1989 Cajon Pass runaway 29 years later

el cajon pass one of the most dangerous and infamous mountain passes in the united states located in the san gabriel mountains this steep 2.2 percent grade is not only tough to climb but it's also hard to roll down without going too fast it's also the sight of not one not two but three runaway trains this is the story of the first one where it all began [Music] on may 12 1989 in the early morning southern pacific 7551 east was making its way towards the grade the train consisted of 69 hoppers loaded with trona a non-marine evaporative material mined as a source of sodium carbonate and sometimes used in fertilizer it was hauled by a total of six locomotives four liters and two helpers on the head end was sd40t-28278 sd45rs 7551 and 7549 and an st45t-2 9340 on the helper end was sd-40t-28317 and sd45r 7443 the crew called in to handle this train were 33 year old engineer frank holland 35 year old conductor everett crown both in the lead unit 43 year old brakeman alan reese who was in the third unit 42 42 year old engineer lawrence hill and 57 year old brakeman robert waterbury who were both in the helper unit 74-43 they depart mojave yard early in the morning heading for west colton terminal in california where another train will take it down to south america a little after 7 00 am they reach the grade before they go though they test their brakes numerous times nothing seemed wrong so they head off towards the grade as they go down frank holland initiates the dynamic brakes first using the engine's generator power to slow the train down the speed limit for the grade after all is 29 miles an hour and on the plus side the pass curves nearly 56 times so the friction helps slow the train down still they apply their air brakes to hold it at a constant 25 miles an hour that's exactly where holland wants it since that's a safe speed but then something odd happens despite the air brakes brakeman crown notices the train is slowly creeping up to 30 miles an hour slightly speeding but then it creeps up faster to 35 40 50 even 65 at that point they try and throw it into emergency which kind of works but it's not enough the brakes begin to burn up and the train begins to fly down the hill as fast as 90 miles an hour way too fast at this point the engineer wasn't even in control anymore he and the rest of his crewmen became passengers and gravity has hijacked the controls they call ahead to west colton terminal informing them about their problem then frank remembers that there's a set of houses at san bernardino right beside a curve it was right there that the crew lost all hope [Music] locomotives jumped the tracks and the hoppers tumbled down behind plying through the houses like nothing the trona spills everywhere covering what wasn't crushed like a sandstorm that just went by literally every car and every engine jumped the track people were still having their breakfast or taking a shower when this rude awakening came through their neighborhood when the dust settled the site was a complete mess people feared something like this would happen and now that nightmare was reality some people were even buried in what was once their homes even a swimming pool was no match for the train the lead engines that suffered the worst damage laid upside down or on their sides still smoldering [Music] while the two helpers were mostly upright from the crash frank holland amazingly climbs out of his crushed lead unit but is badly injured with a punctured lung and several cracked ribs the two crew members in the helper unit were lucky and escaped very serious injury since they were at the back it received the least amount of force when the train came off the track they desperately called dispatch for emergency services sadly and dr crown was fatally killed in the lead unit along with alan reese in the third additionally two other people in their homes were killed including seven-year-old jason thompson and nine-year-old tyson white who were crushed and asphyxiated when the train destroyed one of their houses along duffy street in total four people died and seven were injured then everyone asks how could a train run away like this and why vandals kinked air hose faulty brakes a sleepy crew what was it well before that could be answered there was still more trouble no one realized that the train derailed on an underground gas pipeline buried six feet underground the train didn't break it however but after the engines and the cars were cleaned out and removed on may 25th at 8 in the morning a dope and a backhoe was cleaning the spilled trona but despite the clear markings in the ground on where the pipe was the operator accidentally made gashes into the gas line and then all fiery hell broke loose the gas leaked and caught fire destroying 11 more houses 21 cars and brutally burning two residents alive in the inferno five of the houses that were destroyed were across or directly across from duffy street that were already crushed by the train while another was the