Goods Train Derailment (1999)

[@tasmaniantrains]

Keep in mind that the "wobbly" tracks seen in the Thumbnail is the result after the train had passed through. Prior to this the eyewitness said the track was fairly straight with a slight buckle near the join of recently re-sleepered rail with steel sleepers.

[@tasmaniantrains]

In Tasmania, where this video was taken, the gauge is 1067mm (3'6"). Whilst in other Australian states the gauge varies from 1600mm (5' 3"), 1435mm (4' 8 1/2"), and 1067mm (3' 6"). The main rail corridor linking the main Australian cities from Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Darwin, and Perth is "Standard Gauge" 1435mm (4' 8 1/2").

[@pete5668]

spaghetti track

[@TurboTymek]

i remember when i would run out of straight tracks so i would make do with a few curved ones.

[@tasmaniantrains]

Thank you very much Paul, and greetings from Tasmania.

[@tasmaniantrains]

The train was eventually stopped about 4 minutes later. Some eye-witnesses contacted Train Control (they were train spotters - they had the number) - and Train Control rang the driver to stop. The train driver was not aware because it was wagons at the back of the train that came off.

[@Radionut]

Wow that track looks like my bad back

[@tasmaniantrains]

The sleepers (ties) in this section are steel, and only had recently been inserted a few days before the derailment to replace old timber ties (the removed timber ones can be seen laying on the ground next to the track on the right).

[@cyborgbadger1015]

I thought the drink was kicking in when I looked at those rails.

[@tasmaniantrains]

As the enginemen were unaware of what was happening behind them, the train continued to spray the track off its bed. I'm led to believe the train was doing the normal speed for that section (Derwent Park to Bridgewater) and that Tasrail ruled out speed as a contributing factor to the derailment (see TV News reports).

[@tasmaniantrains]

The track was straight before the train approached, except for one small buckle near where wooden sleepers had been replaced with steel ones. The driver (one-man crew) obviously didn't see the buckle, or thought that the train would ride through with no problems.

[@tasmaniantrains]

This was filmed in Australia, on the island state of Tasmania where an 1067mm gauge freight-only system operates. Up until 10 years ago the motive power was dominated by "English Electric" diesel locomotives but in recent times both GM-style and rebuilt EE locos have taken over.

[@tasmaniantrains]

It was a very warm day (early January) and a section of track (not seen until 3:12, left of screen) had very recently been replaced with steel sleepers and was loosely ballasted (my speculation). Sadly the buckle is not filmed before the train's arrival. The zig-zagging track seen after the train has left was probably caused by the combined weight of the 3 locos and 24 loaded container wagons pushing the track around underneath it.

[@WSTLNZ]

It's called a BUCKLE (normally caused by extreme heat) & is often prevalent in welded rail sections, where the rail expands but cannot lengthen into (short rail section) "fish-plated" joints, thus is UNDER COMPRESSION which moves outward (often a rapid event) mostly situated at a slightly out-of-line rail joint, near loose/newly-reworked ballast. There had been major resleepering here & in a short distance the "ballast" would have been loosened; as when resleepering the track is often "LIFTED".

[@okiown2]

thank you very much for the upload

[@tasmaniantrains]

I'm led to believe that a buckle had formed in the track during the day but went un-noticed as there was no activity on the line until No. 736 had arrived late in the afternoon. (The buckle was located about 15-20 metres past were the camera is positioned, to the left of screen).

[@aidenmorillo2031]

I Love Trains So Much

[@pcorf]

A train with some real twist.

[@tasmaniantrains]

Yes, Tasmania has 3'6" (1067mm) narrow gauge system. The same as Queensland and Western Australia. Over history however, Tasmania has had numerous gauge lines around the island, ranging from 2' gauge to 5' 3" broad gauge.

[@Cyclist0623]

Well that one has been just waiting to happen for a long time! What incredible tracks. They cannot have been laid that way. The bed must be terribly prepared, and totally unstable. One gets these quick, short back-and-forth sways when the bed won't support lateral forces from swaying and turning on curves. This bed's got it BAD!

[@TheMichaelWilcock2016Railways]

Always amazed how there are no fences along trackside in your country. Mike in Wales

[@tasmaniantrains]

Its apparent that the whole section was so loosely-packed - if not packed at all, that the rail bed has just given-way under the weight of the train. With no-where to go the continuously-welded rail moves side-to-side, creating the "wobble" look.

