JR East i-D derailment in Gunma

[Suica]

Watasage Valley railway inspection vehicle derailment

 

May 22nd 17: 21  

On the afternoon of May 22, at the railway crossing of the Watasage Valley Railroad connecting Gunma Prefecture and Tochigi Prefecture, one of the trains of inspection vehicles derailed.

There are no injuries, the railroad company is investigating the cause of derailment in detail.

 

Around 2:00 pm on May 22, at the railroad crossing of Mizunuma station in Kiryu city of Gumma Prefecture of the Watasage Valley Railroad connecting Gunma prefecture and Tochigi prefecture, the second two of the 3 train car trains to check the railroad track were derailed.

Seven people, such as railway company employees, were on the train, but there was no injured person.

According to the railroad company, this train finished checking the railway line from Kiryu station in Kiryu City, Gunma prefecture to Nito station in Nikko city, Tochigi prefecture, and that it had derailed on the way back to Kiryu Station.

As a result of this influence, the Watasage Valley Railway is not going to be driving up and down between Gyuma Station of Gunma Prefecture Midori City and Nito Station of Nikko City, Tochigi Prefecture, and this section is carrying on behalf of this section by bus .

The railroad company is investigating the cause of derailment in detail.

 

In the image from the helicopter of NHK, we can confirm that the second pair of trains out of the three-car train is out of the rail and stuck.

On the worksite, the staff was checking the status of the train.

 

In the image taken by a man in his twenties near the railroad crossing where there was a derailment accident, the sound of rattling after the sand smoke from the vicinity of the second wheel of the running train showed the state of derailment of the train I will.

The man said, "When I was shooting a video of a train with a hobby, I heard an abnormal sound from a running train and I thought it was probably what I thought, so I was surprised to see that the two eyes were derailed."

Google Translate from NHK's News article but I'm sure you can catch the essential bits.

Check out the video in the NHK article!

Edited May 22, 2017 by Suica

[miyakoji]

So, the line didn't pass inspection then? 

 

 

 

 

 

:icon_silent:

[nah00]

This is certainly high up there on the list of 'definitions of irony'.

[cteno4]

Almost an oxymoron...

 

Jeff

[Kiha66]

Russia has dash cams, America has Security Cameras, and Japan has rail fans!  Crazy the car jumped so high, I wonder if it got caught on something underneath. 

[Suica]

Crazy the car jumped so high, I wonder if it got caught on something underneath. 

Either something got caught and dragged along or it derailed beforehand but the jump was a result of hitting the edge of the crossing. 

[ToniBabelony]

What a bizarre accident...

[Suica]

What a bizarre accident...

I think the most bizarre thing is that it has been so nicely captured for us. :icon_biggrin:

[ToniBabelony]

I think the most bizarre thing is that it has been so nicely captured for us. :icon_biggrin:

 

I only was missing the Slavic cursing in the background.

[katoftw]

The dust plumes from under car 2 is a dead giveaway is was already derailed long before the crossing.

Edited May 22, 2017 by katoftw

[Ochanomizu]

The dust plumes from under car 2 is a dead giveaway is was already derailed long before the crossing.

Hello Mr katoftw,

 

Yes, it appears you are correct.  The bogie appears to be bouncing along as it passes the rail fan taking the video.

[kvp]

The original description hints that the railfan could see the cloud of dust long before the crossing but the train driver did not notice that something was wrong (and the bogie was riding on the sleepers) before it hit the road. (and the jump was due that real crossings lack the rerailing ramps) I think we could assume both the wheels and a longer stretch of track was damaged by this accident. (probably most sleepers between the derailment point and the crossing)

 

I was looking for the equipment on the derailed bogie as low hanging sensors and track brakes could cause a derailment with a non level (sunken rail) crossing but it seems this was a motor bogie and the track sensors are on the control trailer. Is there any information where did the actual derailing happen? (how far back and how long was the train dragging the derailed bogie)

[Sacto1985]

From YouTube, here's one of several videos of the derailed inspection trainset:

 

[Sacto1985]

I think JR East lucked out because given how not commonly seen the East-i D trainset are during daytime hours, there were railfans that were following this train and one of them was lucky enough to see the accident happen and caught it on video.

[miyakoji]

I think JR East lucked out because given how not commonly seen the East-i D trainset are during daytime hours, there were railfans that were following this train and one of them was lucky enough to see the accident happen and caught it on video.

 

I wonder if JRE feels that way .  Anyway, that seems to have hit that grade crossing with some force.  Does anyone think there's significant risk of structural damage?

[Kiha66]

I wonder if JRE feels that way .  Anyway, that seems to have hit that grade crossing with some force.  Does anyone think there's significant risk of structural damage?

 

The inspection video seemed to show some metal sheared off the top of the truck casting from the the derailed car, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole frame is warped or a lot of equipment is destroyed from the bottom of the car.  It must have taken a lot of energy to throw the train up so high on impact. 

[katoftw]

Damaged wheels, thrust bearings at a minimum.  But the bogie, bogie swivel and anything attached would need inspection.

[Sacto1985]

I think the middle car of the East-i D trainset could be a candidate for the scrapyard--the damage maybe to substantial for repair. They'll probably repair the end cars, but likely build a replacement middle car.

[kvp]

It's a bolsterless air spring bogie design, so the whole suspension might be replacable without cutting the car up. Funny that there were no derailment indicators on the middle motor car (all track sensors are on the control trailer). Afaik it was a scheduled equipment move and the train was not measuring during the events.

 

I wonder what was the cause, track or bogie failiure? (there is a bridge a short way up the line and the train passed that without falling off)

[bikkuri bahn]

A Sankei news report from Saturday has one Watarase Rlwy official surmising that the length (2m longer than the stock that runs on this line) and weight (12 tons heavier than same) combined with the sharp curves and the approach speed may have caused the derailment.  I also see the railcar uses bolsterless bogies, which have a risk (perhaps very small, but still...) for derailment on sharp curves at certain lower speeds, which is the reason they are banned on some railways in Japan.

[ToniBabelony]

A Sankei news report from Saturday has one Watarase Rlwy official surmising that the length (2m longer than the stock that runs on this line) and weight (12 tons heavier than same) combined with the sharp curves and the approach speed may have caused the derailment.  I also see the railcar uses bolsterless bogies, which have a risk (perhaps very small, but still...) for derailment on sharp curves at certain lower speeds, which is the reason they are banned on some railways in Japan.

 

IIRC Watarase used to be a JNR line, so technically speaking this train should have been able to run on it (like it runs tests at Mooka, Aizu Railway, etc.). The maintenance was probably then on par to cope with the light NDC railcars Watarase uses and not these heavy type trains. I had already had a thought like this before, so I'm not entirely surprised someone came out with this statement... Still...