List of wind-related railway accidents
 | This article is missing information about Error: you must specify what information is missing.. (November 2010) |
High winds can blow railway trains off tracks and cause accidents.[1]
High winds
High winds can cause problems in a number of ways:
- blow trains off the tracks.
- blow trains or wagons along the tracks and cause collisions.
- cause pantographs and overhead wiring to tangle.
Preventative measures
Risks from high winds can be reduced by:
- wind fences akin to snow sheds
- lower profile of carriages
- reduction in train speed or cancellation, at high winds
- a wider rail gauge
- improve overhead wiring with:
- regulated tension rather than fixed terminations
- shorter catenary spans
- solid conductors
By country
Australia
- 1928 – 47 waggons blown along line at Tocumwal [2]
- 1931 - Kandos - wind blows level crossing gates closed in front of motor-cyclist [3]
- 1943 - Hobart, Tasmania; Concern that wind will blow over doubledeck trams on 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge if top deck enclosed.[4]
- 2010 - Marla, South Australia; Small tornado blows over train.[5]
Austria
- 1910 - Trieste - train blown down embankment. [6]
China
- Lanxin High-Speed Railway#Wind shed
- List of rail accidents (2000–2009) – February 28, 2007 – Wind blows 10 passenger rail cars off the track near Turpan, China.
Germany
- Ruegen, Germany – October 1936 – narrow gauge [7][8]
India
- One reason for choosing broad gauge in India for greater stability in high winds.
Ireland
- Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway – 914 mm (3 ft) gauge
Japan
- Inaho
- Amarube Viaduct
- 1895 Gale blows train into sea [9]
New Zealand
Norway
- Makrellbekken (station)#Wind related accident – blowing snow disoriented a tractor driver who collided with a train
South Africa
- Wind tangles overhead wiring.[10]
United Kingdom
- Tay Bridge disaster 1879
- Chelford rail accident 1894 – during shunting
- East Coast Main Line#Accidents
- Snowdon Mountain Railway#Gripper rail
- Leven Viaduct, Cumbria 27 February 1903
- Cheddington 2008 - two containers blown off train - design of "spigots" criticised.[11]
- Moston 2015 - out of gauge train hits platform, throwing stones onto other track.[12]
- Scout Green 2015 - empty 30-foot ISA container blown off train [13]
United States
- (Reverse order)
- April 27, 2015 New Orleans, Louisiana- A severe storm knocked several cars off the line while they were traveling across the Huey P. Long bridge with no injuries. The footage of the complete accident was captured by a WGNO News Team on a dash cam.
- A 2008 tornado in Northern Illinois derailed a Union Pacific train.[14] Dramatic footage of the event was captured by a camera mounted on the train.[15]
- One reason for choosing broad gauge in BART was for greater stability in high winds and perhaps earthquakes.[16][17][18]
- BART track gauge is 17% wider than standard gauge.
- Charleston, South Carolina, trams shut due to winds (2 September 1911) [19]
- St Louis 1892 [20]
Factors
See also
References
- ^ http://www.springerlink.com/content/w5531100m065g489/
- ^ "SEVERE WINDSTORM". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 8 October 1928. p. 8. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- ^ "LEVEL CROSSING ACCIDENT". The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954). NSW: National Library of Australia. 27 August 1931. p. 10. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
- ^ "Double-Deck Trams". The Mercury. Hobart, Tas.: National Library of Australia. 1 June 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
- ^ http://www.railpage.com.au/news-8530.htm
- ^ "FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENT". Northern Star. Vol. 34. New South Wales, Australia. 4 April 1910. p. 3. Retrieved 26 November 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "GALE DERAILS TRAIN". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 21 October 1936. p. 16. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
- ^ "TRAIN DERAILED". The Examiner. Launceston, Tas.: National Library of Australia. 21 October 1936. p. 8 Edition: DAILY. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
- ^ "RAILWAY ACCIDENT". Zeehan and Dundas Herald (Tas. : 1890 - 1922). Tas.: National Library of Australia. 31 July 1895. p. 3. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
- ^ http://www.railwaysafrica.com/blog/2012/12/wind-stalls-cape-trains/
- ^ The Railway Magazine April 2015, p12
- ^ The Railway Magazine April 2015, p12
- ^ The Railway Magazine April 2015, p12
- ^ http://abc7chicago.com/archive/5875829/
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYubpuIe3cw
- ^ http://www.wirewd.com/wh/blog/bart_sucks/
- ^ http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2010/01/06/crossing-the-bay-again-but-not-necessarily-with-bart/
- ^ http://homepage.mac.com/s_sloan/twar/ISSUE66/BODY.HTM
- ^ "AMERICAN WIND STORM". The Northern Times. Carnarvon, WA: National Library of Australia. 2 September 1911. p. 5. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
- ^ "NEWS BY MAIL". The Brisbane Courier. National Library of Australia. 24 May 1892. p. 7. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
- ^ http://wiki.climatechangeadaptation.org.au/tiki-index.php?page=Rail+vehicle+overturning
- ^ http://www.yunlong.com.au/pdf/Liu-CFD.pdf
External links
 | This rail-transport related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |