TRRS 440: CSX Train Ripped Apart - Railcar Destroyed!

May 7, 2015, McCords, MI -- CSX's Q335, heading downgrade with 197 cars, pulled apart, setting the train into emergency on the hill. When the train stopped, the conductor walked back to find...

This is the story of the Q335 who pulled the draft/coupling gear clean off of a Coil Car.

Following the incident, with the remainder of the train tied down, we're treated to a show as the train attempts Fox Hill with 150 cars at restricted speed. The ensuing events are quite spectacular!

Follow along with these events in this episode of the Thornapple River Rail Series!

NOTE: please refrain from bashing the crew. They are faultless in this case. The slack was in, as they were going downhill, when a pair of low-hanging air hoses hit the crossing at Snow Road, in just such a way as to break the line and cause an emergency application on the rear end.

This in turn caused the rear of the train to go into emergency while the head end charged onwards. This pulled the slack out in one big bang, which found a weak spot, evidently.

So, please respect the railroaders involved, who did an admirable job in the aftermath to figure things out and get things moving again, after a random failure which could have collected almost any train. Sometimes these things happen, it just looks worse when you've got a massive barge.

Consist:
- CSX 317 [CW44AC]
- CSX 403 [CW44AC]
- CSX 7665 [C40-8W]
- 197 cars [Mixed]
- --- 150 cars ahead of the break (including the gon left behind at McCords)
- --- 151st car, west end coupler pulled out, from there back left on the hill at McCords)
Location/Time:
- Approximate Pull-apart site: CSX Plymouth Sub, Alto, MI, Snow Rd xing, on 5-7-15 at 16:45 EDT
- Head-end shot at Thornapple: Along Thornapple Bayou Rd, at 17:55
- Rear-end shot: Alto, MI, McCords Rd xing, from 18:15 to 19:00
- WB Departure: Thornapple River Bridge, at 19:09
- Cascade Twp, Thornapple River Dr overpass, at 19:26
- Cascade Twp, Kraft Ave cul-de-sac, at 19:36
- Grand Rapids, along Market Ave/Sunnyside, at 20:12
*Train was WB when around Snow road the 151st suffered a west-end coupler failure. Train separates, into emergency. Random failure results in pulling the whole coupler box from a coil car. After securing a gon with the coupler still hanging off, the head 149 cars are taken to Grand Rapids. An extra crew called to Lansing to take these cars back to Lansing, setout the coil car, and then take the train back to GRP, all overnight.*

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Equipment: Sony PJ790 Camcorder

Copyright 2015 Thornapple River Rail Series

[RayVal]

Im glad you remembered to point out the crew wasnt at fault. Most people seem to forget that or even look into things before attacking. Good on you man.

[CKOD]

You sir get a like for not having a dumb intro, followed by 2 minutes of silence and nothing happening. Keep up the good editing.

[ponkkaa]

Why the hell would anybody vote this down? Interesting stuff...well filmed. Keep up the goodwork

[williswhatchutalkinbout]

I hope this young YouTube channel owner/narrator becomes an engineer, or whatever your dream is within the industry. You seem very passionate about this. Good luck buddy.

[FishplateFilms]

Fantastic catch, great camera work and narration! One of the most interesting videos I've seen in a while, I was expecting to see a busted knuckle, but had a laugh seeing the whole box hanging on for the ride..LOL . The Dash8 earned her money that day!
Top stuff, cheers Gregg.

[davecasler]

Very cool and thanks for the explanation. I have always marveled that every car has to be strong enough to tow the entire train behind it. (I'm a beginning railfan.)

[csx]

One of the best displays of power management under a full load.

[TheBowassassin]

good job on this video this sounds like a young person and he has a very good understanding of what is going on I was a engineer on csx cv sub for 14 years and this is a impressive young person keep up the good work I always told my cubs I would rather have common sense than book smarts any day

[softclipping]

Stunning video, never seen a train ripped apart before, many thanks for the lovely HD quality too.

[Jwitkowski]

little Johny: Daddy! Hows work?

Dad, I tore my train apart.

Johny at school:

My dad's so strong, he tore a train apart with his hands!

[EdWittenable]

Excellent narration. It makes the video much more interesting when you know the story behind it.

[jerrysinclair]

Talk about chasing a train. I bet you didn't have to worry about breaking any speed limits as long as Q335 was running Restricted Speed for the duration. Great video and narration!

[louisvilleslugger]

They must have been trying to pull my ex-wife's makeup bag

[gregr]

Good video work! I responded to many pull a parts in my days.cushioning units ripped out, sills cracked in half, you name it . Always interesting . I learned more than a few tricks to get things expedited and moving again.Sadly nowadays, rail car periodic maintenance is a long forgotten thing. The companies react when equipment fails rather than being pro active with maintenance. There are so so many accidents just waiting to happen it would make your head spin! The new normal I guess! 42 years in heavy repair shops, wreck truck work, inspections, kind of saw it all and the lack of maintenance and lack of knowledge is just phenomenal! The railroads run in spite of their leadership, not because of it!

[espeescotty]

Great camera work and documentation of this event.  The DC traction motors in that trailing C40-8W must have been screaming for mercy by the time they reached the top of the hill, but nice to see it hung in there all the way to the top.

[kevinlynch]

A 197 car freight train is only as strong as its weakest coupler box!!
Excellent, well done video and narration explanation!!

[raritanriverrailroadfan]

Classic CSX. We move tomorrow because we didn't move today.

[ICUNA]

One correction; the knuckle pin bears no draft load, that's the knuckle's job. In fact once a knuckle is locked, the knuckle pin can be removed without any effect on draft forces.

[themadcatter]

Conductor: I think I might go fishing when I get off, or climb in the stand. We should tie up at 1600
Train: So much for your early quit.
Dispatcher: I got a 1800 relief crew coming with the van.
Lol soo speaking from experience

[dave]

thanks for sharing and another reason why the railroad companies must not go for single crew member on freight trains