Watch in High Definition! Recently, a minor derailment occured in the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum's Yard. The Museum's GP9, SP 3873, was shoving the train into the yard after the last run of the day to park. The track 5-6 switch was suspected to be floating (i.e. the points appeared to be lined correctly, but the switch arm wasn't in the down position.) The train fell through the gap in the points and the leading truck on coach 350 derailed. The brakeman, who was riding on the end of Coach 350, made an emergency brake application and stopped the train. The only damage was minor cuts in the wooden ties by the wheels' flanges.
A large numbers of the museum's active volunteers were at the museum that day and everybody worked to position tie plates and joint bars along the rails to help re-rail the train. Approximately an hour after the train derailed, the train was successfully re-railed without problems. The switch was inspected and re-lined, and then the train was cautiously shoved back over the switch without incident.
This video shows the immediate aftermath of the derailment, the placement of tie plates and joint bars, and the train being re-railed.
While this derailment did not result in the car tipping over or jack-knifing, it still goes to show how a minor issue with the track can lead to much larger consequences. That being said, if you visit our museum, please do not move or tamper with the switches. All of the tracks in Campo are used at least occasionally.
Visit www.psrm.org/ for more information on the museum, ticket sales, membership, and volunteering opportunities.
Enjoy!