Re: A 168 question
| April 15, 2019 12:37PM |
|
John K Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Jeff, understood.
>
> Yes, 346 was a runaway, I remember that now. I do
> remember that C&S put some "half flanges" on too
> in place of the blind drivers during the wreck
> rebuild, correct? Was that to enhance
> performance?
>
> And I knew that 40 jumped the rails in the 1943
> pileup, but didn't realize the rear wheels came
> off first. I guess I need to reread my "RGS Story"
> book. I believe in there the accident was
> credited to the blind driver situation, but what
> is written, and what actually is, can be two
> different things!
>
> Thank you for your insight.
>
> John
It is never been put to print, but my guess is a pair of blind drivers on #40 slipped off the inside of the curve just east of Cima where the 20 and 40 went over. If a blind driver fell off to the inside of the curve with the engine pulling hard up the hill it would put the engine into a bind that would force the back driver off too. It would happened violently enough to yank the rear of the engine sideways and pull it over. As the 20 was pulling hard ahead of the 40 and the train was stretched out behind them, the couplers were pulled tight and the whole works went over as one unit.
1943 was a tough one for the RGS. In that year they lost one half of their operational motive power to wrecks - #20 and #40 in July and #455 in November. That left them with #22, #42 & #42.
I've always wondered why #40 wasn't repaired as its damage seemed much less than the #20, and certainly much less than the mess that #455 ended up as.
Another thought. You see a lot more serious derailments/wrecks with the small power that had blind drivers. I'm thinking that these engine were only guided by the pony truck and the front drivers. If you hit a rock or such and derailed the pony truck and the front driver, there is nothing to keep the locomotive heading straight ahead, as it would if the other drivers had flanges. the end result was the engine turning sideways and heading into the ditch.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Jeff, understood.
>
> Yes, 346 was a runaway, I remember that now. I do
> remember that C&S put some "half flanges" on too
> in place of the blind drivers during the wreck
> rebuild, correct? Was that to enhance
> performance?
>
> And I knew that 40 jumped the rails in the 1943
> pileup, but didn't realize the rear wheels came
> off first. I guess I need to reread my "RGS Story"
> book. I believe in there the accident was
> credited to the blind driver situation, but what
> is written, and what actually is, can be two
> different things!
>
> Thank you for your insight.
>
> John
It is never been put to print, but my guess is a pair of blind drivers on #40 slipped off the inside of the curve just east of Cima where the 20 and 40 went over. If a blind driver fell off to the inside of the curve with the engine pulling hard up the hill it would put the engine into a bind that would force the back driver off too. It would happened violently enough to yank the rear of the engine sideways and pull it over. As the 20 was pulling hard ahead of the 40 and the train was stretched out behind them, the couplers were pulled tight and the whole works went over as one unit.
1943 was a tough one for the RGS. In that year they lost one half of their operational motive power to wrecks - #20 and #40 in July and #455 in November. That left them with #22, #42 & #42.
I've always wondered why #40 wasn't repaired as its damage seemed much less than the #20, and certainly much less than the mess that #455 ended up as.
Another thought. You see a lot more serious derailments/wrecks with the small power that had blind drivers. I'm thinking that these engine were only guided by the pony truck and the front drivers. If you hit a rock or such and derailed the pony truck and the front driver, there is nothing to keep the locomotive heading straight ahead, as it would if the other drivers had flanges. the end result was the engine turning sideways and heading into the ditch.
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.
488 stops for water at Los Pinos tank on closing day Oct. 1979. Photo courtesy Don Richter
The NGDF was started by Don Richter and is currently operated in his memory by Nathan Holmes and others. Others who have contributed to the upkeep of this board are (in no particular order): Charles McCandless, Everett Lueck, Ted Wilton, Cole Adams, James Bane, John Moellmer, Jon Bentz, Linn Moedinger, lloyd lehrer, Rod Jensen, John Craft, Steven Forney, Herb Kelsey, Bill Ramaley, Russ Sperry (El Russo Loco), Josh McNeal, John West, Jim Armstrong, Bob Bergstrom, Greg Scholl, Blake Forbes Doug van Veelen and Mark Fuller.