Collision at Strasburg

[Steve DeGaetano]

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?extid=C ... 0772530823

[S. Towler]

Another angle... pretty wild!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YavBqP5GXvg

[Steve]

"I could have sworn that the switch was switched!"

[Locoboy5150]

"That will buff out."

[Steve]

Just saw this on the Strasburg Facebook page:

Strasburg Rail Road Co. statement regarding incident at Leaman Place Junction, 2 November 2022

On Wednesday, 2 November 2022 at 11:23 AM, steam locomotive #475, owned and operated by Strasburg Rail Road Co. (SRC) was involved in an incident at Leaman Place Junction where the locomotive struck a rail-mounted excavator on a stub siding track. The excavator was placed on the stub track the previous evening for storage by the Maintenance of Way (MOW) crew working in the area. Our internal investigation has concluded that after placing the excavator on the stub track for storage, the MOW crew member failed to realign the track switch and to secure it in normal position. When running the locomotive around the passenger train on the Main Track runaround where the stub track switch is located, the locomotive crew did not notice the misaligned switch and entered the stub track at approximately 10 MPH, the speed limit for that track, striking the stationary MOW equipment and coming to a stop after a short distance. Both the excavator and locomotive incurred moderate damage.

On any given day we have as many as 75 employees working in our operation and several thousand guests ride our trains. We take seriously the safety of everyone who interacts with us in any capacity, every single day. Our decades long history indicates that despite the unique and complex nature of our operation, we have an outstanding safety record when taken in context of the number of employee hours worked, trains operated, and passengers and freight hauled each year. We also take seriously the rules and regulations that apply to our operations. We are cooperating with FRA as they investigate and will comply with their requirements and recommendations. Additionally, we are using this opportunity to perform root cause analysis and identify training gaps, operational monitoring practices, or other factors that may have contributed to this accident.

SRC is proud to have an excellent, dedicated, professional staff who care deeply for the people who work on and ride our trains every day. We acknowledge our mistakes when they are made and learn from them any time they happen. Our front-line staff enjoys the full support and backing of our management team, and we work hand-in-hand to achieve our goals. We do not excuse mistakes, but we acknowledge the humanity of those who make them, as we all do. We live in a world where people are judged too quickly and dismissed by many employers over minor mistakes. We intend to lead by example, helping the valuable, committed members of our team who were involved in this incident learn and grow from their actions. We ask for your consideration before joining the lynch-mob mentality of ignorant or irrational criticism. Instead, we welcome continued support from our community, railroad and otherwise.

Sincerely,
Brendan E. Zeigler
VP – Chief Mechanical Officer
Strasburg Rail Road Co.