only house on the track side on duffy street and that was still fully intact after the crash but was destroyed in the fire four more houses received moderate smoke damage and fire damage while three others only had smoke damage the fire burned for seven hours sending plumes of heavy smoke into the air until it was finally brought under control total property damage was over 14.3 million dollars interestingly more of this damage was from the fire instead of from the train accident interesting huh and even though there were more fatalities in the derailment still kind of interesting in total now six people were dead from both incidents combined now the whole area was like a true war zone and residents were both horrified and furious what was next to come the water main breaking and then the whole street floods thankfully that didn't happen after months of investigation jeffery and the ntsb found out that before leaving mojave yard on may 11th that upon the crew boarding the train it was discovered that the original head unit 7551 and the locomotive the train was named after was totally dead and couldn't start the crew were then instructed to take 8278 from another consist and add it to their own ahead of the dead 75-51 also the weight of the train was severely underestimated and the wrong tonnage was given to the crew before they left they were told the train was 6151 tons when actually it was 8 900 tons after another dispatcher found the correct measurement plus all but two units had fully operational dynamics with 7551 still totally dead of everything but its own air brakes 7549 had traction current but no dynamic brake current 9340 had dynamic brakes that were rather wacky and had limited power 83 17 on the helper end also had no dynamics thus among the four locomotives in the front and the set of helpers on the back only 82.78 at the front and 74-43 at the back had fully functioning dynamic brake systems although this badge didn't know with all that weight both air brakes on the cars and locomotives as well as the dynamic brakes that were working on the two units just couldn't handle both the grade or the weight after the accident calculation procedures to train weight was majorly overhauled all four locomotives at the front of the train 8278 7551 7549 and 9340 were all damaged beyond repair and destroyed they were sold for parts to precision national and scrapped on-site and both helper units did derail but they were still operable 8317 was sold to precision national repaired then resold to helm leasing for continued service 7443 was repaired and repainted by the southern pacific and returned to service it was finally retired on march 17 2000 and sold a national railway equipment company rebuilt it with five foot six inch gauge trucks for mrs logistica in brazil i do apologize if i pronounced that wrong renumbered as 5313 all 69 hopper cars were totally destroyed and scrapped at the site as a result of this and other runaways involving locomotives with dynamic braking the fra reserved its mandate that dynamic braking be disabled when train brakes are placed to emergency now the mandate is that all dynamic brakes must remain functional it's been 29 years since this crash and despite these changes runaways have still occurred especially on el cajon pass and the worst thing about it is there's still two left i need to cover one in 94 and one in 96. i'll tell you all about them in the future but we have another runaway the cover that i'm sure everyone knows stay tuned for more [Music] [Music] 9340 had dynamic breaks that were rather rack why the wacky [ __ ]

Channel: Thunderbolt 1000 Siren Productions

Views: 1,475,798

Rating: 4.7434487 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: HnFmfystZRg

Length: 12min 6sec (726 seconds)

Published: Sat May 12 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/PerryPattySusiana]

Likely been posted before ... but I'm so impressed with this video & style of presentation I'm going to venture it anyway.

This was a major 'runaway' incident: a train very heavily loaded with some mineral descending a 2.2% grade (steep for a railway) with dodgy brakes & a sharp bend at the bottom. And then the disaster was yet compounded by negligence during the clear-up. This really was a total berserker of a failure.

[u/the_myleg_fish]

I grew up in San Bernardino near where this happened, though not the same neighborhood. This was a few years before my time but I recognize the area. Crazy stuff.

[u/Hobbitude]

The NTSB report is at the end of the Wikipedia article - it's a fascinating read.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Bernardino_train_disaster

http://www.pipelinesafetytrust.com/docs/ntsb_doc26.pdf

I was driving from my parent's home in Yucaipa to Pasadena, decided to take Route 66 because it's more interesting. I will never forget seeing one engine sticking halfway out of the ground, hoppers scattered around, and a huge crane attempting to lift things out of the way.

[u/Blazex213]

Oh fuck right on my birthday