To clear up some common confusion in the comments, I’ll answer some questions. 1. No, trains do not have tires. Their axles and wheels are made of solid steel. 2. The TRE passenger car had just been refurbished up north and is now on its way back to Texas. 3. Nobody knows who is at fault or why it happened. My guess would be the yard master mistook the heavy flatcar as an empty car and sent it under the bridge thinking there was no height restriction. 4. You would think this would be satire, but some people here are actually serious. No, you cannot just back up and ram the load. The maximum FRA mandated coupling speed is no more than 4 mph. If you exceed 4 mph while coupling, it’s not gonna be good. Especially over 5, that’s risk for a derailment and almost certainly damaged equipment. 5. Yes, Enola yard has a high load detector. it is situated about half a mile before this bridge and for some reason failed to alert the crew of this load.

I was told several years ago that a dispatcher in Omaha sent a crew with 3 SD70MACs up a light branch line over the protests of the crew. The engineer told the dispatcher that they were too heavy for the branch, but dispatch pulled the "insubordinate and argumentative" line on him and he shrugged and said "Ok, you're the boss." They got a couple of miles up, crushing rails through ties and tearing up the asphalt on several crossings before they were unable to plow through the road surface on a grade crossing. The Roadmaster and the Trainmaster reached their location and went nuts. The crew told them what the dispatcher had said and their reaction was what you would expect. The review of the recordings ended with the dispatcher heading for the unemployment office and the crew going back to work. 3 miles of track had to be rebuilt to get the units out of the mud. People make an average of 5+ mistakes every hour. You just have to make sure that your mistakes are minor ones without extreme consequences.

Royal Smit Transformers is located in the Netherlands. It traveled 1000s of miles unharmed till NS took responsibility.

Customer: WTF did you do to my product? NS: What?? We got it that way... Customer: I saw the KZfaq video... NS: Oh that.....

Amazon Reviewer: "Don't buy this, my transformer arrived damaged and unusable, not to mention 5 days late".

Wow, you'd think they'd have all the clearances ok'd before even moving. Great catch!

How many basement experts are going to say, let the air out of the tires?

About 40 years ago, when I was still in the power industry, Westinghouse shipped the low pressure section of a 1500 megawatt steam turbine via UP to Washington State. The railroad did the right thing, checked clearances on paper and by sending a clearance car out the day before. No problem. Unfortunately, an area of Wyoming that has very sparse rainfall normally, had a horrendous 500 year rainfall overnight dumping 3 or four inches of rain in the area. About a half mile or so of railroad telephone poles alongside the tracks shifted due to wire tension. Because this was a well maintained line that was flat with no speed restriction curves, the dedicated extra train with the turbine was moving at a good clip when they hit the poles and cross arms. Took out most of the poles for that half mile. A couple of the poles went through the casing, and damaged the turbine rotor and blades. Expensive freight claim and another project delay, while Westinghouse figured out how to fix it.

This load appears to be a 138-kV Autotransformer or a voltage close to it. Since power transformers (nearly all) are commercially produced as "custom" units, the damage to this unit could be severe. I knew an individual having worked for a midwestern railroad nearly all his life. He had many different positions there, however, once he told me about an incident in the 1960s, when he was attached to the department where special loads were monitored and scheduled for transport. One load was for Westinghouse. A large power Autotransformer had been manufactured at the East Sharon Works with special treatment to load tap changing arrangements and other ancillary cooling equipment (FOA), instrumented bushings, and such. It was a unique order for a western utility, if I recall correctly. The utility wanted this transformer for a specially installed and timed project determined over several years. Westinghouse scheduled the manufacturing to meet their demands. His railroad employer received the bid to ship the unit west. The guy I knew was put in charge of the shipment and told to study and route it specifically to locations along several thousand miles where every overpass, every bridge, every limited right-of-way and weight stresses were held to strict qualifications to avoid any damage. They had to also route several other trains on different tracks in order to accommodate the load. After several days of study, he released the shipment route to the department matching retrieval and unloading times. The train engineer was demanded to meet the highly structured route. When the train had entered the mid-Rocky Mountain area, nearly completing its journey, the second-in-command to the train engineer apparently suggested, "Let's depart a little bit from the schedule, I know a quicker route and fewer miles." So stupidly, the engineer went along with him. A few miles down the railway, the transformer tank hit the top of a concrete beam highway viaduct--taking down the viaduct, cars on it and derailing the train. The transformer tumbled off the flat freight car several times coming to rest in the revine. Suffice it to say, the western utility had assigned contractual manpower on hand to install it according to a strict schedule of getting it on-line and energized at a power plant, loss of profitability for the utility of the electricity production, the cost of the transformer was significant, the damage to the viaduct was tremendous, the injuries to the victims on the highway were bad, the derailment was horrible and civil suits erupted on all sides. Guess who lost their railroad careers that day? My friend was called to take a beating. Why had he scheduled the route that way? "No, I never specified that shortcut. The train engineer deviated from my assigned route." He kept his job. Lots of heads rolled on that incident. This video certainly explains why you strictly assign special loads to highly studied and recommended routes. Whoever at Norfolk & Southern scheduled this route was out of his depth. As the owner and installer of this power transformer, I would be . . . suing for damages and the manufacturer of the unit would be suing for negligence.

