High winds can blow railway trains off tracks and cause accidents.
Dangers of high winds High winds can cause problems in a number of ways:
blow trains off the tracks blow trains or wagons along the tracks and cause collisions cause cargo to blow off trains which can damage objects outside the railway or which other trains can collide with cause pantographs and overhead wiring to tangle cause trees and other objects to fall onto the railway.
Preventative measures Risks from high winds can be reduced by: wind fences akin to snow sheds lower profile of carriages lowered centre of gravity of vehicles reduction in train speed or cancellation, at high winds a wider rail gauge improve overhead wiring with: regulated tension rather than fixed terminations shorter catenary spans solid conductors
By country
Australia 1928 – 47 wagons blown along line at Tocumwal 1931 – Kandos – wind blows level crossing gates closed in front of motor-cyclist 1943 – Hobart, Tasmania; Concern that wind will blow over doubledeck trams on gauge if top deck enclosed. 2010 – Marla, South Australia; Small tornado blows over train.
Austria 1910 – Trieste (now in Italy) – train blown down embankment.
China Lanxin High-Speed Railway#Wind shed risk February 28, 2007 – Wind blows 10 passenger rail cars off the track near Turpan, China.
Denmark Great Belt Bridge rail accident. On 2 January 2019 a DSB express passenger train is hit by a semi-trailer from a passing cargo train on the western bridge of the Great Belt Fixed Link during Storm Alfrida, killing eight people and injuring 16.
Germany Rügen narrow-gauge railway, 20 October 1936: derailment of a train, five injured
India One reason for choosing broad gauge in India for greater stability in high winds.
Ireland On the night of 30 January 1925, strong winds derailed carriages of a train crossing the Owencarrow Viaduct of the gauge Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway.
Japan Inaho Amarube Viaduct 1895 Gale blows train into sea
New Zealand Rimutaka Incline railway accident
Norway Makrellbekken (station)#Wind related accident – blowing snow disoriented a tractor driver who collided with a train
South Africa Wind tangles overhead wiring in Cape Town, 2012. Wind stalls Cape trains
Switzerland In 1996, one train from the Wengernalp Railway derailed in Bernese Oberland with four people injured. On 19 January 2007, one train derailed near Wasserausen. In 2018, one train from the Montreux–Lenk im Simmental line derailed in the Simmental region, injuring eight people. On 31 March 2023, two trains derailed in the Canton of Bern due to strong winds, with fifteen people injured.
United Kingdom Tay Bridge disaster 1879 Chelford rail accident 1894 – during shunting De-wirements on the East Coast Main Line Leven Viaduct, Cumbria 27 February 1903 Carrbridge 1914 – train derailed due to torrent caused by storm Cheddington 2008 – two containers blown off train – design of "spigots" criticised.The Railway Magazine April 2015, p12 Moston 2015 – out of gauge train hits platform, throwing stones onto other track. Scout Green 2015 – empty 30-foot ISA container blown off train
United States On 24 April 1883, 2 cars of a passenger train were blown from the narrow-gauge Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad tracks near Como, Colorado, with only minor injuries.Blown from the Track, Railroad Gazette, 4 April 1883; pages 285-286. Reprinted from the 25 Apr. 'Denver Tribune'. Around 6:15pm, 6 May 1876, a passenger train traveling south on the Illinois Central Railroad at about 23 miles per hour was derailed during a storm just south of Neoga, Illinois. Numerous minor injuries were reported.Thrown off the Track, Chicago Daily Tribune, 8 May 1876, page 5. (Retrieved via Library of Congress Chronicling American archive). Around 7am, 23 Feb. 1884, 2 cars were blown off the narrow-gauge tracks of the Colorado Central Railroad near Georgetown, Colorado.Two Cars Blown Off the Track, New York Times, 24 Feb. 1884. Around 2pm, 4 February 1885, the wind overturned an entire 3-car Colorado Central Railroad train just east of Georgetown, Colorado. The express train had slowed to 8 miles per hour because of the wind. 18 out of 20 passengers were injured.Train Wreck at Georgetown, 4 February 1885, Rocky Mountain Railroad Heritage Society Newsletter, Vol. 3, No. 9 (Winter, 2017); page 6. (reprinted from the Denver Tribune Republican, 5 Feb. 1885.)Derailed in a Hurricane at Georgetown, 4 Feb. 1885, photo in the Ted Kierscey Collection, retrieved Feb 2021. At 3:30pm, 1 April 1892, a narrow-gauge passenger train of the Burlington and Northwestern Railway was blown off the tracks while running at full speed 1 mile east of Butler, a station between Fremont, Iowa and Hedrick, Iowa.;Exhibit No. 5. Casualties, 1891-'92, Annual Report of the Postmaster General of the United States for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1892, GPO, 1892; page 845. Gives time and location.Train Blown Over, St. Paul daily globe (Saint Paul, Minn.), 2 April 1892; page 1. Historic American Newspaper collection, Library of Congress.Swept by Fearful Winds, The Abbeville press and banner (Abbeville, S.C.), 20 April 1892; page 2. Historic American Newspaper collection, Library of Congress. 4 were seriously injured, a dozen more suffered minor injuries. Note that the location places this on the Burlington and Western Railway tracks. On 2 September 1911, tram services in Charleston, South Carolina, were suspended due to winds. On 28 June 1986, a derecho derailed 18 piggyback cars on the Kate Shelley High Bridge over the Des Moines River in Iowa.July 28-29 1986 Derecho "The Supercell Transition Derecho", part of the NOAA About Derechos web site, retrieved Aug. 2020. On 29 June 1998, the Corn Belt Derecho blew several double stack and piggyback cars off the Iowa Interstate Railroad bridge across the Iowa River.Archive photos: June 1998 derecho hits the Iowa City area, The Cedar Rapids Gazette, retrieved Aug. 2020. A 2008 tornado in Northern Illinois derailed a Union Pacific train. Dramatic footage of the event was captured by a camera mounted on the train.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: On 27 April 2015, a severe storm knocked several double stack cars off the track as a train crossed the Huey P. Long Bridge, New Orleans, Louisiana, with no injuries. The accident was captured by a WGNO News Team dashcam. On 13 March 2019, mid-day winds of around 80 mph derailed the rear 26 cars of a double stack train on the Union Pacific high steel trestle over the Canadian River south of Logan, New Mexico.Kyle Cheromcha, Bomb Cyclone Winds Blow Freight Train Off Railroad Bridge in New Mexico, The Drive, 14 March 2019
One reason for choosing broad gauge (17% wider than standard gauge) for BART was the greater stability in high winds and perhaps earthquakes.
Factors Lightweight trains Narrow gauge Aspects of the terrain Tunnels
See also Snowshed
References