Bridge Collapses Under Train!

[@LouT1501]

Thanks for the video, Aaron! Most of my trips south across that were from 1996 to 2003. Even then, crossing that bridge was a little concerning. Back then, we ran at a blazing 10 mph but now (and since about 2004) the line has a 5 mph speed restriction.

[@patprop74]

No reported injuries, but lots of brown shorts, Thank you so much for keeping us up to snuff.

[@Joeyshobbygarage]

Thank you for providing more details and insights than any of the local news coverage, including the info on locomotives and state of the line in both directions! Your drone footage is clearer, sharper and more stable, and you didn’t add ridiculous stock “rock” music over the top of it. Much appreciated from FG.

[@7ideaproductions]

Thank you!

[@darrenhillman8396]

That looks a difficult site to access for the recovery process. Thankful that the GP38’s didn’t fall in to the river and the crew are safe. Greetings from the UK.

[@steveblanchard2712]

Love to see these short lines get rebuilt. Many are way overdue for upgrades. Good thing the crew survived.

[@rogerlaurel2363]

This railroad is in bankruptcy. No rebuild. No upgrades. End of the line. Rail to trail conversion.

[@dingusflingus]

​@rogerlaurel2363 there is no info that the portland and Western are in bankruptcy.

[@skylarw6670]

@@rogerlaurel2363 Portland & Western is not in bankruptcy. Neither is Rick Franklin/Albany & Eastern. The line will be rebuilt since there is still vital traffic 5 miles outside of Corvallis to farms.

[@mackpines]

Better fertilizer than oil in the river. The crew was EXTREMELY lucky to get across with the locomotive. From what I can see is that the trestle looks to have been partially burned (an eyewitness said it did last year) Combine that with a log or other large debris striking a support member, it was only a matter of time until it would collapse.

[@7ideaproductions]

That's true. A lot worse things than nitrogen could have ended up in the river. The high volume of water will help flush it out. Maybe some extra green and tall weeds along its banks this spring!

[@ianchromebook7262]

It took a very long time clear the mess

[@andrewreynolds4949]

I'm not familiar with construction standards for covered hoppers and prevention of spills, but regulation on tank cars is very strict. If it was tank cars full of oil I doubt it would have leaked from a minor fall like this.

[@philhoward4466]

@@ianchromebook7262 probably a long crane. (i was not there)

[@Greatdome99]

P&W might be a 'regional RR' but it's owned by Genessee and Western, which owns over 100 RRs in North America, Europe and Australia.

[@raincoast9010]

Just under built, a 5 mph speed limit shows you they knew it was sketchy.

[@coldblue9mm]

Under built? Nothing the railroads build is under built. I'm going with under maintained. Nothing lasts forever.

[@ianmckinley5613]

Looking at the track in other parts of the video would lead me to speculate that the speed restriction was because of overall maintenance issues.

[@coldblue9mm]

@@ianmckinley5613 From what I understand, the 5 MPH speed restriction was on the bridge, not the track. Also, if you know anything about track speeds, you'll know that 5 MPH is a unusual speed. 10 MPH is the most common speed restriction on track issues or yard track.

[@kiefershanks4172]

10mph is by default the slowest speed you should go if you were to encounter a potential defect/flag. It is condemnable. 5mph is beyond condemnable.

[@bigcatauna]

Maintenance goes a long way

[@kelvintorrence5994]

Thats what I was s thinking myself

[@HoboEAT]

Or lack of..............

[@philhoward4466]

replacement goes even longer.

[@timpritts1499]

​@@HoboEATEXACTLY 💯

[@richardhead1114]

I’m glad everyone is safe

[@randallfawc7501]

Excellent vid/job 7idea!! Those timbers looked badly compromised from the fire.

[@7ideaproductions]

I knew there had been a fire on the trestle a couple of years ago but I was really surprised by how it looked when I filmed those scenes yesterday.

[@chichard86]

Thanks for the update! Hopefully the recovery/rebuild goes well.

[@markotis5053]

Thanks for posting this video, I had just finished watching your Yaquina-Toledo Branch videos just before seeing this story.

[@ColtonRMagby]

HOLY SMOKES! Those guys are LUCKY to have made it across before it collapsed.

[@BegudMaximan-zp2tc]

Yep, sure are and the locos were no doubt the heaviest things to cross first!

[@ColtonRMagby]

@BegudMaximan-zp2tc Maybe they were, and maybe they weren't. The only way to know is a certified scale.

[@DEATH7712]

I talked to a GW crew down in Alabama two years ago, the bridge failed there and the crew said the felt a jerk backwards and then it let go as the train cars separated and the last two went into the water

[@ColtonRMagby]

@DEATH7712 Wow.