Scotty: "I'm giving you all she's got, Captain!"

I worked for Southern Railway and NS for 25 years and all high and wide loads and their shipping routes were checked and rechecked then checked a third time before the loads werer released for shipping. the companies had a special train with a laser equipped car that came around once a year or anytime a track was reworked to measure tunnel and bridge clearances I guess times have changed.

This is the rail version of the famous 11ft-8 bridge.

I recall an incident about 20 years ago when NS had a derailment on their Chicago line, so they decided to detour some of their trains via Amtrak's Michigan line. One of the detoured trains was a double-stack which took out the bridge on High Bridge Road [yes, that's really the name of the road] just west of Buchanan, MI. The bridge has not been replaced. A news anchor in South Bend reporting the incident said, "High Bridge Road in Berrien County is now No Bridge Road."

Nothing sounds better than a 2 stroke EMD!

In a semi. It's the driver's fault. In a train. It's everyone's fault.

NS heavy freight planning supervisor: "We need to move this heavy transformer over this line, will it clear this bridge?" Secretary: "Sure, should be fine." One crash and a stuck transformer later: "Boss, you know that transformer we sent under that bridge it should have had enough clearance for? It's now stuck under that bridge." Supervisor: "Get me some engineers and find yourself another job!"

Give these guys some slack... Bridges and Trains are new technologies. Still working it out in 2020s.

At the end, it's like, "We're gonna just hide this on an abandoned siding and pretend it never happened."

I'm thinking an engineer can NEVER recover from something like this. Imagine the Jokes. This video was incredibly well shot . All Thumbs are UP !

At 7:20 did you see the name plaque on the transformer? "Royal Smit" Off by one letter! :)

The Can Opener's big brother.

Shouldn't there be a stoplight and a flashing sign that says OVERHEIGHT MUST TURN?

Why? Just back up and try again at a higher speed.

Holy cow! That is a HIGH value load.

11'8" Strikes again !!!!

It's pretty sad when a railroad doesn't even know their own height restrictions, etc. Considering how rare it is to ship anything by drop-center flatcar, you'd think they'd give an extra squint, but no.

Kind of surprises me that there would not have been an automated high and wide detector that dose not give a warning over the radio telling the crew to stop.

Did anyone else notice that at 2:42, the gentleman in the white station wagon is hollering "PUSH", presumably to the crew on the locomotive on the far side of the bridge? That seems to be what got the load unstuck.

The railroad equivalent of the 11'8" bridge.

The music was the BEST....LOL🤣🤣🤣

Well, I guess they just lost another customer

Wow 2nd bridge goofup I've seen this week. The 1st one I saw was auto racks tops shaved off and destroyed cars. And now this awesome catch thank you for the video.

I like the warning sign at the bridge that says "Low Clearance No High Cars Enola Safety Committee. It seems like low clearance bridges, whether they have a roadway or a railway under them often get struck by high vehicles such as trucks and trains. This happens no matter what warnings and safety measures are put in place. A good example was the eleven foot eight inch bridge. Even though it was raised to twelve feet four inches, it is still getting struck by high trucks.

"We measured it in meters! But the bridge was in feet!"

Captain; we need more power! Scotty: I'm giving her all she's got!

Plot twist: The train was delivering "Low Bridge" signs.

I can only imagine how the engineer in the cab of that engine felt when everything suddenly stopped...

OMFG the circus music playing when the sign was zoomed in on had me dying

Reverse back and take a run-up at it, it'll fit. Here, hold my beer!

The sound of the diesel engine of a road tractor or a locomotive, before departure, stirs an emotion in me that I can not explain. To all the men and women, who by road or rail keep this country going... I am genuinely thankful to you! (This includes you, dad.)

The bridge certainly got off lightly there. Excellent video!

I actually witnessed a Con-rail train that was hauling sea-land containers that were double stacked going westbound through Johnson city NY several years ago The forth car back from the engines caught the overpass and tore the top container from the train. I called their local yard and they got the train stopped 3 miles later. Bridge was wrecked,and had to be replaced.,and someone was probably very unhappy because their VW camper van was in the container.

When I was working at Hyundai Power Transformers, we had one that came in that was damaged from a low bridge strike very much like this one. We ended up taking the entire core out of the casing and inspecting for damage. The casing was too far damaged to be fixed. It took about three months to build a new casing and put the core back in and re-test everything, but we managed to save the transformer.

That is one very expensive "oopsie". Interesting to see how they dislodged it, and a real joy to listen to!!!

I was there and saw this happen and just 5 minutes before the incident I observed 3 Sasquatch messing with equipment around the track. I don't know if it's important but I believe the authorities are withholding Sasquatch evidence from the public.

First thought in managements mind. "Who are we going to hang "

That was built back in the day when the build things to last

The 5 P's are "Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance".

That's expensive mistake, those transformers are fragile (despite the heavy steel casing) that's why they are always transported on special load balancing trailers to minimise any shocks. Guess the trailer didn't work.

