Former BNSF Conductor here, when operating in dark territory we always had to report in to dispatch every time we re-lined and locked a switch back to the main so that there was a record of our activity. Sometimes even seasoned crews made mistakes (it was rare, but we're all human) and someone could report in "switch lined and locked back in mainline position" without actually having done it, because the sequence had become so routine. One time I was working on a switch crew in Grand Rapids, MN (dark territory) where they have a small yard next to some industries, and when we got there we noticed that one of the main line switches was still unlocked and lined into the yard - we didn't know if the prior crew had mistakenly left it in that position or if the FRA was testing or surveilling us, but we knew that we had to call it in and report the issue to dispatch. We hated to think about getting any of our co-workers in trouble, but that was a very serious mistake if they were the ones that had left it that way. But if we were just being tested, we would've been in just as much trouble for just re-lining and locking it without reporting the action.

I was there right after. And right before, I got a video of the train passing where I work. Thank you for making sure they were ok! My dad’s a little sore but that’s all.

That defective rail car is now super defective!

It appears this was in Dark Territory, which means dispatchers are off the hook, but train engineers and switchmen are not.

How can they set a car out and NOT throw the switch back to pick up the rest of the standing cars?

I use to work with a guy that had a really hard time trying to figure out which way to set the switch. After some issues, I finally told him that the rail that touches the other rail at the points of the turnout will tell you which way the train will go through the frog and what track it is headed for. Cue blank stare. Again, slower. When you switch the turnout, whatever point rail is touching the main rail, (Pointing to the rails that he just moved under his own power with the switch stand operating handle.) follow that rail and the train will go that way. For days after that, I could see him follow whichever rail was touching the other one with his hands tracing a trail in the air to make sure he set the turnout correctly. 💙 T.E.N.

The only way this switch could have been left that way was the last car from the previous train be the defective car. Otherwise it would have had to be reset to the main for the train to be reconnected.

A number of clarifications needed here: 1) We dont actually know what happened, until the investigation is complete. 2) As noted elsewhere, it isn't physically possible to leave the switch lined for the set-out track and somehow reassemble the train. 3) Even if the crew had run through the switch (they couldnt have, but just to further clarify), they wouldn't have been able to reline the switch in order to tie back onto their train. 4) The switch is a trailing point switch for the empties, but a facing point for the loads. If the switch point(s) were bad or out of adjustment, the empty train could do their work without issue, but the loads would pick or split hhe switch, with results being exactly what happened. The lead unit went on the ground as soon as it hit the switch. We don't know if a derail played a factor here, either, as a derail's function relies entirely on tie condition - which is often quite poor in set-out or industrial tracks.

Railroad employee: do you want fries with that?

This is why our instructor, when I was training to be a conductor, told us that every rule in GCOR was written in blood. Regulations often come from the analysis of accidents.

"Something very unusual is happening, i should start recording the ground and yelling OMG OMG OMG"

Crazy! Right place at the right time! Wicked catch!

An exceptional catch!

Reading all the very knowledgeable an well-thought comments (and being from a railroading family), IMHO the most likely possibility is that the previous crew made only one mistake - failure to replace the padlock after operating the switch. After that, vandalism in the form of a "prank" wrong throw of the switch.

Unbelievable. Not resetting a switch could have killed that BNSF Crew. The crews are under so much pressure to keep moving and they are tired when working. I fault the rail companies for the stress they place on their crews. Thank God this incident didn’t result in deaths, but it’s only a matter of time. Be CAREFUL rail crews, you have my respect. Citizens have no clue what you put up with daily when working.

Is there a possibility of vandals tampering with the switch? About 30 years ago there were several incidents like this where track maintenance crews were blamed for failing to reline the switch. The FBI later arrested two men for traveling the Midwest tampering with rail equipment.

Going by the dirt thrown up it looks like the lead unit was on the ground way before hitting the defective car.

Great catch. Once in a lifetime video.

amazing catch. Nice work. congrats

excellent video the right place and right time lucky it wasnt more loaded cars in the way.thanks for sharing

Wonder if the defective car was last on the train? That is the only reason that the crew would not have reset the switch.

Ok. They had to have stopped, tied the train down, roll tested it, cut the train with the car to be set out on the end, pull past the switch, line the switch for the set-out track, back-up to spot the car, squeal test it, pull the train out of the set-out track, minus the car, line the switch back for the main, shove back against the train, put the train back together, AND THEN reline the switch for the set-out track with the train sitting on top of the switch or it was lined after the westbound empty cleared the switch. Yeah, my ass. They either picked a facing point switch or the switch was lined for the set -out track after the train that set the car out pulled west and cleared it.