[@coldblue9mm]

@BegudMaximan-zp2tc You'd be surprised to know how heavy those covered hoppers can be. They're almost the same as some of the smaller locomotives.

[@-SkyCat-]

i'd say the fire didn't really harm it as the wood inside looks fine but maybe started slowly failing.. the fire was in 22 and the trains go across that a lot. the high water might have been the cause.

[@sleepyjay2664]

Probably the Swiss-cheese model of accidents kicking in. Bridge is good with the fire damage, or high water, or heavy load. Kick in all three at the same time though, and you have hoppers pretending to be boats.

[@4FuckingKids]

Fire didn’t harm wood? Okay🤦🏼

[@maestromecanico597]

My understanding is that P&W has had a series of “short-term” leases of this line: 20 years each. When you don’t have a long-term lease or outright ownership it’s hard to justify expending big bucks on a long-term asset you can’t take with you.

[@BegudMaximan-zp2tc]

@@maestromecanico597 or risk this clean up bill. 🤨🤯🤣🤣🤣

[@maestromecanico597]

@ The potential cost of a cleanup enters the equation. Considering the benign nature of the dumped load (as opposed a breached tankcar of anhydrous ammonia) the cleanup will still be cheaper than bridge replacement.

[@Railroadracer49]

Wow Thank god no one was hurt 🙏🏻

[@slimonion1975]

Whoa glad they are safe from that

[@davidstrawn9272]

My God.. That was terrible! 😱😱 Well I'm glad the the engines and the crew made it safe!

[@andrewcrumb8027]

I'm glad they made it safely too, but I hope they'll get that mess cleaned up and get that old bridge replaced.

[@davidstrawn9272]

@andrewcrumb8027 I hope for that too!

[@claytonbrown7100]

Great video...I actually learned something as opposed to superficial tv news coverage.

[@EnricosModelleisenbahn]

Thank you for the video. I'm surprised that the railway line in general is in such poor condition. The track situation is really very bad and something like that would not be permitted here in Germany. Greetings from Germany.

[@ricomon35]

Big difference between the private corporation railroads here, and your State owned DB over there. Things are done differently over here, and not always well.

[@foellerd]

Generally most of our infrastructure in the USA is from the 60’s-70’s and just barely held together. We don’t take pride in having good infrastructure in this country, instead we try to get by with the lowest standards possible for as long as deemed safe. Odds are when skirting that close to the margin of safety on a regular basis mistakes will be made. This bridge was pushed past its safe usefulness, the bare minimum wasn’t enough here. I walked this bridge a few times when I was in college and the same thought always came to mind, I can’t believe this bridge can hold up a freight train.

[@barksatyoubarks]

Your government actually takes care of its track, our private railroad companies avoid spending money like the plague because profit is priority one above all.

[@HHSEAWAUSA]

This reminds me of a wooden trestle collapse in the summer of 1977 involving the Milwaukee Road over the Nisqually River at McKenna, WA. There had been a fire on that structure a few days previous, but the trains continued to cross until it collapsed, creating a mess, including, as I recall, copper ore into the river that was likely on its way to the Asarco smelter in Ruston. I couldn't find any information online in regards to that incident, so I am writing strictly on my memory alone. Maybe someone else has more knowledge of this incident.

[@Greatdome99]

I don't recall any copper mines up there. Just lumber.

[@es-bv8fb]

I bet the heat from the fire made the normally tight bolts and nuts loosen and the years of engines traversing them further loosened them causing the whole bridge to move underwater and the eddy currents developed eroding all stability underwater until it finally gave out

[@JawTooth]

Crew was very lucky. Locomotives are a lot heavier than the loaded freight cars.

[@user-wm3hu7lo1g]

They should get a discount on that lease agreement with UP!

[@Joe-d7m6k]

UP== UTTERLY PATHETIC.

[@natgass8102]

nice to see you branching out into short story breaking news!!

[@andrewcrumb8027]

I'm glad the train crew was safe, 7idea, but I do hope they'll get that mess cleaned up and that bridge replaced in order to get the Portland & Western Railroad running again.

[@Southwest_923WR]

Glad they guys on "point" made it across, and Id bet on that fire was a factor. Those times look pretty well cooked which would lead to lose of strength! Keep up the good work. 👍🏿

[@ddthompson42]

I hope those cars aren't leaking! Tons of urea in the water can't be good.

[@davep6977]

I want to see the recovery and rebuild

[@philhoward4466]

if that even happens. said above, that they are in bankruptcy.

