What are some of the causes of a train derailment?

Question

What are some of the causes of a train derailment?

Answer 1

wide track gage, broken rail, bad ties, bad train handling by the engineer, speeding train faster than allowed track conditions, broken wheel or flange on the locomotive or train cars.  

Answer 2

Obstruction on the track.

Distortion or damage to the track due to subsidence, landslide, vandalism etc.

Slack maintenance, e.g. track components not properly repaired / replaced.

Excessive speed when negotiating curves, junctions, other places where there is a speed limit.

Driver failing to observe signals.

Equipment failure, e.g. the high speed ICE (Inter-City Express) train which crashed in Germany because a tyre on a wheel broke.

Fortunately train derailments are extremely rare. Travelling by train is much safer than going by car, where accidents are happening all the time.

Answer 3

IF THE RAILROAD IS IN REALLY BAD SHAPE AND THE TRAIN BOUNCES SIDE TO SIDE ALOT,  THERES A GOOD CHANCE A HEAVY LOAD COULD BOUNCE HARD ENOUPH TO SPREAD THE RAIL.

I BEEN IN 20 DERAILS OR MORE,  MOST OF THEM WHERE DUE TO BAD TRACK.

SEMINOLE GULF RAILWAY

Answer 4

Derailments come in five basic flavors: man failure, equipment failure (which can be caused by man failure), defective road bed, mother nature and vandalism.

Man failure (including insufficient experience) can cause: improper train make-up, improper train handling, overlooking a temporary speed restriction (usually over track that is not “up to snuff”), excessive speed, failure to properly secure unattended equipment, improper switch position, excessive tonnage, missing a signal or miscalculating stopping distance, with the latter two usually resulting in a collision.  These days it is a very rare occasion when drugs or alcohol contribute to man failure.  The two main causes are inexperience and, the biggie, “fatigue,” which is rampant and ever present in the industry.

Equipment failure can include: a broken wheel, brake rigging down and dragging, a broken knuckle, a broken draw bar (these two can be caused by improper train handling or on their own), a thin flange, improper maintenance of rolling stock or locomotive, air brake problems (kinked air hose, dynamiter), truck ‘hunting’, overheated journal, broken center sill, improper lading or shifted load.

Defective roadbed can include: wide gauge, broken rail (or pull apart), ‘pumping’ over soft spots, split switch, sun kinks, broken angle bar.

Nature can cause derailments via slide, washout, excessive temperature (heat or cold) and high wind.

Vandalism speaks for itself and of course there is always a car or truck getting tagged at a crossing somewhere and these too can cause and have caused a derailment.

Answer 5

The list can be endless lol. Equipment failure is a major cause.Broken wheels,failed axle bearing,dragging equipment,broken rails and frogs,and other track defects like thermal misalignment and washouts.Then you have buff and draft forces caused by improper train handling and/or bad train make up.Also emergency brake applications can make bad things happen especially if combined with poor train make up.We have something called L over V ratio.When it gets exceeded things come unglued.As you can see there are a lot of things that can go wrong!My last bad one was a rail that broke as the head end went over it at 65 mph.We derailed everything but the lead unit and the rear car of a 4,000 foot train.That was a scary one.We were lucky to walk away from that one.

Answer 6

Kids putting pennies on the track.

Answer 7

Broken wheel flanges not judging a speed and faulty equipment. Mose engineers  are up on these things, and know that to watch  out for. c**p happens, and the lame fall on the rail care inspectors.