List Of Wind-related Railway Accidents

High winds can blow railway trains off tracks and cause accidents.

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 of vehicles
* 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
* 1931 – Kandos – wind blows level crossing gates closed in front of motor-cyclist
* 1943 – Hobart, Tasmania; Concern that wind will blow over doubledeck trams on gauge if top deck enclosed.
* 2010 – Marla, South Australia; Small tornado blows over train.

Austria

* 1910 – Trieste (now in Italy) – train blown down embankment.

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.

Germany

* Rügen narrow-gauge railway, 20 October 1936: derailment of a train, five injured

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

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.

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.
* Moston 2015 – out of gauge train hits platform, throwing stones onto other track.
* Scout Green 2015 – empty 30-foot ISA container blown off train

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.
* 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.
* Around 7am, Feb. 23, 1884, 2 cars were blown off the narrow-gauge tracks of the Colorado Central Railroad near Georgetown, Colorado.
* 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.
* 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.; 4 were seriously injured, a dozen more suffered minor injuries. 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.
* On June 28, 1986, a derecho derailed 18 piggyback cars on the Kate Shelley High Bridge over the Des Moines River in Iowa.
* 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.
* A 2008 tornado in Northern Illinois derailed a Union Pacific train. Dramatic footage of the event was captured by a camera mounted on the train.
* 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.
* 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.

One reason for choosing broad gauge (17% wider than standard gauge) for BART was the greater stability in high winds and perhaps earthquakes.

Factors

* Lightweight trains
* Narrow gauge
* Aspects of the terrain
* Tunnels http://www.yunlong.com.au/pdf/Liu-CFD.pdf

See also

* Snowshed

References

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