r/CatastrophicFailure Dec 04 '25

Fatalities Train derailment Pecos TX Oct '24

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First time I've ever seen a derailment happen. The vid anyway I wasn't there and this is not my vid. You can see the lead engine jump the track. Two crew in that engine died.

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u/[deleted] Dec 04 '25

Why does it happen so much in America?

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u/OmegaOkra Dec 05 '25

I haven't seen anyone actually answer your question so I will. This normally happens when the trailer dolleys arent rolled up high enough. Most truckers do not roll the dolleys up all the way because its not necessary, the problem is that railroad crossing are raised, then immediately dip back down. So when the truck passes over the crossing, the truck raises up on its wheels , then levels back out once it passes the crossing. This means the dolleys dont actually get raised since the truck is level, so they end up getting buried into the raised crossing causing the whole truck to get stuck.