on July 21st, until things turned spectacular. This happened on the Lake State Railway at Kawkawlin, MI, just north of Bay City. As derailments go, this one had the best possible outcome- no injuries and no hazardous materials involved, just a few expletives from startled motorists. Lake State Railway Ill-fated 301 July 21, 2023 - YouTube
Wow... the whole thing happened in a few seconds. Just like that. Wobble, tip, and grind to a halt in a few yards. Right there, in 1:1 scale. A good thing it wasn't going any faster, or there would have been a lot more damage, the trailing cars doing the accordion, and potentially casualties in the cars waiting at the crossing.
From the sounds I heard, a car or cars were on the ground, well before that road crossing. Any hits as yet, about the cause? PS- Their paint scheme is really nice!
While it was an interesting occurrence, I cannot fathom why the vehicle occupants at the crossing got out and walked toward a derailed tank car. At that moment, who knows what is in that car or the potential danger of a leak or explosion. I would make a hasty u-turn and get back to a safer distance.
Me too! Good thing as well that the derailment occurred beyond the river bridge and not on it. That'd have made the cleanup far more difficult.
Because the average human doesn't know what we know about trains. Plus there's a desire to see if someone needs help . . .
I am thinking the same. And about such occurrences as the East Palestine derailment. Which was plastered all over the news- Internet, radio, TV and print. A large percentage of people should have heard about that sad event, yet to see folks approaching this accident, instead of getting away and fast... Wow.
That thought had also crossed my mind. No idea what was in the tank car, although it may even have been a tank of biodiesel loaded in Marlette. I know Lake State is one of their customers. The OP pointed out that the centerbeam and adjacent boxcar each appeared to have a truck derailed while crossing the bridge. Also as a side note, this is a location where I caght some decent video of PM 1225 crossing the bridge many years ago, shot from the highway bridge in the background. It's a very short distance from the bridege to the grade crossing. One of the boxcars is beginning to tip as it leaves the bridge.
That's a great reason why I don't pull up so close at a crossing, or stand too close to the tracks...
One guy I know of was caught at the Main Street grade crossing in Yale, MI during two derailments in 1971 and 1981. When the second one happened he bolted out of his car and had run half a block before he even realized it....
Years ago, before BN abandoned their branch (ex-NP) through my home town, I would look across the street as the local passed after dark. I would see, many, many times showers of sparks. Broken banding on log cars, both loads and empties. Imagine standing too close when that passed by. It would be like a scythe cutting hay! Scary thought.
