a machine shop that caters to many other steam railroads. Situated in
the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch tourist country, it handles 250,000 to
300,000 passengers a year. It also services several freight customers.


In operations on Sept. 15, 2022, Strasburg Rail Road 4-8-0 engine No. 475
passes the switch at Leaman Place Junction that was misaligned in
Wednesday’s collision. Dan Cupper

 

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