Train Conductor Finds Himself Caught In Tornado's Path

[catbyte]

"I am a 27-year conductor with the same railroad company. This is the first time anything like this has happened to me while on a train. This happened while sitting stationary waiting for signal to continue westward. This happened during the afternoon hours on May 26th 2024. The Nebraska tornado outbreak. The tornado blew over and derailed 31 cars. The engineer and I were unharmed."

[Emile]

1. Damn, that had to be scary.

[Rebl2]

5. They seemed

fairly calm, but I sure would have been frightened!

[TexasBushwhacker]

9. I've been through 2

In both cases I didn't see the funnel cloud before it hit, although in one I noticed the sky looked like twister weather and hustled to my car.

[Emile]

11. I have seen many of them from a distance,

but thankfully never been in one.

[dweller]

2. May 26 , 2024

Can’t wait




✌🏻

[ret5hd]

3. it is fated...we are powerless in the presence of the gods!

[Think. Again.]

19. Hopefully someone will remember to warn people before the afternoon of that day.

[soldierant]

32. He was just so scared, despite

the appearance of calm, that he forgot what month it was.

[Fla Dem]

4. So scary and they remained so calm.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. The locomotive they're in, BNSF 9084, weighs about 216 tons.

Even a tornado is going to have a hard time moving that around.

EMD SD70 series

[Martin68]

8. But windows were broken and deadly debris could have blown in.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

10. Oh, yes, understood, but the best place for them to be was crouching, with their eyes shut, on the

floor of the cab or up in the nose.

And good afternoon.

[rsdsharp]

12. In 1968, an F5 picked up the brick Catholic church a block from my house, twisted it, and dropped back down.

It wouldn’t have any trouble with a locomotive.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

16. F5? That probably could topple a locomotive.

Last edited Mon Apr 29, 2024, 04:53 AM - Edit history (1)

This one was only an F1 or F2.

There's more involved than only weight. How many square feet of surface area of the building were facing the winds?

I can't guess how much a brick church weighs, but it's still going to contain a lot of empty space. With its broad outer walls, it acts like an airfoil.

Locomotives are dense, low to the ground, and don't present as much surface area as either a one- or two-story building. The cars in the train are more easily blown over, as they are lighter. Box cars and covered hoppers especially present a big flat area to oncoming winds. F2 tornado winds are something like 100 to 150 mph; I'm not sure.

A double-stack container train, with its big broad area, sticking way up higher than locomotives, would go over in a stiff breeze.


A BNSF double-stack train passing through Cajon Pass in California, with a mix of 20-foot and 40-foot containers

I'm not saying that a locomotive can't be blown over, but it's going to take some effort.

Here are drone pictures of the scene. The cars were easily derailed. I believe 31 of them went over.

News photos: BNSF train derailed by tornado in Nebraska
By Trains Staff | April 26, 2024 | Last updated on April 27, 2024


BNSF locomotives show the effects of a storm that saw some of the train’s freight cars derailed by a tornado. Sam Brodersen

WAVERLY, Neb. — A BNSF train was derailed this afternoon when it was struck by a tornado between Waverly and Lincoln, Neb.. The tornado was one of a series in an outbreak across the Midwest today (Friday, April 26).

KSBN-TV reports the incident occurred about 3:25 p.m., according to a BNSF representative. There were no injuries to the crew and no hazardous materials were released.

{snip}


The overturned cars of the train struck by the tornado. Sam Brodersen

{snip}

It's like this: if there were a tornado headed right at me, and a building and a locomotive were at an equal distance from me, I'd head for the locomotive.

And good afternoon to you too.

[Emile]

14. That was my thoughts too. That locomotive

would be a hard thing to move. I would rather been in that locomotive than a house. Still had to be frightening.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

18. I'm certain the crew made the right choice by staying inside.

There are not many better places you could choose to be.

And a third good afternoon to you.

[Martin68]

7. Wow!

[ancianita]

15. Sure, May 26, 2024 tells you this is either lying or a mistype.

[Beartracks]

21. LOL Not the date typo -- the reason why they couldn't reverse a bit.

[ancianita]

22. I hear ya.

[catbyte]

25. It's a date typo, not a lie nor an old video. I forgot to add this:

Occurred on April 26, 2024 / USA

Here's an article about it:

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/news-photos-bnsf-train-derailed-by-tornado-in-nebraska/

News photos: BNSF train derailed by tornado in Nebraska

By Trains Staff | April 26, 2024 | Last updated on April 27, 2024

WAVERLY, Neb. — A BNSF train was derailed this afternoon when it was struck by a tornado between Waverly and Lincoln, Neb.. The tornado was one of a series in an outbreak across the Midwest today (Friday, April 26).

