1992 New River Train Accident at Cotton Hill, W.Va.

[UFOSPACE1999]

OP YOUR A COLOSSAL FAILURE

[lobiez]

u suck.



[SPARTANIIIprojects]

is that the nickelplates 765?

[ChessieStorm]

@SPARTANIIIprojects

Yes it was in 1992.

[simonspics1]

Seems to me with all the digital technology,this film could have improved,It would have been a great shot if the picture had been clearer! Thanks for sharing!

[sjtom57]

Much ado about nothing.

[Pilot853]

So this is what cameras were like back then...

[Kleman09]

Most FWRHS members would rather forget this unfortunate incident. This was an act of God, and was way out of our hands.

[extrasouth]

I was riding the Milwaukee full dome that day. Scary to say the least.

[XxGoldenXXChildxX]

Hey ya know what Me and my Father J.J.Smith are members of the CPH and I two was on that bridge at that very moment and have a video of almost the same angle. If ya dont mind me asking. Who is this that posted this video??? Also the Union Pacific dome car (3rd in line right after the Milwaukee full dome) I have several pices of the thick dome glass after the wreck.

[ChessieStorm]

@XxGoldenXXChildxX

I posted it because I dubbed the video from the copy the CPH has in their possession or used. I don't know the man's name who filmed this other than he was an Engineer for CSX.

If I knew his name, I will certainly post and give him the credit for shooting.

But I was on this train when this happened working in the consessions car.

[ChessieStorm]

@XxGoldenXXChildxX

Sorry to be late....I'm a member of the CPH too since 1991 and I was on this train working concessions that day when this happened. I won't give my full name on here, but Eric was my name from Summersville, W.Va. at the time.

[diesel43578]

Thanks for all the information. Just one more question, though. Was the front of the train on fire? The more I look at it is the only thing I can come up with.

[ChessieStorm]

@diesel43578

No the train wasn't on fire unless you count the fire in the steam engine itself.

I think what you're seeing is a combination of heavy rain and lights giving the effect of a fire, but the front was not on fire.

[diesel43578]

Oh cool, maybe not cool, but did you get hurt or anything? It looked like the front of the train was on fire or something, I dont know.

[ChessieStorm]

@diesel43578

The dome cars on the train suffered damage because of broken windows. Passengers who were sitting in those cars had glass come down on them, but none were injured. The train was stopped about 2 miles from this location to assess the situation and ran restricted speed to Montgomery, from there it was given the green light to Huntington at top speed.

The engine and tender did not suffer damage either.

[diesel43578]

Seriousy? You were on the train??

[ChessieStorm]

@diesel43578

Yes, I was. I am a member of the Collis P. Huntington Railroad Society that sponsors the NRT. I was working that trip in the concessions car, but was on break standing between that car and another when the storm hit.

[jferrell88]

i was on the train that day i was very young but remeber it being a very very nasty storm

[ChessieStorm]

@jferrell88

Didn't know that. Haven't met too many ordinary railfans on that particular trip in 1992

[mxmulisha]

LOL. its not bad quality, its just the best fucking videocamera you could get in 1992

[Fox250R]

LOL

[QUIX4U]

Oooh.. I like difficult to see vids... got any more... (as I love trying to solve these sorts of fuzzy things)...

[QUIX4U]

42 secs is the best i can see - where the WHOLE tree section - that fell at 26secs... IS STILL firmly wedged against & fully strddling the whole top of the car (stuck fast - into & "at" the leading edge of the dome)

[FUCK65MPH]

I can see where the tree fell but it didn't really do anything, prolly broke a window or dented the train car.

[QUIX4U]

@FUCK65MPH ;-) cheers... good work.. DOME in the info means exactly that - a window... U know ... 0h that window... the huge one along the TOP - yeah that one - the dome...)

[popcorntrucker]

at o:42 there is a tree on a passenger car.

[robertgift]

Thank you, Chessie, for the good information.

What were the "axle issues" of the two dome cars?

Thank you.

[QUIX4U]

@robertgift Probably shock_impaction (sudden added weight) which damages "grease packing materials" PLUS any damage however minor- can eventually lead to excessive heat, which bleeds the grease out of the axle packing & thus one gets a "hot-box"...

[robertgift]

@QUIX4U Thanks.

I did not think the weight was enough for the axles to notice.

[QUIX4U]

@robertgift YES - you are absolutely correct.. THE physically small weight of just that one tree "stump, branch whatever.. (if normally gently loaded onto a wagon has vertially no effect on the bearings or axles...

BUT... it wasn't lowered gently. IT FELL - from a great height & thumped onto the MOVING wagon

Velocity x weight = Inertia impaction (& maximum colateral damage)

[Kleman09]

@QUIX4U It wasnt a wagon. This was a passenger car full of people!

[QUIX4U]

@Kleman09 Wagon Car rolling stock ../ I don't actually GIVE a flyingphark .. ok ... my comment was made MONTHS AGO .. get over it.. Oh and just for the H3LL of it .. instead of counting the clickety clacks (the next time u fall asleep) count how many "chs" U can see.. in this multi ch analogue surround sound picture...

h ttp :// tiny . cc/QUIX_25_Ch_Numbers

[QUIX4U]

@robertgift ... Plus a "hot-box"- if allowed to heat can go on fire, or sieze, fracture, & worst to disintergrate, rendering the whole axlebox useless on one-side, allowing axle to twist under the car & cause a derailment. The faster a damaged box is run- the more rapidly it fails & the higher the catastrophic risk

[goholden12345]

i didnt c it!!!

[Tschicci]

accident?

[6V92TA]

tree at 0:39 to 0:44

[QUIX4U]

@6V92TA 0-26 is where the tree can clearly be 1st seen - halfway out... (and falling)

[6V92TA]

@QUIX4U The times ive posted was the times one can see the branch clearly ontop of the train......

