American standard-gauge trains are powerful, heavy, awesome and big but...

JonMyrlennBailey

Active member
...tornadoes are even mightier than diesel locomotives.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYubpuIe3cw


We all know what happened to that mighty ship "God Himself couldn't sink" Titanic when she hit that apparent "tiny little ice cube" floating on the surface of the northern Atlantic.



Man builds mighty machines.

Mother Nature throws even mightier temper tantrums.
 
You do come up with some unrealistic stuff sometimes!!!!
Looks like the Loco stayed on tracks and freight cars went off (only takes one light car to go and take the rest).

Titanic (lousy comparison) as approximately 1/7th of an iceberg is above water - that's an awful lot of ice sitting in the water to hit.
 
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I've seen this video before. Looking at it again, it appears that the train may not have taken a direct hit from the tornado, and what knocked the train about was the fact that it was on a trestle and the strong winds pushed it from underneath causing the derailment. This is clearly seen with the boxcars and hoppers being blown over. The same thing occurred in TX in 2012. A tornado, later classified as an EF3 lifted empty truck trailers up into the air and pushed them around like toys. The damage that brought this up from EF2 was houses that were blown off their foundation, and in any other circumstances that wouldn't have happened but because they weren't attached to the concrete the blew over.
 
My questions might be then: has any tornado, hurricane or any wind storm been known to derail or wreck any standard gauge train in North America including a locomotive? Is it possible for a tornado to be forceful enough to knock even the heaviest engine off the track?

How much property damage and death do strong storms really inflict upon railroads specifically each year?

How do railroads try to mitigate the risks and damages of destructive storms?

What adverse effect does meteorology, climate, inclement weather and atmospheric conditions, have on railroading?
 
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And what has this got to do with Trainz? At best it should be in Prototype Talk or Community Waffle, or preferably OP should take to Facebook or a blog to post this sort of stuff... :)
 
I goofed. Yes, this thread was meant to go in Prototype. I wanted a thread that dealt with real-world railroading
and how severe weather impacts it. Often railroad buffs never think about weather and trains together.
We all know what landslides and earthquakes can do to trains.

Nothing to do with Trainz, I guess. Severe storms are not simulated in the game as far as I know.

Rain, thunder, lightning, snow and wind maybe but no flash floods, destructive storms, tidal waves or gale-force winds.
 
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My questions might be then: has any tornado, hurricane or any wind storm been known to derail or wreck any standard gauge train in North America including a locomotive? Is it possible for a tornado to be forceful enough to knock even the heaviest engine off the track?

How much property damage and death do strong storms really inflict upon railroads specifically each year?

How do railroads try to mitigate the risks and damages of destructive storms?

What adverse effect does meteorology, climate, inclement weather and atmospheric conditions, have on railroading?

Yes. In May 2008 a tornado ripped through Kearny, NE and knocked over parked freights in the yard there as well as damaged the ethanol plant and the nearby airfield. The debris was found as far away as Linwood, KS as the storm moved eastward.

Having seen the damage firsthand and the power of these storms, it's amazing yet fascinating at the same time. In some cases, it's not even the tornado that causes the damage, but instead it's the RFD - the rear flank downdraft, which comes in behind the storm after it passes. The RFD winds can be 75 mph and up, and have been known to rip up buildings, and cause damage. Then there's the inflow winds. These winds flowing into the storm, while dry and dusty and not rain-filled, can be upwards of 70-mph or more, and these conditions can occur just with the super cell thunderstorm and not even a tornado.

Here is a tornado-producing super cell thunderstorm that hit western KS not far from Scott City on June 9th, 2019.

https://youtu.be/1kYWmphCkvs

The big cloud rapping around from the distance is called the inflow band which feeds the storm from all over. What started out as a nothing day with a few rain showers and hail, this storm literally grew out of nowhere next to I-70 into this beast. I saw this occur live on Daniel's live stream (Patreon-only) as it grew bigger and bigger with tiny spin-ups, funnels, a lowering formed and the storm took off quickly. The lightning this storm produced, ran on for about 8-hours or longer with cloud to cloud, and cloud to ground bolts constantly being shot out of this storm. It was an amazing sight live (on camera), and probably even better watching for real. You can't make out the tornado located in that wall cloud, but that most likely occurred just around where those bright orange-pink bolts are occurring frequently underneath.
 
Yes. In May 2008 a tornado ripped through Kearny, NE and knocked over parked freights in the yard there as well as damaged the ethanol plant and the nearby airfield. The debris was found as far away as Linwood, KS as the storm moved eastward.

Having seen the damage firsthand and the power of these storms, it's amazing yet fascinating at the same time. In some cases, it's not even the tornado that causes the damage, but instead it's the RFD - the rear flank downdraft, which comes in behind the storm after it passes. The RFD winds can be 75 mph and up, and have been known to rip up buildings, and cause damage. Then there's the inflow winds. These winds flowing into the storm, while dry and dusty and not rain-filled, can be upwards of 70-mph or more, and these conditions can occur just with the super cell thunderstorm and not even a tornado.

Here is a tornado-producing super cell thunderstorm that hit western KS not far from Scott City on June 9th, 2019.

https://youtu.be/1kYWmphCkvs

The big cloud rapping around from the distance is called the inflow band which feeds the storm from all over. What started out as a nothing day with a few rain showers and hail, this storm literally grew out of nowhere next to I-70 into this beast. I saw this occur live on Daniel's live stream (Patreon-only) as it grew bigger and bigger with tiny spin-ups, funnels, a lowering formed and the storm took off quickly. The lightning this storm produced, ran on for about 8-hours or longer with cloud to cloud, and cloud to ground bolts constantly being shot out of this storm. It was an amazing sight live (on camera), and probably even better watching for real. You can't make out the tornado located in that wall cloud, but that most likely occurred just around where those bright orange-pink bolts are occurring frequently underneath.


Thanks, John.

So, I now know storms can topple empty freight cars at least but I don't yet know if something as heavy as an engine can succumb to any tornado or other forceful atmospheric phenomena. I've seen tornadoes lift entire tractor-trailers and carry them completely off the ground but that was the Hollywood film, Twister. Hollywood might be exaggerating the power of storms. I've yet to see a twister carry a train in the air, even in the movies. This might be a good reason for all freight train personnel to be riding in the heavy locos instead of the caboose. The light caboose might be vulnerable to something like tornado. Trains can't steer clear of tornadoes like storm chasers in cars can. They are pretty much sitting dicks for whenever Mother Nature throws a nasty nearby temper tantrum of some sort.
 
Thanks, John.

So, I now know storms can topple empty freight cars at least but I don't yet know if something as heavy as an engine can succumb to any tornado or other forceful atmospheric phenomena. I've seen tornadoes lift entire tractor-trailers and carry them completely off the ground but that was the Hollywood film, Twister. Hollywood might be exaggerating the power of storms. I've yet to see a twister carry a train in the air, even in the movies. This might be a good reason for all freight train personnel to be riding in the heavy locos instead of the caboose. The light caboose might be vulnerable to something like tornado. Trains can't steer clear of tornadoes like storm chasers in cars can. They are pretty much sitting dicks for whenever Mother Nature throws a nasty nearby temper tantrum of some sort.

The storm may not topple the locomotive directly, but the fact that the train its self gets knocked over may very well pull the locomotive as well. Given the flying debris, it's like being under a weed whacker, I would be more inclined to take cover anyway. There's too much glass and other sharp things around that can do a lot of deadly damage.

That video I posted is quite amazing even as a time-lapse. To get a glimpse of it at regular speed, slow it down to 75%. It's close but not quite the same.
 
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