KSBN-TV reports the incident occurred about 3:25 p.m., according to a BNSF representative. There were no injuries to the crew and no hazardous materials were released.

Waverly, on BNSF’s Creston Subdivision, is about 12 miles northeast of Lincoln, Neb.

The Rural Radio Network reported a second train was also derailed, according to the Lancaster emergency manager, but that report remains unconfirmed.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

20. Because they don't know which way the tornado is headed.

It might pass ahead of them. It might go parallel to them. There could be a train behind them. It takes time for a train to pick up speed.

I'm certain the dispatcher told all the crews in the vicinity to stop their trains.

Good afternoon to you too.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

27. Pretty good. Waverly, Nebraska is on the BNSF route from Chicago to Denver.

Amtrak 5 and 6, the California Zephyrs, go through town.

https://asm.transitdocs.com/

The train was headed west, toward Lincoln. It might have been coming from Omaha, or it might have bypassed Omaha and its attendant congestion by coming straight from Plattsmouth, Nebraska, where the old Burlington route crosses the Missouri River.

Here's another YouTube clip.

The train's designation, H-KCKLIN, indicates that it was coming from Argentine Yard in Kansas City, Kansas, and terminating in Lincoln, Nebraska.

BNSF Train Symbols

Train vs. Tornado BNSF H-KCKLIN on 4/26/24

Nebraska Trains With Matt
91 subscribers

113 views Apr 28, 2024
WAVERLY, Neb. — A BNSF train was derailed this afternoon when it was struck by a tornado between Waverly and Lincoln, Neb. The tornado was one of a series of an outbreak across the Midwest today (Friday, April 26).
KSBN-TV reports the incident occurred about 3:25 p.m., according to a BNSF representative. There were no injuries to the crew and no hazardous materials were released.
Waverly, on BNSF’s Creston Subdivision, is about 12 miles northeast of Lincoln, Neb.
The Rural Radio Network reported a second train was also derailed, according to the Lancaster emergency manager, but that report remains unconfirmed.
CREDIT TRAINS MAGAZINE

[codfisherman]

34. Amtrak

You definitely know your stuff. I was on an Amtrak from Seattle to Gastonia, NC years ago. I had time so I went the long way down to Sacramento and back up to Denver instead of the Empire Builder straight across. We had a train enthusiast docent along for the ride in the observation car on the leg through the Colorado River area. He was a wealth of knowledge of all things train and the local history, fascinating to listen to. Best train trip I've been on.

[judesedit]

17. Maybe 2023?

[catbyte]

26. It's a date typo. It happened 2 days ago, April 26, 2024.

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/news-photos-bnsf-train-derailed-by-tornado-in-nebraska/

[judesedit]

35. Oh. Thank you for correcting it. Very scary.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

23. Old video clip, Tornado hits UP train in Harvard, IL

Old video clip, Tornado hits UP train in Harvard, IL
Posted by CMStPnP on Wednesday, May 16, 2018 4:32 AM

This is an old video clip of a Tornado in Harvard, IL hitting a UP train and derailing it.

TRAIN Vs. TORNADO - BEST PART!!!!!

PumpkinHogger
6.84K subscribers

10,887,580 views Jul 3, 2009
Happened 7Jan2008 on the Union Pacific railroad near Harvard IL. You can see the trees being whipped, hear debris hitting the trailing engine from which the video came, and then see debris flying through the air from the F3 tornado that blows some cars over. Then the rest of the train carried along by its' momentum smashes its' way along creating even more of a mess. The tank car seen in the vid, containing shock fluid, leaked for hours before it was contained.

{snip}

[love_katz]

28. That must have been awful for the engineer and crew.

Not a single thing that could be done to stop it nor prevent it.

[Bayard]

31. DA-yam!

[Stuart G]

30. Amazing Video K & R

[Bayard]

33. "We got debris!"

I am astounded at the cars that just keep driving down the road in this clip.