[@AtsfMike559]

From the video, it looks as like they have had problems with that section of railway line in the recent past, as evidenced by the loose, crooked tracks, and that pile of ties off to the side. So work had been done there just prior to the accident. Next, it looks to me like whoever paved the roadway at the crossing, left asphalt over the railheads, which might pose more of a problem in narrow gage as the trains are lighter than say, 4' 8 1/2" standard gage. Great video. Mike in Fresno, Ca.

[@vrfan]

Thanks for uploading. Interesting video.

[@bellelavictorie61]

Those steel bars were straight before the train ran over it. Just thinking of the amount of energy necessary to turn railroad tracks into spaghetti is mind-boggling.

[@coldblue9mm]

The recently retied track was unstable and went out of alignment under the train. This is called a "Track Buckle" or Solar Misalignment (due to heat). Sometimes they are referred to as "Sun Kinks". Whatever you call them, this track should have had a proper slow order placed on it until it was stable. Or you can distress the track by removing some rail. Usually a couple of inches or so. Somebody was asleep during the tie replacement procedure.

[@KJBFAMILY]

the track is not laid like that. Thermal expansion in the rails will cause it to deform at the weakest point. ie corners. Same thing with bridges that is why they have gaps in them to allow for the expansion/contraction of the material used during different times of the day/season. In the case of the rail system hot steel will be considerably longer than cold steel. Normally not an issue unless you are dealing with very long lengths connected together.

[@robzed2]

For goodness sake, the tracks were twisted DURING the derailment, they weren't like that before the train tore it up!

[@Muswell]

That has to be the longest train ever in the World. Didn't think I was ever gonna see the end of it !

[@bagnome]

That's about how long the average train is here in the US and are, and I believe that is the same with Australia.

[@annehaight9963]

Now that is some messed up track. I wonder if the narrow gauge was part of the problem? At the beginning I was thinking that train looked awfully wide for that narrow track. One problem and gravity takes over, and the next thing you know the train is pulling the rails all over the place.

[@DarkSignal59]

when i saw the thumbnail i thought : " no train can pass through that, whoever made the tracks has no knoledge of how tracks work " >:O and then the unexpected happened : how that train got passed the part at 3:00 i'll never know, regardless of the later derailment ._.

[@Awesomeman1987]

DarkSignal59 hahaha, I thought that he swung the camera around just in time to catch it derailing, but nope, she somehow held on thru that chicane.

[@deanruth1815]

Show us the farstes and longest trains

[@tasmaniantrains]

DarkSignal59 The tracks in the thumbnail shows the track after the train had gone through, not before. There was a slight buckle in the track before the train went through (sadly not seen), and when the train went through it, it pushed the track around.

[@RussellCardozo]

iAmDaos it's not the one who made the track it's the one who made the wheels of the train, . Many tracks become like this one due to hunting oscillation.

[@RRBuilder611]

ChunkyMagicrug That's and understatement. He was probably on weed, shrooms, drunk, and who knows what other drugs he was on. He was just messing when he designed it. He said "Hey come look at this! Lets see what people would do if they saw that! Huh? What? Oh this is real? It was just a joke!" Now, go to 3:00. That happend because of Mr. Shrooms n' Weed.

[@tasmaniantrains]

New Zealand has some fantastic railways. In recent years old Queensland locomotives re-built in New Zealand have been operating in Tasmania.

[@rico334]

What did you do to the track to make it do that ? How else would you know to set the camera up at this particular point ? ? ?

[@gld1010]

The track was in bad shape and then there was the whole line of flat bed rolling stock. It probably just bounced off the track. No weight and then whipping in side to side motion because of the track caused the rolling stock to jump the track.

[@tasmaniantrains]

Yes, the steel or wooden beams that the two rails sit on, they're called 'sleepers' in Britain, Europe and Australasia.

[@tasmaniantrains]

Apparently there was some track buckling there before the train arrived, although not thought as serious enough to cause concern or at least film it. Some people/enthusiasts who follow and watch trains regularly will often have the phone number for Train Control (it's a publicly listed number), so its not surprising that somebody was able to contact Train Control once they saw that some wagons moving but off the rails.

[@iwl97459]

i think the problem is not the laying of the track but all the earthquakes they have, it shifts the rails and they have to be readjusted, and if this is in japan then its no surprise this happened.

[@slendersausage]

I agree with you that this was also a contributor to the issue along with the narrow gauge and weight of the load.

[@4onados]

Is Australia a small distance between the rails or is it a narrow-gauge railway?

[@WSTLNZ]

Oh..? And i "think" from memory.. The Japanese hi-speed (bullet) trains.. also RUN on 3'-6" gauge track. Usually the tighter the gauge .. the better kept is the trackwork. As Railway companies actually DO understand the concept of: "good maintenance relates to LOWER operation & maintenance costs".

