DERAILMENT IN TUNNEL 10

In the latter half of my February 7, operating session we suffered a derailment in Tunnel 10.  Tunnel 10 is the tunnel immediately RR-East (downhill) of Noisy Creek Trestle, the middle one of the three large steel viaducts on the Cascade Line.  This tunnel features rock sheds at both ends with the added complication of Noisy Creek Trestle being built on a curve and in a corner of my layout space.  

 

It has been eight years since I enclosed this area in scenery, fully forming the tunnel.  I recalled making a decision/choice when building the tunnels to provide removable tunnel walls from longer tunnels.  Looking at Tunnel 10, I thought this was one of the shorter tunnels that did not have a removable tunnel wall, so I proceeded on that basis.

 

We pulled the two halves of the train away from the scene of the derailment, but could not easily see into the tunnel.  Using a handy pair of light helper locomotives that were in the area returning to Oakridge, we gently ran them into the tunnel to confirm an obstruction—one that could not be cleared by simply powering up the locos to push it out of the way.  In my rush to clear the derailment, forgot to do some basic investigation, beginning with figuring out from the train consist just which car or cars were involved.  Initially, it appeared it was a single tank car, but in fact four tank cars were in that tunnel!

 

A quick (too quick as it happens!) inspection under the layout suggested the back wall of the tunnel was a slab of pink-foam terrain base.  Again, I was in a rush to clear the derailment, so I did not investigate that further.  More on that later in this blog post.  

 

With an assumed impenetrable tunnel wall (at least in short time), I quickly went to “Plan B”—trying to clear the derailment from the more open end of the tunnel on the downhill side (away from Noisy Creek Trestle).  Carefully climbing up onto the layout, I  investigated using a flashlight.  I could see a derailed tank car.  I grabbed a three-foot dowel and probed into the tunnel.  Nothing moved.

 

Investigating the derailment in Tunnel 10 from the RR-East end.

 

Unable to move anything in the tunnel, I wrapped the end of my dowel with blue painter’s masking tape (modest tack) and was able to fish out the nearest tank car.  A quick check with those handy light helper locos indicated I still had not cleared the obstruction.  Sigh.  Looking up the tunnel with my flashlight, I could see another car stuck in the tunnel, so in I went again with my tape wrapped dowel, extracting another tank car.

 

Using a masking tape wrapped end of a dowel to snare derailed tank cars in the tunnel.

 

Somewhere along in this part of the process, we finally thought to look at the train consist (car cards) and found that four cars were missing from between the ends of the separated train.  I continued to fish out the remaining pair of tank cars using my tape-wrapped dowel.  With four tank cars removed and taken to my RIP (Repair In Place) Track area, we confirmed the (now) unobstructed tunnel.  With that, the two train halves were rejoined and the railroad returned to operation—after a break of at least a half hour.

 

Mark K. wipes off my sweaty forehead after the very physical activity involved in climbing onto the layout and maneuvering the tape-wrapped dowel to snag the four tank cars.

 

Subsequent investigation found two of the four cars remain in decent shape that will put them back on the rails for the next operating session.  The other two may not make it, needing extensive repairs to the tank dome access ladders and handrail structure around that access dome.  Oh yes, for those who might think of such derailments on full-sized railroads, the tank cars were all “empty,” heading to the SF Bay Area for reload.  This was not a Hazardous Materials spill.

 

The four cars from the derailment.  The closest two have extensive damage to the center access ladders and handrails.  The rear two have more modest damage that appears easy to repair.

 

With a much clearer head, I investigated the derailment site and found first that the actual tunnel track was further up and closer to the wall than I thought when I was trying to clear the derailment.  Further, I discovered that I had installed a removable back tunnel wall/liner.  I removed that back wall and felt the track for broken off car pieces, but did not find any in the first pass.  I will run my TCS track cleaner with its vacuum feature through the tunnel before the next operating session.

 

In the future, I need to approach such operating problems by first stepping back and assessing the actual situation.  First figure out how many cars are involved.  Second thoroughly investigate for removable tunnel walls.  I “assumed” too much in my rush to get the railroad back in operation.  This was a tough learning experience….