Major oops at a station not far from where I live.

**Whitehouse** · July-25-10, 09:55 PM

Stavoren, The Netherlands.

Just happened 4 hours before posting this message. A service train just rammed a buffer and carreered on top of the platform, went right trough a watersports shop and ended on a square. It also pushed an empty Diesel wagon right through the shop. In all the train traveled about 100 meters past the buffer!

According to police reports the mess is enormous and it's a miracle that only two people suffered injuries.....

I have pictures later.

The end of the line...

That yellow thing there, that's the buffer.

The watersports shop. The train made a hole in the side 30 meter wide![/i]

The square where the train finally stopped.

Streetview link.

**Whitehouse** · July-26-10, 04:53 AM

WOW!!! I feel sorry for that shopkeeper....
Judging by the carnage the traindriver didn't hit the brakes at all.

**Whitehouse** · July-26-10, 11:12 AM

Incredible shots from the air!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hollandluchtfoto/

**Ray1936** · July-26-10, 11:29 AM

Hmmmm. Were Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor on that train, by any chance????

**Whitehouse** · July-26-10, 02:21 PM

Originally Posted by Ray1936

Hmmmm. Were Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor on that train, by any chance????

Good call! And Silver Streak is a great movie.

Another areal pic. Press pic for Hi-Res version.

By all accounts that town dodged a bullet. The Diesel trailer that was pushed through the store was just emptied the same day....

**wolverine** · July-26-10, 09:45 PM

Wow, what a mess. You kind of wonder by the looks of it, that shopkeeper must have thought he was there on borrowed time. I'm curious of similar incidences happening. I go past some of the railyards downtown near Union Station and would think a train accident would be devastating although the "end of line" is not so much a small metal bumper but a massive concrete block.

**East Detroit** · July-26-10, 10:27 PM

Darn, I was hoping this happened to the MCS.

**Lowell** · July-26-10, 10:32 PM

If nobody had been hurt it would have been amazing to see. Hey Whitehouse, I greatly enjoy your posts with their Dutch viewpoint. They bring interesting perspective to our setting and discussion.

**Whitehouse** · July-27-10, 10:00 AM

Originally Posted by wolverine

Wow, what a mess. You kind of wonder by the looks of it, that shopkeeper must have thought he was there on borrowed time. I'm curious of similar incidences happening. I go past some of the railyards downtown near Union Station and would think a train accident would be devastating although the "end of line" is not so much a small metal bumper but a massive concrete block.

I don't think he thought that way since he was at home. The accident happened 11:30 in the evening local time. The salvage operation is going well. As luck will have it, the proximity of navigable waters makes it easy to salvage the stricken train. At the moment the locomotive has already left the location by barge. The whole train will be towed to Germany, where it came from.

A major concern is the leaked oil and diesel from the train. It seems a large area has been contaminated with it.

Originally Posted by East Detroit

Darn, I was hoping this happened to the MCS.

Just knowing that there are trains around, hej?

As if there wasn't enough bad publicity for the Dutch railroad system, it seems there were some vandals at work near the city of Almere. Alledgedly some bolts were removed from the track which resulted in a cracked rail bar. [[Some witnesses told that 2,5 meters of track was removed, but I don't take that very serious cause a train passed the incident location without derailing.)

Originally Posted by Lowell

If nobody had been hurt it would have been amazing to see. Hey Whitehouse, I greatly enjoy your posts with their Dutch viewpoint. They bring interesting perspective to our setting and discussion.

Will keep doing that.

The Terex Demag AC700 crane of salvage giant Mammoet. The heaviest street-legal object in the Netherlands. The nine-axle monster weighs 108 tons and can lift 700. [[The crane lifting the locomotive is a second crane used in this operation. That's a Liebherr crane.)

checkraisej · July-27-10, 11:04 AM

What's a 'meter'?

**Whitehouse** · July-27-10, 10:33 PM

2,5 meter? About 8 foot.

**Whitehouse** · July-28-10, 09:59 AM

Seems to be a more serious incident!!

According to the authorities a railbar was damaged over a distance of 5 feet. Seems smeone "worked" on the rails with a blowtorch. The traindriver felt something and reported it. Either this is a case of serious vandalism, an attempt to steal steel or an act of terror...

I don't know which possibility I would prefer...

**East Detroit** · July-28-10, 04:58 PM

Originally Posted by Whitehouse

Just knowing that there are trains around, hej?

Touche', Nederlander. We still have some trains, but not with the respect and fun they enjoy in Europe. Smashing one into the MCS, however, would be nice... although it might ruin the fun for Garden City kids "discovering the ruins" like Columbus discovered America.

**Whitehouse** · July-28-10, 06:45 PM

Our main station. Leeuwarden Central. Lookat the detail in the facade.

That's a trainwheel.

Build in 1863, but newly build it looked like this station. [[This is Harlingen station. About 30kms from Leeuwarden.)

Leeuwarden in the 1860s.

The station was enlarged in 1904.

A look at the interior.

This is pure Jugendstil.

And now we are going somewhat off-topic. I found this Youtube clip made by a local tv station. It's a tour trough the village where I grew up.

Let me know what you think of it.
[[Advise; kill the sound....) Funny thing is, just this evening I saw it at home with my parents and lo and behold, that person walking at 2'18" on the pavement is none other than my yonger brother! Hahaha!

That church with the sharp spire was build for a large part in 1246. Yes, that 764 years ago....

I now live in Stiens, home of the smallest full scale, fully functioning windmill in the world. It's also the birthplace of architect Abe Bonnema, who was responsible for [[among other buildings) this, this and this.

**wolverine** · July-29-10, 10:18 PM

Even though there are plenty of train systems here in Chicago, they don't hold a candle to what you have in Europe. I only hope someday this will be a popular mode of transit all over the US and many of the tens of thousands of rail stations still standing will go back into operation. But that's just me dreaming.

**Whitehouse** · July-30-10, 06:23 AM

After years of decline [[yes, our railnetwork also used to be more dense than it is now) there is one major expansion going on. This will cut the our traveltime to Amsterdam with 20 minutes. We've had a lot of beef with the Dutch railway operators. Traveling on time was quite a challenge it seemed to be. Nowadays the punctuality has never been so good, ever.

Here's some of the rolling stock.
More rolling stock.

One locomotive, not in use with the Dutch railways anymore was American designed. It's the Class 1200. I sometimes still see one or two work in the Rotterdam Port area.

**Papasito** · July-30-10, 08:46 AM

<3 trains!
except when they wreck, of course.
Anyone else a Lionel collector?
I look forward to every December 1 so I can put my two favorite trains on thier platform around the tree!

**Mikeg** · July-30-10, 09:12 AM

Detroit had a similar "major oops" at the Michigan Central's Third Street Station on Nov. 12, 1906, with one person killed many injured.

High-resolution photos plus additional information can be found here and here.