Tag Archives: railroad switch

India Train Accident That Killed ‘300’, In ‘Odisha’, Was NOT Due To ‘Signal Error’ — It Was Caused By A ‘SWITCH’ Error.

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by Anura Guruge
on June 4, 2023

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Click to access the ‘CBS News‘ original … with the ERRONEOUS news.
Click to ENLARGE. From ‘Wikipedia‘. Click for Wikipedia entry with this diagram.
Click to ENLARGE. What a switch looks like. In the case of this accident the switch was set wrong.

More pictures of SWITCHES.

Click to ENLARGE. ‘Conway Scenic Railway’, New Hampshire.

To say that this tragic accident was caused by ‘signal system’ error is just PLAIN WRONG.

Yes, the signals most like were wrong too as was any INTERLOCK SYSTEM that they had (assuming they actually had one). The INTERLOCK would have COORDINATED the SWITCH & the signals.

But, in the end the problem was the SWITCH. It was set wrong. IT WAS SET WRONG! Period.

Doesn’t matter about the signal. YES, IF the signal was RED the train could have stopped before the switch. That is all that the signal could have done.

The KEY QUESTION is WHY was the SWITCH set wrong. If the SWITCH was set to ‘straight ahead’ there would not have been a problem. That is it. That is why Wikipedia gets it right.

So, please, please, please, DON’T call this signal system error. It was NOT. It was a SWITCHING ERROR. OK?

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Some Good Pictures Of A Railway ‘Switch’ Following Deadly ‘Amtrak’ Derailment In Montana.

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by Anura Guruge
on October 1, 2021

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A railway switch was eyed as a possibility right at the start
following this deadly Amtrak derailment in Montana.

Click to ENLARGE. ‘Hobo Railway’ ‘Loon’, New Hampshire. Looking towards switch.
Switch set to let train travel on inner (i.e., righthandmost) tracks.
Click to ENLARGE. Same as above, but from the other direction.
Train will travel on tracks curving to the right.
Click to ENLARGE. Another view of the same switch.

Click to ENLARGE. Same railway system, different switches further down the line.

Click to ENLARGE. On a narrow gauge track in ‘Loon’ — at the ski resort.

Click to ENLARGE. ‘Conway Scenic Railway’, New Hampshire.

Last week, when I went looking for some good pictures of railway switches to illustrate the concern folks were having with the recent deadly Amtrak derailment in Montana, I was frustrated.

A few days later I happened to be around three railway lines, all with switches — phone/camera in hand. So I took the opportunity to take some pictures.

Elegant engineering. Very clever. Does its job well & simply too. Very clever.

I also happen to come across a DE-RAILER. Yes, the names says it all. It is a device to derail a train — i.e., stop it in its tracks. This is to prevent it going where it should not be going.

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Did Global Warming Cause The Deadly ‘Amtrak’ Derailment In Montana Rather Than A ‘Misaligned’ Switch?

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by Anura Guruge
on September 27, 2021

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The switch continues to be eyed with suspicion.
Refer to my post from yesterday.

Click to ENLARGE & read here. Annotation is mine. Here is the link to ‘NPR‘ original.
Click to ENLARGE & read here. Highlighting is mine. Link to original.

Base image below from ‘AP‘ via this ‘Fox59’ post.
Annotation is mine.

Click to ENLARGE & read here. From the new ‘Wikipedia‘ entry (link).

I am NOT at the scene. I am working off 3rd pictures & data. So, of course, I don’t claim to be an authority on this matter.

As two of the posts above show there is a growing body that suspect a switch. Yes, that could very well have been the case — per what I posted yesterday.

From yesterday’s post.

I am, however, bothered by the three carriages that are on their side PRIOR to the switch.

Yes, a derailment at the switch could have had a TORQUE effect down the train that TWISTED those three carriages on their side. Yes, there is physics there that could make sense.

But, I also noticed a distortion — i.e., a bulging — of the tracks ahead of where those three carriages are. I circled it on the ‘AP’ photo.

Is that unusual track expansion caused by global heating, i.e., exceptional heat?

There is a new camp that thinks that it WASN’T the switch, BUT the rails getting bent from the heat.

OK? I am trying to keep you updated — as I promised, yesterday.

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Was The Deadly ‘Amtrak’ Derailment In Montana Really Caused By A ‘Misaligned’ Switch?

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by Anura Guruge
on September 26, 2021

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Click to ENLARGE. From ‘Twitter‘ — highlights & annotation are mine.
Click to ENLARGE. Again from ‘Twitter‘ — & again, highlights & annotation are mine.

As an avowed & ‘lifelong’ railway nut anything & everything about trains catch my interest — train accidents high up on the list.

Though the media, so far, as remained mum about possible causes for the derailment I detected subtle clues that some folks ‘out there’ already had some solid suspicions or facts. So, I did some sleuthing. As I had suspected, ‘Twitter‘ proved to be the most fertile field.

The above two ‘Tweets’ capture a prevailing notion — though as is always the case in matters such as this, there are those that are equally adamant that a ‘railway switch‘ was NOT the cause of the derailment. I will confess that based on the photographs I have seen I would NOT rule out a switch.

As most model railroaders will gladly attest, a switch can lead to a multi-truck (or multi-bogie) carriage or wagon straddling parallel tracks. At least one picture appears to show this.

Early days. We don’t have all the facts. But, it is possible that a switch rather than speed or an object placed across the tracks was the cause of this deadly derailment. I will, of course, stay of top of this. It intrigues I. Smile.

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