List of wind-related railway accidents explained

High winds can blow railway trains off tracks and cause accidents.^[1]

Dangers of 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 cargo to blow off trains which can damage objects outside the railway or which other trains can collide with
• cause pantographs and overhead wiring to tangle
• cause trees and other objects to fall onto the railway.

Preventative measures

Risks from high winds can be reduced by:

• wind fences akin to snow sheds
• lower profile of carriages
• lowered centre of gravity of vehicles^[2]
• 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 wagons blown along line at Tocumwal^[3]
• 1931 – Kandos – wind blows level crossing gates closed in front of motor-cyclist ^[4]
• 1943 – Hobart, Tasmania; Concern that wind will blow over doubledeck trams on gauge if top deck enclosed.^[5]
• 2010 – Marla, South Australia; Small tornado blows over train.^[6]

Austria

• 1910 – Trieste (now in Italy) – train blown down embankment.^[7]

China

• Lanxin High-Speed Railway#Wind shed risk
• February 28, 2007 – Wind blows 10 passenger rail cars off the track near Turpan, China.

Denmark

• Great Belt Bridge rail accident. On 2 January 2019 a DSB express passenger train is hit by a semi-trailer from a passing cargo train on the western bridge of the Great Belt Fixed Link during Storm Alfrida, killing eight people and injuring 16.^[8]

Germany

• Rügen narrow-gauge railway, 20 October 1936: derailment of a train, five injured^{[9] [10]}

India

• One reason for choosing broad gauge in India for greater stability in high winds.

Ireland

• On the night of 30 January 1925, strong winds derailed carriages of a train crossing the Owencarrow Viaduct of the gauge Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway.

Japan

• Inaho
• Amarube Viaduct
• 1895 Gale blows train into sea ^[11]

New Zealand

• Rimutaka Incline railway accident

Norway

• Makrellbekken (station)#Wind related accident – blowing snow disoriented a tractor driver who collided with a train

South Africa

• Wind tangles overhead wiring in Cape Town, 2012.^[12]

Switzerland

• In 1996, one train from the Wengernalp Railway derailed in Bernese Oberland with four people injured.
• On January 19, 2007, one train derailed near Wasserausen.^[13]
• In 2018, one train from the Montreux–Lenk im Simmental line derailed in the Simmental region, injuring eight people.
• On March 31, 2023, two trains derailed in the Canton of Bern due to strong winds, with fifteen people injured.^[14]

United Kingdom

• Tay Bridge disaster 1879
• Chelford rail accident 1894 – during shunting
• De-wirements on the East Coast Main Line
• Leven Viaduct, Cumbria 27 February 1903
• Cheddington 2008 – two containers blown off train – design of "spigots" criticised.^[15]
• Moston 2015 – out of gauge train hits platform, throwing stones onto other track.^[16]
• Scout Green 2015 – empty 30-foot ISA container blown off train ^[17]

United States

• On April 24, 1883, 2 cars of a passenger train were blown from the narrow-gauge Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad tracks near Como, Colorado, with only minor injuries.^[18]
• Around 6:15pm, May 6, 1876, a passenger train traveling south on the Illinois Central Railroad at about 23 miles per hour was derailed during a storm just south of Neoga, Illinois. Numerous minor injuries were reported.^[19]
• Around 7am, Feb. 23, 1884, 2 cars were blown off the narrow-gauge tracks of the Colorado Central Railroad near Georgetown, Colorado.^[20]
• Around 2pm, February 4, 1885, the wind overturned an entire 3-car Colorado Central Railroad train just east of Georgetown, Colorado. The express train had slowed to 8 miles per hour because of the wind. 18 out of 20 passengers were injured.^{[21] [22]}
• At 3:30pm, April 1, 1892, a narrow-gauge passenger train of the Burlington and Northwestern Railway was blown off the tracks while running at full speed 1 mile east of Butler, a station between Fremont, Iowa and Hedrick, Iowa.;^{[23] [24] [25]} 4 were seriously injured, a dozen more suffered minor injuries.^[26] Note that the location places this on the Burlington and Western Railway tracks.
• On September 2, 1911, tram services in Charleston, South Carolina, were suspended due to winds.^[27]
• On June 28, 1986, a derecho derailed 18 piggyback cars on the Kate Shelley High Bridge over the Des Moines River in Iowa.^[28]
• On June 29, 1998, the Corn Belt Derecho blew several double stack and piggyback cars off the Iowa Interstate Railroad bridge across the Iowa River.^[29]
• A 2008 tornado in Northern Illinois derailed a Union Pacific train.^[30] Dramatic footage of the event was captured by a camera mounted on the train.^[31]
• On April 27, 2015, a severe storm knocked several double stack cars off the track as a train crossed the Huey P. Long Bridge, New Orleans, Louisiana, with no injuries. The accident was captured by a WGNO News Team dashcam.^[32]
• On March 13, 2019, mid-day winds of around 80 mph derailed the rear 26 cars of a double stack train on the Union Pacific high steel trestle over the Canadian River south of Logan, New Mexico.^[33]

One reason for choosing broad gauge (17% wider than standard gauge) for BART was the greater stability in high winds and perhaps earthquakes.^{[34] [35]}

Factors

• Lightweight trains
• Narrow gauge
• Aspects of the terrain ^[36]
• Tunnels ^[37]