[@steelewulf]

Deemed safe is corporate talk for "we don't want to spend the money it would cost to replace it"

[@OddsandEnds]

This reminds me of the POTB hope they will rebuild

[@foellerd]

I miss the POTB so much.

[@rogertemple7193]

I'm glad that the train crew are okay thank you.🚂🚃🚃🇺🇲

[@hoverhead047]

What a great report. All the facts without excess verbiage and scenes long enough to have a good look at what happened.

[@chrisw443]

So they have a bridge made of damaged wood from the freaking 60's and never thought hey, maybe we should update it? lol.

[@barksatyoubarks]

Spending money on infrastructure improvement to ensure safety and reliablity? Nah, that would cut into the railroad company's profits! And nothing comes before profit to these companies!

[@SLRNUT]

Profit profit

[@HomeTubeNW]

It wasn't built with damaged wood. The wood was damaged by fire 2+ years ago. I would bet the steel was also compromised by the heat.

[@tropicalties3806]

Shifting pilings might be the culprit.

[@lovethemack]

great footage, very informative and fun to watch. Man that old siding has some bad track lol

[@ethanx908]

Now everything south of that track is screwed

[@jeffpierce6965]

There’s only one farm that they deliver to on that spur. The rest of the line was decommissioned several years ago.

[@andrewreynolds4949]

The breaks on those timbers look like they still are okay under the charred exterior. I'd bet it was the river that brought it down, possibly one of the pilings was undercut by the extra flow.

[@EpicTrainsCanada]

Thanks for documenting this. That's quite the footage!

[@Peter-mt6lg]

Glad the engine's didn't go into the drink😺

[@csxtrainfan319]

That was wild, just thankful it the cars that fell into the water and not the locomotives where the crew could’ve gotten killed

[@Mike44460]

Keep up us updated, thank you.

[@IamValentina66]

OMG. I was just watching your videos on this area and now!!!!

[@josealdecoa2417]

Those timbers were brittle just waiting to snap . But the construction of that bridge looks like it was metal in the middle and wood on the ends. That middle part was expanding and contracting more than the sides.

[@T128Productions]

Guess they’re gonna need a bigger bridge after the derailment’s cleaned up.

[@pvtimberfaller]

I almost went to work for P&W as operating crew on that line in 2008.

[@Rockstar97321]

Corvallis is in Benton County. Downstream, Albany is in Linn County. So far, the 4 governments have not posted any signs along the rivers warning people of the possible toxic water. Mary's River flows to the Willamette River, and the Willamette River flows about 10 miles to Albany.

[@beeble2003]

Urea isn't toxic in the small concentrations that will be present.

[@jeffpierce6965]

No one in that area gets their drinking water from the Willamette, and the water levels are flowing so high end fast any leakage is already being diluted and flushed down. The river was between action stage and minor flood stage just a few days ago.

[@blairterry9435]

Maybe the fire from 2022 may have been a contributing factor to its collapse. They’re going to need a big hook to fish out the freight cars.

[@justindeclemente1130]

The Japanese burn (Shou Sugi Ban) their wood, sand it and seal it to preserve it. The PNWR crosses some beautiful ‘old’ wooden bridges that need to be seen to be believed.

[@kamala2111]

Wow lucky engineers

[@garrettsousa818]

Oh my God, the bridge collapse under the train that’s horrible. Luckily no one was hurt.

[@HoboEAT]

(WHO) deemed it "safe" after the fire ???

[@michelsmet2611]

It is obvious that the bridge has been damaged by fire !

[@stevehayes2922]

I hope you will do more timely content like this in the future!

[@HHSEAWAUSA]

The ore came from somewhere else in the USA, the copper smelter was at Ruston near Tacoma. That was likely the ore destination

[@Knitting_n_Trucking]

That river is going to be GREEN come summer!

[@richardbrobeck2384]

Thank you for the great video !

[@philhoward4466]

my prediction: a combination of fire singe plus high water weakened the supports. the singe allowed water in as the high water got up to where the singe allowed the water into the interior of the wood and allowed it to weaken more than it already was from singe and rain over the years since the fire.

[@davidwhiting1761]

Sad thing is a bit of long-term investment like replacing the bridge after the fire would have prevented this. Voluntarily closing the line temporarily to replace a bridge is better than being forced to close the branch to replace a bridge after a collapse and spilling at least 2 cars of urea into the river. Now they have to clean the river, rebuild the track, replace the bridge, deal with the broken cars, and the bad PR of literal crumbling infrastructure under a unit train will do the railroad no favors. The fact it had a 5mph speed limit shows that the bridge was already compromised after the fire. You cannot tell me that just replacing the bridge would have been more expensive than what the bill is going to be for cleaning up this mess. Since UP owns the track but is leasing it out to the Portland & Western, who is in charge of maintaining the track?

