High winds can blow railway trains off tracks and cause accidents. [1]
High winds can cause problems in a number of ways:
Risks from high winds can be reduced by:
One reason for choosing broad gauge (17% wider than standard gauge) for BART was the greater stability in high winds and perhaps earthquakes. [32] [33] [34]
The Great Western Railway was a railway that operated in Canada West, today's province of Ontario, Canada. It was the first railway chartered in the province, receiving its original charter as the London and Gore Railroad on March 6, 1834, before receiving its final name when it was rechartered in 1845.
The Georgetown Loop Railroad is a 3 ft narrow gauge United States heritage railroad located in the Rocky Mountains in Clear Creek County, adjacent to Interstate 70 in Colorado.
The railways of New South Wales, Australia have had many incidents and accidents since their formation in 1831. There are close to 1000 names associated with rail-related deaths in NSW on the walls of the Australian Railway Monument in Werris Creek. Those killed were all employees of various NSW railways. The details below include deaths of employees and the general public.
The Rimutaka incline railway line suffered from strong cross winds. On two occasions passenger trains were derailed by them. The first in 1880 resulting in four deaths, and the second in 1936 resulting in only injuries.
The Angola Horror train wreck occurred on December 18, 1867, just after 3 p.m. when the last coach of the Buffalo-bound New York Express of the Lake Shore Railway derailed at a bridge in Angola, New York, United States, slid down into a gorge and caught fire, killing approximately 49 people. At the time, it was one of the deadliest train wrecks in American history.
The Burlington and Northwestern Railway (B&NW) was a 3 ft narrow gauge railroad system in Iowa that operated during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It connected Burlington, Iowa with branches to Washington and Oskaloosa, Iowa. Incorporated in 1875 as the Burlington and Northwestern Narrow Gauge Railway Company, it began carrying traffic in 1876, when it also dropped 'narrow gauge' from its corporate name. The line reached Washington in 1880, operating over 52.5 miles (84.5 km) of track. In 1881, the Burlington and Western Railway Company, a subsidiary of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) was formed to connect the line to Oskaloosa, completed in 1883. For two decades, both lines were operated as a single system, until on June 20, 1902, the system was widened to standard gauge and the B&NW was adsorbed by the B&W. Later that year, the system was leased to the CB&Q, and in 1903, the entire system was deeded to the CB&Q.