NTSB crash test report on 2-8-0 engine.

 Well....if you had a layout train table like mine, it's so full of junk that when my switch was not thrown as needed, the train plowed into said junk and stopped, inches before leaving table and testing concrete's elasticity. I finally ascertained that my own sloppy behavoir, can have good side effects.

Very amusing! All in all, not such a bad result.

Thanks for providing this test so the rest of us won't have to do it.

.....

Dennis

It is important to note:

 

"No O scale animals were harmed during the production and filming of this crash test."

 

Glad you didn't get any major damage.

I have this same locomotive, and I must say, they are VERY tough!  I have not had a incident so catostrophic, however, this locomotive has taken the "punishment" of dozens of toddlers, without a scratch, and keeps freight moving on the "pike"...

 

R/

Galen

I think the Hearts will be ok.

 

I had a die cast HO Mountain that took a one foot fall at speed.

 

Sometimes I think the fall smacked something back into line because it ran better. LOL.

Actually, that's a good bit of information that I will use to do something about a switch I'll have going to a yard that will not always be attached. Sounds like a good place for a removable stop and some shielding to keep the engine from meeting a similar fare. Thanks for posting.

I am only too happy to do my part to help others from suffering the same fate. I know there are not many out there with a bulb as dim as mine, but just in case.........I posted.

 

Use the info wisely!!  Greg

A locomotive falling to the floor has always been a thought that sends chills up my spine.  When I built my layout, I included a lift out bridge on the branch line so I could access the room.  I included electrical contacts in the bridge structure so that when the bridge is removed it kills the power to approximately three feet of track on either side of the opening.  There is no way I can run a locomotive off the end of the track, even if I have a massive brain fart. 

 

I'm glad you had so little damage.  Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

Tom

Thanks for your warning and the amusing way you wrote it.  Apparently you are going to spur others on to adding some precautions to their layouts.

I have seen a Lionel GP38 that was tested from 4 feet onto a wood floor. The backshop crew had to use superglue to repair the front of the engine around the coupler area. The backshop had her up and running in a day.  The railroad started using a brick on the track about 1 foot before the end til the earth and track were built, this stopped all future fall testing.

A brick would have worked for me (I would have needed 4 of them) IF I thought I would have been dumb enough to have done what I did!!

 

It this were a permanent layout, instead of a temp/Christmas one, I can seek how easy it would be to fix the problem. I ran wires to the track on the lift up to power the tracks, and those wired got power from a few feet away from the gate.

 

I could have cut the power/insulated the track for 2 feet on either side of the opening, feed power to the lift up, and had a copper contact come down and touch another copper contact which was then wired to the 2 foot section on either side of the opening, just like Tom detailed. (Glad you were smarter than I was !)

 

Thus, when the gate was up, no contact was made (even though the gate track was hot) until it was lowered, which then feed power to the main tracks 2 feet on either side of the opening. I knew what to do in the beginning, but discounted doing it, never dreaming that I would do something I knew I would not possibly do....run and engine off the track into the hole, finding the floor! I am sure I am not the first.

 

Live and learn....well, learn sometimes. Greg

I don't have to worry too much about trains falling because my main O-gauge layout is on the floor.

 

 

The floor layout is especially practical when I do speed trials with experimental equipment.