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derailment
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derailment

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Also known as train derailment, derail, derailing, going off the rails

alt=Train wreck in Leavick, Colorado in 1897|thumb|Train wreck in Leavick, Colorado in 1897 thumb|right|250px|A picture by "C. Petersen" [[Fayette County, Texas [?] of a train derailment]] thumb|2002 Farragut derailment|A derailed freight train in Farragut, [[Tennessee (2002)]]

~30 min read

Encyclopedic overview

24 sections
Contents
  • History
  • United States
  • Incidents over time
  • Causes
  • Broken rails
  • Defective wheels
  • Unusual track interaction
  • Improper operation of control systems
  • Derailment following collision
  • Harsh train handling
  • Flange climbing
  • Wheel-rail interaction
  • Rerailing
  • Examples
  • Primary mechanical failure of a track component
  • Primary mechanical failure of a component of the running gear of a vehicle
  • Dynamic effects of vehicle–track interaction
  • Improper operation of control systems
  • Secondary events following collision
  • Train handling effects
  • See also
  • Notes
  • References
  • Further reading

alt=Train wreck in Leavick, Colorado in 1897|thumb|Train wreck in Leavick, Colorado in 1897 thumb|right|250px|A picture by "C. Petersen" [[Fayette County, Texas [?] of a train derailment]] thumb|2002 Farragut derailment|A derailed freight train in Farragut, [[Tennessee (2002)]]

In rail transport, a derailment is a type of railway accident that occurs when a moving rail vehicle such as a train comes off its rails. Although many derailments are minor, all result in temporary disruption of the proper operation of the railway system and they are a potentially serious hazard.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “derailment” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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