Great coverage thank you

ouch, that definitely left some marks! glad that everyone is okay.

Insane you actually caught that Jeez that was crazy

What was the number of the hopper that the 6216 collided with?

shoot makes me wish I could get this sorta excitement while out trackside Super glad one of the 1st thoughts was on the crew though and taking action to go check on them.

Awesome work.

As my Dear departed Father said many a time " Hell of a way to run a railroad !" ☆

Anyone else notice the unusually high about of derailments and train on train incidents within the last two years or is it me???

this is the type of shit you see in a thomas and friends episode, like how do they even let this happen

Woah! wow! insane catch!

Shot you a subscribe. As an RFE for the KCS years ago I had access to the outward and inward facing cameras. I saw some crazy stuff.

Yep stuff happens. Sometimes routine things are reported as having been done before they actually are and then forgotten. Not that I've ever done anything like that or anything. 😊

"SEBASTIAN NO!" "What?" "Sorry, force of habit."

Here's a list of damage to BNSF 6216 from this incident: Derail damage: ENGINEER SIDE: Rear pilot bent, rear stairwell bent, rear grab irons in stairwell bent, #6 traction motor has hole in gear case, #5 traction motor has hole in gearcase, #4 traction motor has hole in gearcase, front stairwell bent/ steps bent/ grab irons bent, front plow damaged. CONDUCTOR SIDE: #2 traction motor J-block gone/ bolts broken off in journal box/ pedestal liners gone, #3 traction motor J-block gone/ bolts broken off in journal box/ pedestal liners gone Front truck damaged air pipe to brake cylinder Rear stairwell bent/ steps bent/ grab irons bent.

Great video. I subscribed to your channel as well!

The rail lines have lost their best employees, treating them like dirt and lowering pay rates, and the industries lack of care for safety has rest of them looking to retire early or just leave. I don't know much about BNSF, but my Dads 35 years at N.S. showed me how a great company ends up controlled by greed, and when shareholders bottom line is more important than lives, you have a problem. And that's where we are at. The old heads that gave these railroads integrity are gone, the poor guys trying to do the job now didn't get trained by the industries best, and then their hands are tied by budgets and bosses that cut corners then blame the workers for accidents. Equipment and rail maintenance is in a state it will never come back from because they let everything get so bad, now they can't afford to fix it all. K, Bye.

Glad those workers were okay and walk away!

Even with a tripod perfectly positioned, the camera guy manages to fu&k up the shot and point the camera to the ground. Geesh.

I started looking at the spot on Google Maps to get a better understanding of it. That side rail that the defective car was on does go all the way past and reconnect to the main line. Question for any conductors or switch operators here. If a train is coming from the opposite direction would it be affected by that switch being thrown to that siding? Because if not, could they have had a setup with a front and rear engine, uncouple the train, have the engine run it through to the siding, un hook, continue back to the main line and then use the main line to rehook to the full trainset? And this with the full trainset going in the opposite direction of the one in this video?

Brian Tyler Cohen, Great catch and your explosive concern for the crew shows you were not the culprit who could have thrown the elevator spur switch so you could record this wreck. I worked these kind of trains for 40 years on the ATSF/BNSF. Others have already questioned the scenario given. My educated guess is after the conductor of the train that made the s/o of the B/O on the elevator spur track he would have to line the mainline switch so they could couple up the head portion of the train to the rear portion. That would leave the mainline switch lined in the normal position for mainline movement. It is possible that that conductor failed to replace the padlock back into the hasp or failed to close the padlock into a locked position. Then later someone came along and decided to open the switch into the elevator track switch? I would also make an educated guess this BN line does not have any kind of signal system🚦that would be electronically wired into the switch point position to let an approaching train know to approach the elevator switch at restricted speed, prepaired to stop before the improperly lined switch. Now another comment mentioned the lead unit on this train split the point on the switch. Possible, if so check the lead flanges on the lead unit. After many miles working back & forth between coal mines and power plants, those units may never get inspected at a big terminal like Lincoln, NE? After many miles the flanges can get ground down to a sharp edge that can slice open a switch point. In my career I’ve only been involved in one minor derailment involving a BN GP-40 as trailing unit split the points after we had gone back and forth without problems. The flange on the wheel was sharp enough to shave my beard. It almost cut my glove when I felt it! So let the experts figure it out. Hopefully the FRA will investigate. The new PTC could also been better preventative measure if that switch was electronically wired into the PTC system?

This happened to me because my switchman threw my switch into a set of 12 bad orders. It only derailed the bad orders but blew them through the bumpers into a parking lot

Minor incident. The crew that set out the bad order car is in. World of trouble. Foamer got excited lol

I see the other OMAX here in Omaha. That's wild😮 Good catch earned my sub 👍

Wow! That's crazy!