[@pbwake65]

Railways come from Great Britain. Why is it that in some countries the engineers can't gauge the track properly! The trains wouldn't come off the tracks in the first place. The GB Gauge is four feet and eight-and-a-half inches or 1435mm. If your country's track is a different gauge, then there are machines available that can lay decent track by computations around the track bed area for single or double track configurations. These machines can also sort out the stability of the track on the ballast. Have a look at Huyton Roby videos. To see how we do this in GB. At one time the track in say the North America was not straight and here in GB we had to build special locomotives at the Vulcan Locomotive Works just to run over North American tracks.

[@KrazeeClark]

Thank you, that's a great answer to why it jumped off the track. Once it was off the track, why didn't the engineer know immediately? Wouldn't there be tons of drag from 9 cars derailing and being dragged along?

[@RODALCO2007]

That is a long train for the 3ft6 gauge. It is going pretty fast going for those curves before it derailed.

[@robertgift]

Great catch! Thank you for your comments about it. How fortunate that someone knew who to call to get the train stopped! Did you see that area before the train arrived and rolled over it? Anything unusual about it? Thank you.

[@LincLux]

I could sort of see the cars tilted off. Is the track still there?

[@2401aditya]

At 3:12 I was like WTF, are they railway tracks or a rock n roll track ..!!

[@TiberiusWallace]

The issue is that you never see corners and meanders in UK rail. The solution to that problem would be to make a straight cutting.

[@slendersausage]

the weight of the train is kept in the length, width and low to the track making sure that it can run on narrow gauge.

[@BushCampingTools]

Pretty embarrassing being an Aussie with such crappy tracks, not jus there but Australia wide compared to many countries.

[@roids70]

wow i did not know this happened, its awesome to know the things that happened in our home state

[@shadowgaming6660]

Why are the rails going left and right like that at 3:17

[@brianspurrell9670]

Summer in Australia. It is brutal on rail alignments. The rail looks buckled even before it the train gets to the section of track in question. Concrete ties would help stabilise the rail.

[@bettyboop65340]

what country is this

[@ActivistVictor]

I'll admit I was expecting a bit more, but I'm also glad it wasn't worse than this. I never like it when people get hurt.

[@Salmagundiii]

I think that could be a factor. I was surprised to see that narrow gauge trains are able to transport those huge Maersk shipping containers. They are 8 ft. wide. So on standard gauge they have a roughly 20% overhang on each side. On 3'6", it's almost 30%.

[@FredNurk]

5:33 He won't get too far with the shovel !

[@tasmaniantrains]

This derailment happened in Hobart, the capital city of the Australian island state of Tasmania.

[@wmralder]

Am I mistaken or do those ties (sleepers) look to be steel? That or a concrete shape unique to Australia. If it's steel then it's hard to ballast them effectively with gravel. Whichever it was they held the tracks together even with a large lateral displacement.

[@WSTLNZ]

And of course it's also a "given" that 4'8+1/2 " gauge - WAS the usual gauge at that time.! As "existing" collery railways (using horses as their locomotive power) NEEDED an extra wide "gauge" to allow two horses working SIDE BY SIDE (without damaging their hooves on rails either side) & that George Stephenson was farsighted in realising that individual lines would eventually NEED to be joined together, thus the need to have the same ONE gauge, (which is now used throughout much of the world).

[@Marcikutyaful]

The density of the stone ballast wasn't sufficiently high, the longitudinal tension because of the rising temperature laterally pushed out the track at at the changing of layers. I can see this from the exactly other side of the Earth. Greetings from Hungary!

[@tritty84]

Something wasn't repaired properly. How does the driver know it has happened over a k away? would he feel it surge?

[@ZakkRobinson]

As someone who is British, I couldn't agree with you more! Its like a glorified refugee camp here in the UK!

[@scdevon]

Why were they traveling at that speed on such lousy track? That track is insanely bad.

[@GoJMe]

I can explain it in easy words, when it get hotter the rails(metall) expands and during cold weather it contracts. So yea some idiots that layed that track didnt leave gaps between each rail which you should do

[@tasmaniantrains]

The train on this day was unusually long - 49 wagons. Fortunately the train didn't "fall off" the track as nobody wants to see derailments - for both passengers and freight - with the cost burden of line closure and recovery and ultimate inconvenience for customers.

[@MelioraCogito]

Narrow gauge lines in Tasmania?

[@animal16365]

What country was this filmed in?

[@telfud2]

Unfortunately you will never be an individual. My God, cant u come up with a more original comment than that. U are so original dude.

