scott.smith posted:All the electronics and mechanics appear to be working on all the engines-so this could have been much worse.
I'd rather have the electronics be broke, I can fix those easier. 
The worst disister I had was when I was filming a video of my MTH Railking FEF-3 and I hit a toy car my neice had left on the track and the car flipped under the pilot, lifted the engine up off the track and slammed back down onto the table. The only visible damage were a few scratches on the cowcatcher.
Popi posted:Zach K posted:This was by far my worst accident. Decided to use old track on the elevated loop to save a few bucks (worst idea EVER). Being the first time I was running the trains after building the layout I decided to have the camera rolling. I learned my lesson and bought brand new track the next day.
I would replace that O27 track with heavier O gauge track
I considered O-Gauge, but the dimensions wouldn't have worked so I went with O-27. The new track is rock solid and I haven't had any issues yet!
Scrapiron Scher posted:I derailed the real #765 . . . . . does that count?
That's how Rich Melvin gave me my name . . . . Scrapiron
I always meant to ask you, how did you manage that?
FrankM.
Here's mine. While busy operating nine other trains in their separate loops, for a houseful of guests, I did not notice that a coupler let go on one of three post-war Lionel gondolas, so the engine (FM Erie Lackawanna) and part of its consist went rushing around and ran into its own caboose. Fortunately, miraculously, I did not have to go tunnel-diving
to
rectify the situation, seen here on the middle, second-level track. Never did it when I was running trains alone, but with guests, ooooohhhhhh yeah.
FrankM.
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Moonson posted:Scrapiron Scher posted:I derailed the real #765 . . . . . does that count?
That's how Rich Melvin gave me my name . . . . Scrapiron
I always meant to ask you, how did you manage that?
FrankM.
From the photo, I'm supposing he ran through a derail at the end of the siding ... eons ago I almost ran a brand-new C30-7 through a derail on the GE test track at Erie PA. Fortunately another guy in the cab pulled the emergency brake valve in the nick of time, stopped within spitting distance.
Ace posted:Moonson posted:Scrapiron Scher posted:I derailed the real #765 . . . . . does that count?
That's how Rich Melvin gave me my name . . . . Scrapiron
I always meant to ask you, how did you manage that?
FrankM.
From the photo, I'm supposing he ran through a derail at the end of the siding ... eons ago I almost ran a brand-new C30-7 through a derail on the GE test track at Erie PA. Fortunately another guy in the cab pulled the emergency brake valve in the nick of time, stopped within spitting distance.
I can almost imagine the sounds involved in such an event.
Steam Train derailment short video
scott.smith posted:Just a few minutes ago I tipped over a shelf full of locomotives that landed on other locomotives on the layout. Damaged engines:
1) Lionel C&O F-19 Pacific #490
2)Railking Scale C628 N&W #1119
3) Railking Interstate RS-3
4)Lionel N&W Mallet 2-6-6-2
This has not been a very fun evening. What has been your worst train disaster?
Scott Smith
Do you have any pictures?
The worst derailment I have ever had was when I was running my brother's K-line PRR 4-6-2 when it hit a pickup truck my little brother had left on the track, knocking it onto the floor. Thank God the floor was carpet, or it would have been much worse. But it never ran right again.
Just had a bad one a few minutes ago. I was running my brand new Lionel Acela for the first time on the inner rail, and did not notice a clearance issue. The pantographs smashed into a low-hanging accessory, and they are now dissconnected internally. Jut what I need to do... Spend more money on this darn thing! 
HO scale shelf layout several years ago. Acela trainset with 6 cars and two power units. Lead unit picked a switch and the entire trainset came off the shelf down onto a rolltop desk. Power units survived the fall. None of the 6 passenger cars did. $200+ accident over in 5 seconds.
Rick
When I first go into trains my dad gave me a DCS starter set. I didn't know how the system actually functioned. I put a conventional Santa Fe on the track and powered on the system. It took off 100 mph, jumped the track and destroyed the diesel. It took me a while to figure out what actually happened.
I had a nice pile up of freight cars when my 75 car train threw a switch around the 150th axle on track two of the Paradise and Pacific railroad, derailed into track one and got hit by the train on track one that was running on automatic. It was all very prototypical actually. The best part was it was on the hardest part of the layout to reach with the grabber. It took a while for the wrecking crew to clear those mainlines! 