[@kevintoler7445]

Probably UP

[@anttiojala9009]

Don't they have regular bridge inspection in U.S.? Here in Finland, this kind of bridge will have twice-a-year inspection by the State, no matter of property owner.

[@johnsmart964]

Thank you very much for this very important and informative presentation which is very much appreciated. It is a problem with sparsely used freight lines, is that maintenance is not the number one priority, although the lack thereof always catches up with an organisation eventually. Hopefully it will be replaced with a metal bridge. Although this is a large investment it will mean that the trains will be able to be longer and travel faster so will pay for itself in the long run. Certainly, the underwater vegetation will be flourishing after this lapse!

[@rogerlaurel2363]

This bridge is not going to be replaced or rebuilt. The railroad is in bankruptcy. If you think you want it replaced, set up a GoFund My Replacement Railroad Bridge page. Now, it is about taking the insurance money, sell your stock in this old rattle trap railroad, collect your money & move to a foreign country to live the high life! Motor trucks can do what this out dated system does in the future!

[@tvd1188]

Glad everyone is safe and i hope the bridges demise doesnt mean an end to railroad service. Though i have a feeling all the dead wildlife from the fertilizer will not be a great sight downstream. Goes to show was poor right of way maintenance can do to these shortlines.

[@rogerlaurel2363]

Profitability is what is needed before maintenance of way is considered. This line has been failing for many (28) years now. This railroad is now in bankruptcy & being turned over to the counties for a rail to trail conversion. All of it is being sold for scrap to pay its creditors in bankruptcy court. It served its purpose & fulfilled its service life. Now, it will have a new life as a bicycle/hiking trail!

[@ethanx908]

Since this trestle is part of the Bailey branch line I don’t know if PnWR sees this area as important enough to justify building anew bridges. Might as well destroy and abandon everything south of there are no important customers to serve

[@jeffpierce6965]

They only serve one farm that’s just south of the airport, the rest of that line was abandoned several years ago when they stopped servicing Hull-Oakes Lumber.

[@ethanx908]

PNWR has been considering closing the line south of Corvallis for a very long time due to how terrible the track is south of Corvallis however many people opposed it.

[@boblill8476]

Rail line looks as if it hasn’t had maintenance in forever.

[@rogerlaurel2363]

This is the end of that unprofitable line. The decision has been made to scrap the entire line & make it into a bicycle/hiking trail with a break at the river. This like is finished! Trucks will do what is necessary into the future! Long overdue ending!

[@ethanx908]

@@rogerlaurel2363 where are you getting this information from lol 🤣🤣

[@danlowe8684]

I wonder if it wasn't a derailment, causing a car(s) to impact the steel girder(s), leading to the collapse.

[@chikilindo8256]

qué bueno que la tripulación no sufrió daños, todavía está muy latente las pérdidas de Pecos Texas, saludos desde cuba

[@beeble2003]

You say that Union Pacific owns the track to a point just south of this bridge. That's completely unhelpful -- does that include the bridge? Or, to put it another way, does UP own the track south of the point you mention, or the track north?

[@AndreiTupolev]

It says it was a southbound train, so presumably that part of the line would be UP's responsibility. I bet no one at UP had the faintest idea that they were supposed to be

[@gregebert3103]

Excellent coverage !! Local news was a few blurbs, no details, and poor video. I'm guessing the bridge didn't "collapse", but instead got damaged from a derailed car (who DIDN'T notice the uneven tracks nearby...).

[@TexasTribleChief]

Railroad: Let's leave a burnt up bridge. Railroad Crew: That bridge looks sus Railroad: Nah it's all good bro 👌

[@twiggs24]

How far up was the head end power?

[@foellerd]

Pictures online show the locomotives are only 4 cars away from the first car dangling off the cliff. Head end power was VERY close.

[@rambojambone4586]

Shake shake shake Shake shake shake In the water In the water.

[@raymckay601]

How many cars made it over?

[@charlietanner6211]

thanks for post would be nice to see the recovery those cars are heavy not going to be easy lift

[@CraigGrant-sh3in]

The rail road deamed it safe. The government allows the RR to self inspect their infrastructure. The city where I life hired engineers to inspect the 100 + year old RR bridges throughout the city. They all failed. They forced the RR to repair two badly decaying bridges that passed over streets. They were forced to replace a steel truss bridge that the bases were nearly completely rusted away.

[@SD40Fan_Jason]

Excellent coverage of the incident! No doubt the fire compromised the structure. And someone in the engineering department will now be in trouble for delaying repairs following the fire because they determined it was safe for now, in the same manner that using gauge rods to supplement rotted wooden ties are also allowed.