[@patsematary]

Clearly the dudes in white shirt at 0:45 unscrewed the track spikes from sleepers of an already neglected line in bad, bad condition.

[@ThePostal67]

That is interesting, the engineer probably had not a clue as it probably was fairly straight when he approached.. In the engine you rarely hear the trouble behind you. Embarrassing to arrive without some cars.. Glad no injuries, my dad worked a train in the states, the EJ&E, now absorbed by CN and the accidents they used to have always took lives..

[@freymaster4449]

Was that train stopped at all or did the cars disconnect without engineer knowing?

[@shadyG4life]

Unfortunately I will never get that 6 min back

[@csilvers26]

Australia isn't fighting in any wars mate.

[@anuragparanjpe]

is this narrow gauge?

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

What shitty alignment work.

[@TheSonic10160]

It uh, probably wasn't like that before the train went over it. I've seen some of their tracks though, really poor trackwork. Rough as shit.

[@keithbarber4502]

Samuel Zelter b

[@tackssherbo7104]

Neddskorg Today's the first day I ever heard of a heat buckle. Will make a serious mental note of that and take trains only when it rains!

[@tackssherbo7104]

Neddskorg Yikes. Better stick to a mule. :)

[@class45peak]

The track was laid by jarvis rail .

[@pjm329]

This train was going way too fast for those horrible track conditions.

[@ejcmoorhouse]

I should imagine the sun has a part to play in bending the tracks as do the big trains on the narrow tracks. More maintenance is needed here.

[@TumainiTiger1]

what the hell is up with the tracks... there's like... 5 sharp bends in 100 yards that's just stupid was it really that difficult to simply make it a smooth turn? o.o

[@carls1st]

There are other places like that; see also "The Worst Maintained Railroad in the World."

[@fmaxwellable]

It was caused by swaying motion of the train called "hunting oscillation."

[@budhansen2815]

no...that was just rotten sleepers..

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

Bud Hansen Reverse curves don't help, especially with rotten sleepers.

[@owenwitteveen]

Hate to bust it to you, but heat buckles can quite often form as the train is going over it, hence the drivers almost certainly didn't see it. And with the train being on a curve, wouldn't have seen the dust being kicked up either.

[@BumAngel2001]

When I saw the empty carts I knew all hell was gonna brake lose because they didn't have the weight, but the good thing is that empty carts hit the weak point

[@catlady2214]

how long was that thing? i was waiting for something good to happen. it should have fell of the track at least

[@PlaywithJunk]

I first thought the tracks are looking like that AFTER the derailing..... How about some maintenance?

[@Okanagan48]

Narrow rail looks so odd when your used to seeing Canadian rail lines standard gauge.

[@KrazeeClark]

How did the crew not know what was going on?

[@CZ350tuner]

The other 3 are 2 supervisors and 1 health & safety observer.

[@adarshk7]

This looks like the heat issue became too much... Also do they work on the ballasts often?

[@tasmaniantrains]

The Ballast has infrequently been replaced over the years. The height of the track has also risen substantially over the years because of the higher ballast bed (in some places the track is now the same height as old station platforms along the way). This section of line is scheduled to close in mid 2014

[@TheDrummerman1951]

Are those steel ties?

[@ChachaChapati]

Fascinating little island...

[@DosAussieThai]

I think the rail trail was bended as a result of the derailment, not that it derailed because of the track.

[@tasmaniantrains]

Yeah, one of those things. I know the video guy on reflection knows he should have filmed the track buckle before the train came.

[@truespyfan]

Sounds like it could do with a tune up at 1:30... missing badly.

[@silviowanderleimaieski]

O filmador perdeu o melhor momento por não estar em local mais adequado, uma lástima.

[@realvanman1]

That squirrely section looked like a sun kink. I wonder if that was a contributing factor?

[@alxgemini479]

Путь, видимо, ушёл в сторону под воздействием проходящих поездов. Поэтому и заменили шпалы на стальные, у которых устойчивость к смещению выше. Другое дело, что машинист видел, по какому пути едет, и должен был снизить скорость. А те, кто ехал там до него, должны были доложить об аварийном состоянии пути, чтобы диспетчер выдал предупреж­де­ние об ограничении скорости.

[@sooper2dooper3]

they should make the tracks straighter.

[@kpdvw]

Who dares to call this a ":track"? what an abomination to even let a train operate on this kind of 3rd world tack! Criminal negligence here!

[@Sam-lh4pw]

How long is this train

[@tasmaniantrains]

The train had about 30 to 35 container wagons, from memory.