[CatishDuck76]

Video made my eyes bleed.

[airplanebuilderman]

Ummm where was the accident? I didn't see it. Can someone point it out at the point it happens.

[ChessieStorm]

This is at the old Rt. 16 bridge over the New River at Cotton Hill.

I tried to highlight a box on here where the trees fall onto the train, but again the quality is not the best in the world.

Hopefully I can fix that to where it will be clearer.

[airplanebuilderman]

@ChessieStorm oh i see it now thanks

[sibrent1]

a stick falling onto a locomotive in no way qualifies as an train accident bro, seriously?

[XxGoldenXXChildxX]

@sibrent1 I was there and it wasnt a stick. It was about 15 full size Oak trees that did a few hundred thousand dollars in damage to about 6 cars. crappy vid quality but trust me if you saw it you in reality you would know how bad it actualy was.

[sibrent1]

@XxGoldenXXChildxX - ohhhh, i see now. The giant thing across the middle of the car, lol. I was looking for something tiny falling real-time, not that big thing laying already on the car.

[shittyassholefucker1]

@airplanebuilderman

when u see the squares pop up,pause it.the second time u can definitely see a tree across the top of a car.i'm guessing the first is the tree falling?

[airplanebuilderman]

@shittyassholefucker1 Thanks

[counterclockwise123]

@airplanebuilderman I am afraid that your request is impossible to accomplish as there is no accident. All that happened was a tree fell on one of the cars.

[airplanebuilderman]

@counterclockwise123 Thanks counterclockwise But, Someone already beat you to the answer. Someone already answered my question about it

[counterclockwise123]

@airplanebuilderman Well, I guess that makes me a retard. lol

[airplanebuilderman]

@counterclockwise123 NAAAA

[justincsx9999]

@airplanebuilderman You and the 11 other people should look very closely when the box comes up, you can see trees falling.

[airplanebuilderman]

@justincsx9999 Someone pointed it out already

[turbo1431]

@airplanebuilderman

if you look closely in the box that appears on the screen at 0:24 - 0:25 and then watch that space for a couple of seconds, you can see a massive tree-shaped shadow fall down and then as the train passes you can see a branch on the first dome car at 0:40 - 0:41

you can easily see the branch but you will have to squint to see the tree fall

[DJGENEX71]

Umm CSX should read the definition of 'accident' in the dictionary and so should NS when it comes to canceling steam programs and 'insurance regulations'...You'd think that Amtrak already pays the 'insurance' for passenger service, maybe they should step up and run some steam trains...Thanks for posting this classic footage! 5*****!

[ChessieStorm]

Maybe, but I don't know about that aspect of their decision making.

Of course this same thing could happen to the Amtrak pulled New River Train today.

[DJGENEX71]

I know, that was the point I was making about how it was an accident in the first place, but CSX and NS would say it was something silly like the steam from the engine melted the snow and made the tree fall on the train...lol...

[ChessieStorm]

LOL, that is true they would.

[robertgift]

Thank you, Chessie for your excellent, detailed text.

Video was as good as it could be.

Thank you for posting it.

RWG Denver, Colorado

[ChessieStorm]

Thanks. I wish I could remember the name of the fella who shot the video. He was an engineer for CSX at the time and chased this train to Hinton and back.

[bushwacker2008]

I Guess that because the train was a steamer that had something to do with the tree falling down on the dome car.

I seen a torando blow a UP frieght off the tracks here on youtube, OMG what happen if this was a steam train...

[ChessieStorm]

I think CSX reacted to other incidents nationwide of other railroads using steam where there accidents.

I'm not defending their action, but that was one reason stated to us in our meetings with them.

[robertgift]

Should thatrain blown off its track by the tornado have stopped?

Then you only have cars blown over.

Or try to get out of the tornado's path before the tornado got there?

Appears a lot more damage and track torn up because the train was moving.

But had the train passed before the tornado got there, NO damage at all.

Difficult decision.

Dramatic video seeing railcars coming at you!

[trainboy414]

that's a really long train and that sucks about the cars did they fix the cars?

[ChessieStorm]

We ran 33-34 cars back then and yes they did fix these cars and they were on the 1993 New River Train.

[trainboy414]

that's good to hear at least they didn't leave the cars crushed or worse scrap them.

[donatedon]

0:43

[Hypsan]

The way the storm started and subsided so quickly, it almost looks like a tornado passed right over the tracks.

[SP4449Warbaby]

Such a shame that CSX doesnt allow this today.

[ViolentVendetta]

lol

[ChessieStorm]

Some were terrified. I had relatives sitting in the top of one of the dome cars and were showered with glass, but were unharmed.

[HamiltonOhrailz]

Holy crap! you can see the big tree tunk fall.

[RDG484]

I rode the New River Train the very next year when 765 was done up as "C&O 2765." we rode in the King Cotton. Best train ride I had in my whole life. They fed us VERY well and I took as much video out of the back as I could. Now if only I could transfer that to DVD.......

[ChessieStorm]

Here is what one wrote me about this: A capture card will take any analog video and put it on your computer, usually using a USB port, PCI slot, or FireWire port. Cost mainly depends on how good you want the card to be. The one I use is called a Dazzle DVD Recorder, I picked it up on sale for $40 at the now defunct Circuit City (normal price is $50).

[RDG484]

Good to know, thanks. I'll have to look for one, possibly at Best Buy.

[trainsruleandroll]

HOLY CRAP!! that musta sucked for the people in there...

[ChessieStorm]

I also used a laser pointer at the 0:22-0:25 mark to give you an idea where to look.

I have another copy of this that I may try to download in HD, but I don't think the quality is going to improve much.