[@rogerlaurel2363]

That engineer sold his stock in this rattle trap years ago & retired in Laos. Smart move on his part!

[@davidmihevc3990]

This is going to be an interesting situation. I seriously doubt the traffic on this line warrents rebuilding this bridge, but stranded locomotives presents a problem of how get them back to live rail. I guess we'll see.

[@kennydings3879]

Corvallis is the home of Winterail so in March there will probably a few of us who check this out in March 2025 😀

[@ElijahDeVyldere-qc2yj]

I live there and am .. near this bridge every day. The fire left it so damaged that the whole thing would move with a strong wind. Ties creaking/shifting underfoot, sever damage to supports (that were never even close to repaired). This was so obviously a criminal level of stupid negligence, and now the railroad is saying that that damage was "superficial" and had nothing to do with the crash. Like there weren't huge chunks missing from the edging of the rails 😂😂

[@Paw95]

Will this be abandoned now?

[@rpmillam]

Looks like the track needs tamping/regulating.

[@aceadman]

About this, someone will ACTUALLY say, “nobody could have seen that coming.” Probably in response to a question about why you would unnecessarily put lives at risk sending them over burnt bridge supports for two years.

[@mikewilliams8510]

Looks like all the tracks could use an upgrade.

[@hansfriess]

Bridge had burned but was still safe??

[@princessofthecape2078]

Do you think this is the end of the line? I mean, there's only one business south of there.

[@TheIcyWizard705]

hard to say, I guess it depends on the revenue of the business and the value of the rolling stock and locomotives that are stuck on the far side of the bridge

[@thomasboese3793]

@@TheIcyWizard705 Worst case one could truck the rail equipment to another railhead. If the bridge replacement is many months, they will reload onto trucks just to get it delivered to the customer.

[@7ideaproductions]

My guess is that since there is a lease agreement between the PNWR and the UP that PNWR will have to replace the bridge since the railroad has to be returned at the end of the lease in "as good as or better" condition than when the lease began. At least, that is how I understand it. At the same time, the lack of revenue produced on that line doesn't really justify the cost of a new bridge. I guess we will find out. Those are my assumptions only. Maybe someone who has better insight than I will chime in.

[@beeble2003]

@@thomasboese3793 The bridge replacement will definitely be many months so, yeah, they'll truck the locomotives out.

[@darthmaul216]

@@beeble2003 depends. Since the infrastructure is all in place and they could get an environmental waver from the state. Could be done in one or two months

[@waltonwarrior7428]

I assume UP was responsible for maintenance and inspection of the bridge. So who pays for the cleanup?

[@tomjones2202]

I'm no specialist but that bridge looked very burned to me!

[@Elliottblancher]

I guess those cars wanted to take a swim in the water

[@AbelG8781]

Likely those cars will be totaled out due to flood damage. Same thing happened in a California mudlside recently and the RR had no choice but to scrap severals dozens of well cars that sat in a siding during the storm.

[@patriot9455]

A train car can carry about 7 or so tractor trailer loads of product. dropping 7 truck loads of anything into a river is a real problem. Hopefully, the rail car did not open up.

[@WilliamJohnstoneJr]

Need better inspectors!🚂🚂

[@rogerlaurel2363]

Need more honorable inspectors who do the job instead of being bribed with a case of whiskey found shoved up under their desk & a country club membership with a guaranteed 7am tee time on Saturday & Sunday mornings! Some of those present inspectors should not be breathing our oxygen!

[@BoringIntrovert1982]

Thankfully the crew if safe, but are the shareholders ok?

[@williamcarlson5405]

From WC, From what I saw in the video this train shouldn’t have even been on those tracks! They look like they were in terrible condition! It’s no wonder the train, with its weight fell in to the river! Come on railroads you need to upgrade your tracks and bridges!

[@jamesnulliner2390]

That rail line is not going to be open for a while until get the bridge fixed up or get a new bridge we're stronger material

[@THE_IRON_HORSE]

Floating drawbar 1:16

[@196Stefan2]

No surprise, if the bridge was in the same condition as the tracks.

[@Truck_Gnome]

That body of water really didn't need a shat ton of urea in it.....

[@msomething3579]

Not a bridge but a wooden trestle that appears to have been burned, or at least on fire at some time.

[@Joe-qj7oh]

Lucky, only two cars were lost.

[@patriot9455]

Fire on the bridge, what could POSSIOBLY GO WRONG

[@ValuedTeamMember]

You know, trains need a good, solid foundation to conduct commerce in 2025 and beyond. Just saying