Train Crash?

[shavethewhales]

Yes, it was testing yesterday, apparently with senior staff on board. I guess they want to prove that it's safe enough that they trust it themselves? Rumors on FB of it opening the first week of April. No official confirmation yet.

[cowboy]

Yes, there’s a lot of pictures and videos online. I attached one from the “You know you’re from SDC if…” Facebook page.

Jay

[Swoosh]

I’ve been told it opened this afternoon to guests

[KevinLong]

I am glad to see the train back so soon.
 As it is one of the few rides I can ride, I will not hesitate to ride it again.

Safer now than ever.

my two cents
Kevin

[Cseeley]

Here is the only video I can find of the train running

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRvbn5Tt/

[palallin]

One great bit of news!

A significant piece of SDC returns!

[Zumwalta]

504 was pulling coaches today. No jokes about brakes, old wreak, or engineer's abilities.

[sdcfan88]

504 was pulling coaches today. No jokes about brakes, old wreak, or engineer's abilities.

Yeah I was afraid of that, but I saw it coming.

[pintrader]

Officials detail what caused train derailment.


https://www.ky3.com/2023/03/31/officials-detail-what-caused-train-derailment-silver-dollar-city-last-october/

[Okiebenz]

So in other words, it was 100% negligence and lack of proper maintenance and standards on the part of the park

[palallin]

The State Fire Marshal’s Office gave Silver Dollar City the following recommendations:

    Develop track safety standards for a 2-foot narrow gage track, as there are no standards
    Install ties at a consistent spacing
    Measure side bearing at set intervals
    Correct and monitor the correct alignment of rails
    Ensure and monitor joint bolts for tightness
    Ensure weight is evenly distributed during passenger loading

I am unconvinc3ed that the Fire Marshal has any business whatever issuing any comments or recommendations on this issue, especially since they can't even spell the word gauge.   I do not expect the necessary level of familiarity from inspectors whose job is in an entirely different field.

There ARE standards or the train would have fallen off the tracks at the first run.   Gauge, for example, requires a certain level of standardization.  Rail alignment is partly a function of the fish plates, but level of precision required is not that high. 

One issue that can be pointed at the City is the fish plate bolts.  They do require monitoring and retightening at intervals. 

The passenger loading comment is, in Ozarkian, foolishment.  I have watched and ridden the train more than most, and I have never seen a randomly-loaded car that evinced dangerous imbalance. 

[sirwillow]

The State Fire Marshal’s Office gave Silver Dollar City the following recommendations:

    Develop track safety standards for a 2-foot narrow gage track, as there are no standards
    Install ties at a consistent spacing
    Measure side bearing at set intervals
    Correct and monitor the correct alignment of rails
    Ensure and monitor joint bolts for tightness
    Ensure weight is evenly distributed during passenger loading

I am unconvinc3ed that the Fire Marshal has any business whatever issuing any comments or recommendations on this issue, especially since they can't even spell the word gauge.   I do not expect the necessary level of familiarity from inspectors whose job is in an entirely different field.

There ARE standards or the train would have fallen off the tracks at the first run.   Gauge, for example, requires a certain level of standardization.  Rail alignment is partly a function of the fish plates, but level of precision required is not that high. 

One issue that can be pointed at the City is the fish plate bolts.  They do require monitoring and retightening at intervals. 

The passenger loading comment is, in Ozarkian, foolishment.  I have watched and ridden the train more than most, and I have never seen a randomly-loaded car that evinced dangerous imbalance. 

I'm in general agreement with you.  It's hard to say if that misspelling is actually from the report or from a typo with the news media, as I can't seem to find an actual copy of the report, just the reporters saying what's in it.

The fish plate bolts are odd.  I've seen them check those every morning, and tighten them up.

I wish we could read the actual report, as I want to know what changed over the course of the day. There is mention of track misalignment and warping, but they wouldn't have started the day that way.  What caused it? What changed?

There's still information missing, and it may or may not be in the report.  And it's possible that the Marshall missed it completely since it's not something they normally deal with.

[legoerosion]

Seems like they don’t know the actual cause and are just throwing out possible causes.

[pintrader]

I am unconvinc3ed that the Fire Marshal has any business whatever issuing any comments or recommendations on this issue, especially since they can't even spell the word gauge.   I do not expect the necessary level of familiarity from inspectors whose job is in an entirely different field.

It appears that this is their job and really wouldn't make any sense to having them give recommendations and inspections if this wasn't the case.

https://dfs.dps.mo.gov/programs/amusement/

[orangesandpeaches]

As I recall, Missouri theme park code as it is written now isn't really that old, maybe within the last 20 years or so, and even then, it still isn't as strict as state codes on the coast.

 It does seem to smack as they were finding flaws and then added them to a list and started throwing darts at them so that they could fulfill their statutory obligations. When your vehicle goes all day making mostly right-hand turns, it goes without saying that the bearings are not going to wear at the same rate. Likewise, you could tighten the bolts every morning with a cheater bar and then come back at the end of the day and find more loose bolts due to the heating of the day. I would take a list of possible causes like that a little more seriously if they were coming from the likes of the NTSB.

I tend to agree, we did get some heavy rain. Anybody who has lived here awhile knows that when we get a lot of rain, a road somewhere is going to try to move. Sometimes it happens overnight, sometimes it takes weeks to show up. It makes a lot of sense that the road in this case may have been a railroad bed.