NS kicking themselves for getting rid of the SW1500s switchers makes backup moves so easy.

Moral of the story: 7:18 Never hop in the driver's seat of a load labeled ROYAL SMIT or you just may find yourself deep in.

Very Impressed with your film work my friend! Perfect angles and attention to detail.

In the "old days" UK freight yards had loading gauges at the yard exit - if you hit it, you were too high or wide. Do/did the US have such things?

11 foot 9 took another victim..

Maybe the sign should be amended to include high loads on low cars too...

Surely they need a bash beam a few yards before the bridge so that takes the damage instead of the bridge. Or a light beam and alarm signal type arrangement?

Just send a carman down to Ace Hardware for a can of spray paint......they will never know

Lowe's has the rattle cans of " Machine Gray".

3:52 I saw this and thought "OK, theyre going to use enough locomotives this time to make sure it gets all the way through!"

That is a large auto-transformer likely 345,000 or 230,000 volts to possibly 138,000 volts or maybe 115,000 volts. Judging from the size of the unit it has a value well in excess of $1.5 million. It was likely returned to the manufacturing site to be inspected, repaired and retested. The Railroad will likely be on the hook for an extended warranty period for any issues traceable back to this incident. Our company moves a lot of these and have seen several cases like this and much much worse. Great video - thank you for posting.

That transformer came all the way from the Netherlands ! I wonder what the return postage on that thing is gonna be. 😆

It's not like that bridge was put in yesterday. That was built PRR tough! Wondering who caught the heat for this one, the dispatcher for routing the transformer into Enola on this track.......or the yardmaster for sending this high and wide out of the yard on this track? And somewhere, somehow, does the Curse of PSR strike again?

So how did they finally ship the transformer (I assume it was repaired or replaced)? Who was ultimately found responsible for this f.u.?

As the Amtrak engineer in Philadelphia told the investigators, I just ignore the speed limit signs because they're usually wrong

Damn.. now there's a spot without any rust on it

Safe to say someone got demoted to burger flipper not long after that mess.

Looks like a substation transformer ... would love to see that event log (yes, they normally ship with event recorders).

What type was the stuck car? Looked to me like some special for secure transportation.

Wow one of our Dallas - FortWorth transit cars for The Trinity Railway Express at :42! Cool 😎

What was that guy's name you talked to at the High/Wide desk?

Shipper: We can't just Scotch tape the top back on to a 345KV autotransformer! NS Rep: But can we at least just try?

Uh boss? What's the insurance hotline and who planned this route

“No high cars?” “Homer you should probably stop” “Nah we can fit” *crash* “DOH!”

Can’t imagine how much that ended up costing 😬

may well have damaged the bridge bearings & shifted the bridge sideways. Survey & inspection needed!

As someone who is from the UK where the loading gauge comes before literally anything else on our railways, its quite funny to see what happens in places where it isn't priority 1. Sure our buses get stuck under bridges almost every day, but not the trains thankfully.

Only question is: Did they try again later, with three engines and full speed ahead?

Looks to me like they didn't get enough "train-ing" before pulling that car.

That’s one mean tough old bridge. Bet whoever drove that is now frying burgers.

is that a high route diversion at the end or is the transfomer going back to where it started its journey.

Great video! Nicely shot, excellent vantage points, and shows all the vitals going on. Shame that happened, but the transformer doesn't look too bad. 7:17 I thought that read "Royal Shit" LOL

Have they tried turning the bridge off and on again?

*Calls customer* “We uhh..... broke your big fancy box”

What is this?? New 11'-8" or 12'-4" bridge club?

Cool Video. We love our trains in Clemson SC. Go Tigers!!

When they need it over night, they should have called "Norfolk and Waypal" ..........

Beautiful emd sound.

A little gray touch up paint and the customer will never know.

This is what happens when you find a broker that can get it shipped for half the cost. But a serious question, are there low clearance signs before the bridges on railways? On road ways often times the low clearance is only posted at the bridge but a drive has time to stop. If the clearance signs are only posted on the bridges on railways that doesnt do the engineer much good.

Let the steel out of the tires with a cutting torch.

I can relate this is how FedEx delivers my packages.

"Expecting more damage to the trestle"? How fast was it going?

So who would be at fault for this mistake? Conductor, who connected the cars at the rail hub yard, or the switch operators? Just curious if it falls back on the Conductor?

The transformer came within mere inches of hitting the Low Clearance "No High Cars" sign. Good thing there was no damage to the sign. Someone is going to be able to sign up for the unemployment benefits before they run out. This is the bridge swinging to Rockville? Good catch thanks for sharing.

Spent nuclear fuel rods on board, Homer says don’t worry

I'd like to see the before and after SFRA tests! I bet the post accident test looks really special..😝

Why was there a car from the Trinity Railway Express that runs between Dallas & Ft Worth in Pennsylvania?

That bridge is built FORD tough💪🏿😂😂😂

I'm pretty sure that the warranty doesn't cover that.

I always thought that Lionel car was fake 😄. Awesome video!