Praying I never see something like this happen in person!

This was definitely an unexpected event, while filming! I'm glad everyone was ok!

Hmm, looks like the locomotive was off the rails even before it even hit the hopper as it went through the switch.

Head end is 6216 and 8505 Rear DPUs are 9375, 6367 and 9277

This kind of collision has to be rare.

WOW! I thought there would be a whole lot more destruction, but I guess since it was in a reinforced connection point?

This sure is interesting.

worked this crossing with the Rock Island years ago as a gandy dancer.....

Why was the switch left on the track that defective railcar was on?

It looked like the train had already derailed before it hit the hopper! 3:04

Thats crazy !!!

What is amazing to me is you were able to video record the derailment. How did you know it was going to? Derail that is.🤔

WOW! Wow! Fantastic catch on ZUnit06 part!!! Thanks for sharing!!! Interesting footage, but so Happy no-one was hurt!!!

Y'know, the derail is mainly there to put a car on the ground if it starts rolling towards the main. Had the derail been (improperly) in the non-derailing position here, it might have been better. The impact would have been slightly faster due to not rolling on the ballast, but it would have been a square hit, and might not have even derailed anything. I'm guessing this was vandalism though (coupled with the empty's conductor probably not relocking the switch).

Well that’s about a million or so worth of clean up and down time😮

This one may be one of your most famous video. May even end up on viral hog?

Dam🎉 everyone's worst nightmare. I really thought it was click bait and I was going to only see the aftermath. But you got it dude. Just remember god is "that which can not be named"! Pay attention (love) the present moment.🎉❤

Have Sebastian Deyoung's whereabouts on the day of the incident been accounted for ?

Surprised they didn't try to stop you from filming.

something similar to this happened in Canada but instead it was one train ramming into another one

Maybe the cameraman switched the switch so he could capture it?

There's bound to be Security footage watching especially around a Crossing that'll shed some light on this Matter. I'm with a lot of folks when it seems planes falling apart, ships &Barges hitting bridges several Train incidents just this year alone. Something just don't seem right & Too many Coincidences, be aware of your Surroundings! God Bless

To give the crew that set out that car, the following engines in this video may have picked the switch forcing the switch onto the other track where the car was set out on. This can happen many ways, debris between the switch points, worn switch points where there is a small gap, but the track inspector should have caught this during their inspections. And since any track that is not aligned for main line would drop any abs signal before the train enters the block, the switch must have been aligned for the main line, so picking the switch is most likely.

When was this?

Looked like it derailed when it hit the switch. Either that or he saw the switch and went into emergency immediately. My question would be how many hours did the crew who made the mistake have and what day were they in before their 2 day rest? Looked to me like an incident of fatigue.

There’s track circuitry judging by the gates and they’re doing more then 15 mph what no switch indicator or target?

How can a switch be gasket set?

I think the engineer said alright that’s enough

In my country, people would flock to see that even they're not helping or a helper... 😶

I always hated running in dark territory for this very reason. Shit happens

Oh my god, oh my god!

Here before 1M views

What’s the old saying? “This ain’t no way to run a railroad!”

Could’ve been worse. At least everything stayed upright.

It simply derailed hitting a stationary empty car (hard to believe)? Imagine if the locomotive had been travelling at speed?

They can buff that out.

This happens with my HO set all the time

Omg omg oh my freaking god!

2:44, “Oh Snap”

It’s hard to say…..but was the facing point target missing? I’m sure it’s not always local crews that make the same run all the time. Bad day either way for all involved. Things are hard enough for transportation and mow guys and IF it was human error or a picked switch. Not a good day.

Oh my God! Oh, my God! Oh my God!

Has anybody from BNSF asked to see your footage?

So here is the deal. The switch would have been had to be set back for the main line or it would have set off signals thereby notifying anyone in that area something was wrong. So someone had to give permission to pass red signals which means the trains engineers were not paying attention to possible hazards

Enjoyed watching your video on this tragic mistake. I would also like to mention that it might be a good idea to get a gimbal and or a stabilizer for your camera. It was very, very shaky.

You’re lucky they didn’t detain you out of suspicion of being the one that caused the incident. You were lucky to catch the action, but one could assume you were only there to catch the collision after seeing it up. Like an arsonist would set up cameras to catch the action of their blaze they set.

So the question is.....did the derail do it's job? Was there less damage because the derail worked?

Somebody got a MAPS 😩

Running a switch will also put you on the ground.

Oh his god! Oh his god! Big whoop..

Engineer hit the brakes immediately! That train stopped very quickly.

yeeeowch

2:40

I also caught on my phone

The de-rail did it's job...