The worst one I ever saw was at my HO club about 16 yrs ago (I've yet to match it) during an operating session that I was dispatching. We had a large peninsula with an upper passing track and an another passing track on the lower line at the base of the slope. There was a small river then a electrified interurban line on the other side. A member was running his custom built SP Shasta Daylight. It was pulled by a pair of custom painted, super detailed, souped up, heavily weighted Athearn PA's. Apparently a slightly too-high turnout throwbar pin between the rails caught the slightly too-low brass snowplow on the lead PA. This launched both locomotives off the track , breaking free of the train and down the slope. There were no trees in this location (the tree makers/planters hadn't got this far yet). Both engines rolled down the slope simultaneously gathering speed on the way down. At the time there was a meet occurring with two freight trains on the lower track. The PA's plowed through both freights like they weren't even there scattering freight cars left and right and ended up in the river between the mainline and the electrified line. Of course, the local on the branch happened to be there as well which got a few cars taken out by freight cars flying off the mainline. Luckily nothing ended up on the floor. We never saw that train run on the layout again.
Peter
Oops on the 90* crossing:
Running a VL Hudson and a VL Big boy on the same track, all was good for about 15 minutes and the BB ran into the Hudson , knocking 3-4 pieces of rolling stock 4 feet to the garage floor. It was an expensive lesson and i have not turned my attention from the trains since. Very seldom run 2 trains on the same loop.
Brent
Well, this was not a wreck but it is a testimony to the pulling power of the Lionel 2353 Santa Fe F3.
Back around 1969 or 1970 I placed Plasticville telephone poles around the layout. I glued the poles in place and then ran sewing thread through the poles around the layout.
One day I was running the 2353 and I reached for something on the layout as the 2353 passed by. I hit one of to poles and broke it off. The thread was snagged by the horns on the 2353. The 2353 snapped off the next pole and continued snapped off the poles, dragging poles and thread behind it. I just sat back and watched in amazement until most of the poles were snapped off. The 2353 never hesitate or derailed.
Thanks,
Richard
I just had a lionel challenger derail and the other engines in the consist pushed it off the edge of the table and it fell 4' to the floor. The body appears to be mostly undamaged but it does not run very well or respond to my legacy controller. Hopefully it is something I can fix.
You win with a whole shelf. I've heard of shelf nightmare's, but not really first hand. (Attach the frame firm to the wall, not the thin back
That I remember)
Smooth top oak TV tray, floor vibration, and a new GG-1 doing a "dive from 1000 feet in the air, landing on a block of cement. ..on it's head yet!
not funny that day. Deep scar the floor too. Hours of carefully tweaking the trucks back paid off, but once finished I bumped the table again. The assault, sending a General retreating backwards over the cliff, cracking a large CHUNK of roof off.
A rather clean break. I just put super glue on the 1/2" square chunk's edges, pressed and prayed. Ok job really; just kinda extra sad it was Grandmas out for cleaning. I bought another for modding, and will swap cabs one day. If used, Tv trays get track and some kind of bumpers now
.
I belong to an O scale modular club. I was operating a 20 car train with some Lionel legacy CNJ F units. My friend on the same track wasn't paying attention and rammed his Conrail GP30 right into the back of my caboose. He plowed through the caboose and 4 freight cars before derailing at a switch.
Here is what I came home to after July 4th week vacation:
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ADCX Rob posted:Here is what I came home to after July 4th week vacation:
OUCH!
Rob : You win... sorry about your loss...
I have two places where inside curves are too close to the edge. Never thought too much about them. They're inside curves, right?
Sunset/3-rd Rail CP3101 was going slow around the curve. This gal . . .
While I watched, there was a lurch. A rod had come loose on the "out" side where I could not see. In slo-mo the engine lifted and fell over toward the table edge.
I'm slow these days but I moved pretty fast and narrowly prevented cat***$$trophe!
Now I'm paranoid! Have to do something about those corners! Also how to prevent drive rods from coming undone???
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What happened there Rob?...Oh never mind...I don't fully trust blind hole drywall or cement anchors alone for exactly that reason. Epoxy filled along with them and I'm way more confident.
Adriatic posted:What happened there Rob?...Oh never mind
These have been there since 1971, never had a reason to expect this.
I guess that I m lucky compared to the ones posted before.
What happen to me is I was a a train show in the mid 80's and brought along a mint Marx 2124 Boston and main Budd powered car in it's carton. As I went to show it to a dealer for some information about the car the bottom of the box opened and the car/engine fell to the floor shattering the plastic shell. I still have all the parts and pieces and still looking for a replacement shell (shells for this is a change to find).
