# High winds blow over 64 railcars in Lufkin, TX



## johnfl68 (Feb 1, 2015)

> Numerous train cars were blown off a bridge on Loop 287 West in Lufkin, Sunday morning.
> 
> According to TxDOT, the bridge crosses above Loop 287/ North John Redditt Drive, near the Pepsi Cola Bottling Company. Loop 287 from Highway 103 West to Highway 69 North is closed to traffic at this time.
> 
> ...


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Looks like traffic might be slowed on that stretch of road.


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## leadsled (Dec 25, 2014)

Maybe it was microburst?


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## Bwells (Mar 30, 2014)

The trucks stayed on the track? Can that be!


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## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

Gotta wonder how that happened. ????

Magic


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## johnfl68 (Feb 1, 2015)

More info:


> The train cars were stored on the bridge by the company A&NR Railroad and have been monitored and maintained by TxDOT, according to a statement by TxDOT. The cars were believed to be empty when a gust of at least 40 mph took them off the tracks around 7 a.m.
> 
> “These cars were idle and waiting for service and apparently the winds were strong enough this morning to blow them completely off their wheels,” said David Perkins, president of A&NR Railroad Company.
> 
> ...





> The nearest storm spotter the National Weather Service has in Angelina County to where the train blew off the tracks is at the Angelina County Airport. Wind gusts in excess of 41 mph were reported there around the time of the train incident, which came into dispatch at 7:18 a.m.


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## A&NRR (Aug 2, 2015)

I know exactly where that bridge is, pass under it several times. I don't know why but there are always rail cars sitting on top of it. mainly covered hoppers. They also store a lot of cars next to the paper mill, currently being tore down, on 103. And yes the Angelina & Nueces River R.R. is a short line that serves the Lufkin area.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Bwells said:


> The trucks stayed on the track? Can that be!


Yep. The trucks are not bolted onto the car like our models, the car merely sits on the truck, and has a king pin protruding down into the top of the truck. The king pin is not very big in diameter, nor very long. So, the weight of the trucks would be enough to keep them on the track when those cars blew over.

But you may already know this.....but for those who don't, there ya go.....


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## Bwells (Mar 30, 2014)

Nope, didn't know that. Thanks!


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## pvt64 (Mar 16, 2015)

Whats interesting is that appears as though the cars are still coupled.


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

pvt64 said:


> Whats interesting is that appears as though the cars are still coupled.


I think that would be expected since the pressure of the wind would be pretty much equal across the sides of all the cars, so they would be equally pushed over. Also, since on real railroads the couplers are body mounted, and not truck mounted, they would all pretty much fall over together and stay coupled together. Just my humble opinion.

It would have been fascinating to see a video of it happening.


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