I was Ass't. Track Supervisor of the territory at the time. The kids had tried the same thing the night before, but had thrown the switch before the train passed the signal. The crew normalled the switch and went on their way. The kids obviously learned their lesson the next night.
The train went through a #10 switch at close to 60 MPH. The force of the train threw the track out of line about 6". Unfortunately, the switch had only recently been renewed. If it had been an older switch, it might not have been able to resist those forces, and the train may have derailed on the switch as evidenced by the fact that when the sidetrack curved to go beside the building; the train went straight into the side of the building - the track was not strong enough to prevent the train from going straight. It penetrated the building about half the length of the first coach. The factory was on summer vacation, so there was only a security guard on duty at the factory. Temporary supports had to be constructed to hold up the roof before the coach could be removed.
DAW
