How long did it take for the railroad to get a second locomotive going and get the train load of passengers back to Strasburg?

As long as it took them to start the diesel and get it out to Leaman Place. #8618 was on point for the other two trains of the day.

Some railroads do have sections of track with switches but without signals where trains or light engines are still allowed to operate faster than restricted speed. A recent example involved an Amtrak train in Caycee, South Carolina on Feb. 4, 2018. Was that the situation here?

Gentlemen,

It is time to stop quibbling about percentages of fault.
Speaking hypothetically:
1. MOW - Failed to properly line and secure switch - AT FAULT
2. Engine Crew - Failed to keep proper look out - AT FAULT
3. Management - Inadequate oversight -AT FAULT
The percentages do not matter. They all screwed up.

GME

This ordeal should entice the company to remove the VRF cameras, despite the passenger video being just as widley spread. The engine crew is probably mortified about this, especially having it broadcast to the world and what seems like the entire world up in arms over a human moment. Stuff like this happens everyday in normal railroading. That is no excuse to crucify someone people know nothing about save for a 20 second video.

I don't think that makes much difference on the cameras, when you're an excursion railroad. Admittedly, the position of the VR camera was just stunning given the impact, but the shots from the train are circulated now as well.

Back about 2008 (?) the side collision on the Texas State (caused by a crewman throwing the turnout under the moving train) was videoed by a passenger and for years, any internet search found that clip. You're stuck with it in the age of everybody having a camera in their phone.

If you go back in railroad history, a lot of 'stuff' happened that never saw the light of day. One of my biggest mysteries remains the ATSF 4-6-2 1316 (TSRR 500), one of the last running 1300-class 4-6-2's, and the incredible amount of damage discovered in that locomotive on deep inspection- 12 full frame breaks sloppily welded up, eccentric hangers dinged by rods, dents in the cylinders. But absolutely no record of an accident. It looks to me like it took a dive in a turntable pit, but it also was likely during WWII, so no official record.

Even today, unless there's injuries, NTSB rarely gets involved. FRA maybe. There's a certain irony that Strasburg is one of the few places that can probably hammer out a new smokebox front easier than they can probably repair the excavator. Depending on the damage estimate will impact the FRA involvement.

I can see why they might reconsider the VR situation, but honestly, it wouldn't have changed anything. Stuff happens on live video, Tucson, Flagstaff pedestrian hits, Revelstoke bears etc.

While the VR camera provided a different (a pretty interesting) view everybody on that train has a cell phone with a camera. Honestly I'm surprised we've only seen one side shot view so far. The potential advertising from a Virtual Railfan camera still probably outweighs any potential downside.

.

“ That still doesn't give anybody license to pile on these guys, unless you have a lifelong perfect record running an engine for a living. How bout it ?? ”

I never claimed a perfect record. I was involved in a pretty equal incident where the blame was assigned 50/50 on me and the engineer but ultimately I know it was me expecting the engineer to behave as usual. Low speed shove move, no injuries, minor damage to the train car.

Not to point fingers, but no one watching the VRF thought to call the Station and offer a helping hand, huh?

Could've prevented this situation.

Everyone's so eager to rake the crew(s) over the coals, but as TSA says... "See Something, Say Something!" - VRF chat after the incident indicated that viewers had remarked on the misaligned switch within the last 24 hours.

However, the only benefit to a VRF viewer calling would have done is correct the misaligned switch and kick the 'complacency luck' bucket down the road, to an incident that could possibly result in greater damage, injury, or worse, loss of life.

The thing that I think is interesting about this is the reactions.

First, as they say on Letterkenny suddenly "Everybody's an expert".

Second, within minutes the internet railfan community absolutely lit up with memes about it.

I think it's worth noting that that latter fact actually portends good things about the hobby and industry. There are a lot of people paying attention to its goings ons and a very high level of engagement from them. Sure, someone posting in "ThEy ShOuLd ReStOrE It AnD rUn It On ThE mAiN liNe" and "The railroad probably wouldn't like you doing that with their train" might not be the same as attending a monthly NRHS chapter meeting, but maybe it is.

Thanks for the straight scoop, Kelly. Glad the crew is OK and the engine isn't seriously damaged.

Sometimes, no matter how careful we are, we all need a wake-up call. "Expectation bias" can bite anybody in the back side. We do many of the same tasks day after day, to the point where we can almost do them in our sleep....until one day, something's different. It is a common factor in aviation accidents as well. I suspect that the fellows on the engine yesterday had done that simple run-around move hundreds of times without any sort of hiccup, and they're probably excellent people. Unless the investigators detect some sort of pattern in their records, there's no reason for them to have to change careers. Perhaps the investigators will also find some other, contributing causes that can be mitigated, so the holes in the Swiss Cheese won't line up again, like they did yesterday.

Looking forward to visiting "The Burg" again next week!

/Kevin Madore

I know it's still "too soon" but I bet eventually the people at Strasburg will go through the comments and laugh at how stupid some of them are. People have been saying it'll cost millions to repair, the frame is bent, 475 will never run again, 475 could be scrapped, it'll take years to fix, etc. It's both funny and frustrating at the same time to read.

My opinion would be it's no different than your car hitting something, ultimately responsibility lies with the driver, it's not like the loader leapt out from the side of a clear track. Everything else is just a contributing factor. I'd assume this engineer has made this move hundreds, maybe thousands of times, and just assumed the switch was in it's normal position without looking.

I would expect on a freight railroad a bulletin would be issued to tell crews MOW worked in this area and to be alert for unsafe conditions. I have no idea how Strasburg operates.

I wasn't there, but I have done switching for a tourist railroad and I can see a chain of things that might have led up to this.
One thing that really stand out to me is the crew waving to the passengers. I've ridden the SRR several times since the 90s and have always seen this take place on those passing moves. If crews are expected to do this, you could easily argue that this might have contributed to that.
I've also read that the switch stand might have been on the fireman's side. I just can't make this out either way from the video I've seen.
Well of course. This is real, "Man bites dog" kind of news, something that very rarely happens.
How could you be surprised in any way by the fan reaction to this?
That's a poor analogy, as comparative negligence is quite common for auto accidents (this is 20 years of auto claims handling speaking).
There are many peripheral circumstances can that play into some accidents.