Re: Cow Exploder

Since we are talking about hitting livestock, I've got one to chip in. Luckily I've never hit a deer with a car, although growing up in Western New York, I've had a few close calls. I did hit a raccoon one rainy night and that felt like running over a cement block.

The incident I found most interesting, happened in Zimbabwe. I was riding the footplate of a 15th class (4-6-4 + 4-6-4) Garratt on the night passenger train out of Bulawayo to Victoria Falls. The driver was telling me about hitting several elephants the previous week in Wankie (now Hwange) park. He came around a curve out of a cut, and a small herd was crossing the track. Several were on a fill, with no-where to go. He didn't even have time to brake. It didn't matter, since the first elephant he hit broke off the vacuum pipe on the pilot beam, and the brakes went into emergency anyway. The train stopped and the carnage was reviewed. Three carcasses they could see (it happened at night) and no way to release the brakes with the broken vacuum pipe. Plus, in the middle of the African bush with who knows what else nearby. The only other damage was a bent pilot and a noticeable dent in the front tank. The driver located a piece of wood, whittled a plug and pounded it into the broken vacuum pipe. It sealed well enough to release the brakes and get the train underway. They were lucky, there had been other locomotive-elephant encounters where the locomotive was derailed.



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/2015 10:52AM by jgunning.