Derailments caused by snow.

[fredevad]

A discussion came up with a non-train person that won't ride trains during snow storms because they'll "go off the rails". His concern was that riding trains during a snowstorm is a bad idea or dangerous because the snow will cause the train to derail.

Now, I know the relative physics between the weight of an empty passenger rail car vs. accumulating snow or a snow bank (plowed over a grade crossing) vs. momentum, but I wanted to fact check myself before discussing any further. I'm also under the impression that most (if not all) derailments are caused by equipment/rail malfunction or an accident. I know of only one weather related derailment caused by a tornado (I saw the YouTube video), within the last few years in northern Illinois if I'm not mistaken.

Have there been cases where a snowstorm has caused a passenger (or freight) train to derail? Any pointers (besides an internet search) where I can get facts would be helpful. All I have is common sense physics at this point and I know many of you have much more knowledge than my limited few-years-of-railfan-wannabe experience.

Thanks in advance,

- Fredevad

 

[amtrakwolverine]

Via rail train derailed due to snow covering a signal. They took a siding at 70MPH jumped the tracks and slide down the side taking out a house. Not Amtrak but snow caused it cause the crew couldn't see the signals.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/02/25/13019866.html

 

[George Harris]

A discussion came up with a non-train person that won't ride trains during snow storms because they'll "go off the rails". His concern was that riding trains during a snowstorm is a bad idea or dangerous because the snow will cause the train to derail.

In case of serious snow, being on a train is the safest way to go. Thanks to the top of rail being 7 to 8 inches about the top of ballast, high wheel load, and the wheel flange, derailments in ordinary snowfall are extremely rare for any kind of train. If there are high drifts, they will be plowed out before a train is allowed to run through the area. There have been two cases of passenger trains stuck in snow drifts that come to mind, both near Donner Pass on what is now the Calif. Zephyr route. In both cases, there wasan extreme delay, but no derailment, and no deaths or injuries to passengers.

 

[Ispolkom]

Last Christmas the Empire Builder was the only thing moving in North Dakota, as all Interstates and airports were closed, and no travel was advised in the entire state. We had to walk to the train station. You literally could not drive anything but a large, four-wheel-drive vehicle, and we saw a lot of those stuck in drifts. The train, though, had no problem plowing through 4-5 foot snowdrifts at 50-60 m.p.h. You could feel it when the cars bunched together and then loosened, but it was nothing big. While waiting at the Minot station we saw a Canadian Pacific freight train come through at a much higher speed than usual, sending a rooster tail of snow off the plow high above the locomotives. Again, no problem with the deep snow.

Offhand, the only derailment due to snow I can think of was the Great Northern's Stevens Pass disaster, when an avalanche swept most of the Fast Mail off the tracks and killed dozens. That was a) more than a century ago, and b) before the much lower Cascade tunnel was built through Stevens Pass.