See also

• Snowshed

Notes and References

1. Overturning Probability of Railway Vehicles under Wind Gust Loads . Iutam Symposium on Dynamics and Control of Nonlinear Systems with Uncertainty . C. Proppe, C. Wetzel . IUTAM Book Series . 2007 . 2 . 23–32 . Springer. 10.1007/978-1-4020-6332-9_3 . 978-1-4020-6331-2 .
2. Book: Klaus. Kieper. Reiner. Preuß. Elfriede. Rehbein. Schmalspurbahn-Archiv . Bahnen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern . 116 . Transpress . Berlin . 1982 . 2nd. de.
3. News: SEVERE WINDSTORM. . . Melbourne . 8 October 1928 . 13 June 2013 . 8 . National Library of Australia.
4. News: LEVEL CROSSING ACCIDENT. . . 27 August 1931 . 28 June 2015 . 10 . National Library of Australia.
5. News: Double-Deck Trams. . . Hobart, Tas. . 1 June 1943 . 24 April 2012 . 4 . National Library of Australia.
6. Web site: Tornado derails outback freight train.
7. News: FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENT. . . 34 . New South Wales, Australia . 4 April 1910 . 26 November 2016 . 3 . National Library of Australia.
8. Web site: Six dead in train crash on Denmark's Great Belt Fixed Link . 2 January 2019 . English . The Local DK . 2 January 2019.
9. News: GALE DERAILS TRAIN. . . 21 October 1936 . 4 May 2012 . 16 . National Library of Australia.
10. News: TRAIN DERAILED. . . Launceston, Tas. . 21 October 1936 . 11 May 2012 . 8 Edition: DAILY . National Library of Australia.
11. News: RAILWAY ACCIDENT. . . Tas. . 31 July 1895 . 28 June 2015 . 3 . National Library of Australia.
12. Web site: WIND STALLS CAPE TRAINS | Railways Africa . 2012-12-12 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131203011048/http://www.railwaysafrica.com/blog/2012/12/wind-stalls-cape-trains/ . 3 December 2013 . dmy-all . Wind stalls Cape trains
13. News: En Suisse, des trains ont déjà déraillé à cause du vent. April 2023 . fr. 2023-04-03.
14. Web site: Two Swiss trains derail in strong winds, several injured - SWI swissinfo.ch. April 2023 . 2023-04-03.
15. [The Railway Magazine]
16. [The Railway Magazine]
17. [The Railway Magazine]
18. Blown from the Track, Railroad Gazette, April 4, 1883; pages 285-286. Reprinted from the Apr. 25 'Denver Tribune'.
19. Thrown off the Track, Chicago Daily Tribune, May 8, 1876, page 5. (Retrieved via Library of Congress Chronicling American archive).
20. Two Cars Blown Off the Track, New York Times, Feb. 24, 1884.
21. Train Wreck at Georgetown, February 4th, 1885, Rocky Mountain Railroad Heritage Society Newsletter, Vol. 3, No. 9 (Winter, 2017); page 6. (reprinted from the Denver Tribune Republican, Feb. 5, 1885.)
22. http://www.narrowgauge.org/images/tkcok/m00314.jpg Derailed in a Hurricane at Georgetown
23. Exhibit No. 5. Casualties, 1891-'92, Annual Report of the Postmaster General of the United States for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1892, GPO, 1892; page 845. Gives time and location.
24. Train Blown Over, St. Paul daily globe (Saint Paul, Minn.), 02 April 1892; page 1. Historic American Newspaper collection, Library of Congress.
25. Swept by Fearful Winds, The Abbeville press and banner (Abbeville, S.C.), 20 April 1892; page 2. Historic American Newspaper collection, Library of Congress.
26. News: NEWS BY MAIL. . . 24 May 1892 . 12 May 2012 . 7 . National Library of Australia.
27. News: AMERICAN WIND STORM. . . Carnarvon, WA . 2 September 1911 . 25 April 2012 . 5 . National Library of Australia.
28. https://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/casepages/jul28-291986page.htm July 28-29 1986 Derecho "The Supercell Transition Derecho"
29. https://www.thegazette.com/subject/life/people-and-places/archive-photos-june-1998-derecho-hits-the-iowa-city-area-20180629 Archive photos: June 1998 derecho hits the Iowa City area
30. Web site: Twisters hit Illinois and Wisconsin ABC7 Chicago abc7chicago.com - ABC7 Chicago.
31. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: TRAIN Vs. TORNADO - BEST PART!!!!! . YouTube.
32. News: Train cars blown off tracks on Huey P. Long Bridge, FOX 8 reports . Carlie Kollath Wells . The Times-Picayune . April 27, 2015.
33. Kyle Cheromcha, Bomb Cyclone Winds Blow Freight Train Off Railroad Bridge in New Mexico, The Drive, March 14, 2019
34. Web site: The deep-lodged problems with the BART system. 13 August 2009.
35. Web site: Crossing the Bay Again — but Not Necessarily with BART. 6 January 2010.
36. Web site: BECCA Wiki : Rail vehicle overturning . 2010-11-08 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110222163523/http://wiki.climatechangeadaptation.org.au/tiki-index.php?page=Rail+vehicle+overturning . 22 February 2011 . dmy-all .
37. Web site: CFD-aided tenability assessment of railway tunnel train fire scenarios . https://web.archive.org/web/20150228011258/http://www.yunlong.com.au/pdf/Liu-CFD.pdf . 2015-02-28 . 2024-06-22.