Wrecked MBTA Commuter Rail Equipment

[AEM7AC920]

Yikes! I don't think anticlimbers were in use back then.

[diburning]

No the 1301 hit head on to a B&M locomotive. http://ntl1.specialcollection.net/scrip ... 2-1fix.pdf

The 1710 hit a low boy trailer hung up on a crossing in Franklin it did not belong on. An excavator was on the trailer and swung off the trailer and hit the side of the car. There is a thread somewhere devoted to that incident on here.

Here is a historic pic from Boston.com/Boston Globe of the 1301.

And this photo which I had posted on page two...

GP9s don't have anticlimbers. From what I've observed it doesn't seem like anticlimbers were used on engines until the Dash 2 series (unless they were retrofitted on earlier engines)

[scrook]

From NTSB Report No. NTSB-RAR-82-1, March 09, 1982:
http://ntl1.specialcollection.net/scrip ... 2-1fix.pdf

"No. 570's control car, which was the lead car in the train, and locomotive unit 1731 coupled on impact. The deformation of the control car [1301, ~85,000 lbs, + 3*82,000 (=246,000) lbs of following coaches & a 259,000 lb F40PH, ~19 mph at collision] effectively provided a "ramp" so that the car rode up onto the top of locomotive 1731. (see figure 2). Locomotive unit 1731 [a GP-9, ~247,000 lbs, + two empty refr's & two loaded gondolas for 540.000 lbs total trailing ~12 mph at collision] and the control car of No. 570 were derailed. The three trailing cars and the pusher locomotive of No. 570 and the four cars of Extra 1731 East did not derail and the cars in each train remained coupled."

Not a good day.

[3rdrail]

What a interesting thing why did the cab car come off the tracks and land what looks like on top of B&M locomotive??

Because of inertia. Sir Isaac Newtons First Law of Motion addresses it; "Every body at rest tends to remain at rest, while every body in motion tends to remain in motion, unless it is acted upon by an unbalanced external force." I don't know the particulars of this accident, but regardless, these trains directed into the other (whether moving or still) is the unbalanced force. Between the moment of contact and final rest, there was energy that must go somewhere, so a lot of it dissipates into deformation of the other train and heat. The locomotive has greater mass, so it's force is greater on the lesser mass cab car.

AEM... anti-climbers had been used for many years at the time of this accident, and we may be seeing the result of a successful anti-climber effect here. Anti-climbers, contrary to their name, were primarily designed to inhibit the phenomenon of telescoping, where one car literally enters the other at approximately the same plane. In this case, kinetic energy was massive and energy needed to be depleted prior to final rest. The cab car took the route of least resistance and up it went. Prior to anti-climbers, you would have seen the locomotive with the cab cars side panelling around it. Oddly, the Chatsworth, Ca. crash telescoped. (??)

[MBTA F40PH-2C 1050]

what happened that day at Beverly Farms? where did it happen? near the station?

[WatertownCarBarn]

Excerpted from the above referenced report:

"About 4:15 p.m. on August 11, 1981, Boston & Maine Corporation freight train Extra 1731 East and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority westbound commuter train No. 570 collided head-on on the former Boston & Maine Corporation tracks near Prides Crossing, Beverly, Massachusetts. The train dispatcher allowed Extra 1731 East, a yard switcher, to enter onto the main track because he understood that a coworker would instruct the train to clear the main track for westbound No. 570. The coworker did not have the same understanding about the train's routing as the dispatcher, and Extra 1731 East was allowed to proceed eastward on the same track on which No. 570 had been authorized to proceed westward. The engineer of No. 570 and two trainmen and an unauthorized passenger on Extra 1731 East were killed. The engineer and foreman of Extra 1731 East, and the conductor, the trainman, and 28 passengers on No. 570 were injured. Damage was estimated at $1,683,200."

[MBTA F40PH-2C 1050]

thank you, I couldn't get that link to work. when did freight service stop on the Rockport line?

[3rdrail]

Regarding the "unauthorized passenger" apparently in the cab of Extra 1731 who was reportedly a rail fan - does anyone know who he was ?

[bmcdr]

My father was the Train Order Operator at Manchester that fateful day, he was the only one of the two Operators and the one Dispatcher involved in that wreck, that was exonerated. We lost some very fine people that day, Engineer of #570, Paul Sullivan, Conductor of X1731, Ed Purcell, and the Brakeman of X1731, Wayne Fairbrother. The railfan that was riding in the cab of X1731 was named Jack Daniels, I was the Towerman on the 3rd Trick at Salem Tower that night, and had the unfortunate duty fielding phone calls from family members of the deceased or meeting with some of them as they came to Salem to retrieve the automobiles that belonged to their loved ones. I will never forget the gallantry of the Conductor of train #570, William Ring, who refused medical attention at the scene until all passengers were safely evacuated and treated for their injuries. Until his dying day, my father never forgot that day, as he handed "Sully" his train orders at Manchester and became the last person to see him alive.

[conductorsdaughter]

In regards to the Beverly train wreck in 1981...does anyone know the location of where it happened? It was 30 years ago tomorrow....the engineer who died, Paul H. Sullivan, was my grandfather, and I'd like to put some flowers on the tracks tomorrow. Anyone who could help me out with an exact or near exact location would be much appreciated. Not sure if it's somewhere I could drive up pretty close to or would have to do some walking....

[conductorsdaughter]

Never mind, I found in an archived news article that the crash took place about 300 yards south of the Pride's Crossing stop. I am new to Railroad.net and hope to be posting and learning more in the future! My family has been working on the railroad all their livelong day!

[MBTA1016]

I know there is a thread about the passenger cars so I thought we should have one on engines. MoW engines included and engines that were taken out if service after an accident and pressed back into servive.

The back bay wreck, I know the engine got scrapped, and I forget the loco number and the canton junction accident with the runaway lumber car come to mind, sorry no loco number

[jwhite07]

The loco in the Back Bay wreck was 1073; scrapped.

The loco in the Canton Junction wreck was 1030; rebuilt and returned to service.

[MBTA1016]

The loco in the Back Bay wreck was 1073; scrapped.

The loco in the Canton Junction wreck was 1030; rebuilt and returned to service.

Ok I had an idea they were 1000s, another from other accidents

[octr202]

Well, they're all sorta 1000's. The screamers (1000-1017) have some in various states of out of service-ness, although I think only 1016 is officially retired, and it's all from mechanical failures, not accidents. Some others are long term deadline residents, although as pointed out in the Interesting Consists thread, 1010 and 1001 (the latter of which surprised the heck out of me when I saw it on 339 on Monday!).