Train Wreck: The Forensics of Rail Disasters

Train Wreck discusses how trains operate and what happens when things go wrong. And things can go very wrong. For example if there are too many locomotives at the head of the line, then it's more likely to break a coupling, buckle the train off the tracks due to concentrated head-end braking, or derail the train on a curve due to string-lining (hah - you have to read the book to learn about string-lining). Train Wreck interjects pertinent train history in context, especially when explaining current train procedures. You get to learn all about air brakes (still used since they were invented by Westinghouse in the 1870's) and the critical role of bearings (and how they break), as well as train runaways and what happens when a train encounters a broken track. The author uses just a few equations from high school physics, but strives to explain the underlying concepts to get the point across for the math phobics. I enjoyed this book because it works hard to actually explain the reality of trains - when they work and when they fail. This book would make a great gift for a budding young engineer, train enthusiast, or anyone who ever wondered why a train wreck happens.

There is enough material presented here to be a good introduction into the causes of railroad accidents. The high school physics might put some folks off; but you can skip the equations and still gain a fair amount of detailed knowledge into the why and how of railroad accidents. This is not really intended for the general public; but would certainly appeal to most rail fans and others who want to know why trains crash. It certainly covers all of the basics. There are lots of actual accidents that are referenced and summarized which make for a fascinating read.

This is a good popularization of a technical subject. The author tries to make it entertaining and open to those with only a high school knowledge of physics, and generally succeeds up to about 3/4 of the way through the book. There it bogs down just a bit on rail cracks and thermal expansion, but picks up again toward the end. Organized by cause of accident and no more grisly than necessary. Would not recommend this to everyone (particularly those who ride the D.C. subway a lot), but to non-engineers (civil or locomotive) it's an interesting read. The diagrams showed up very well on my Kindle Keyboard, tables less so (but they're not really needed since the author summarized them in the text).

Being well experienced with reading railroad accident reports from around the world, an explanation of what and how, theory and how it influences the way an accident is analysed. Especially when looking at why such accidents occurred in an environment as safety conscious as the railroad. This book was long overdue. Perhaps one little bit of relevant extra information would be the characteristic failures in the human side when such accidents occur. Additionally, these could possibly be linked to what occurred in similar professional operator spheres of aerospace and maritime transport. Having done quite a bit of research on accidents myself such similarities are quite compelling sometimes and would point at similar solutions throughout the transport world to avoid repeat accidents. Nevertheless, well done, I enjoyed reading it thoroughly.

Lots of research so is valuable from that standpoint and as a reference book. Poorly written and I often wondered if the author wrote the book a paragraph at a time. Many disconnects and material inserted for no particular reason. My advice to the author is decide what he is trying to accomplish before diving in. Many of the technical issues are addressed poorly, either beating a dead horse or skipping key concepts. Examples are thrown in without discussion of why or what they are meant to support. Not a good read and not a good textbook. Worth the money IF you want to sort through the verbiage and IF you need references.

Answered many questions that I had about the Rail Roads that I had about accidents. Its description and illustrations of the Westinghouse safety brake was better than any others I have seen. It made made it easier to understand how the Canadian tank car accident occurred to a lay person. Many details if you wanted them. But you did not have to delve into the math if you didn't want to. Bought two hardbacks to give away after buying the Kindle version for myself.

Was an easy read. The rail disasters presented provided one with a historical perspective that was valuable in its own right. One also obtained interesting information about how our railroad system operates currently. For example, did you know that mechanical computers were still in use in 2005 to direct switching operations? These mechanical computers were first introduced in the late 1800's. This book also describes how the famous "fail-safe" Westinghouse air-brakes work, which to my surprise, aren't so fail-safe. This book also gives one actual applications of Newton's laws of motion (sometimes the applications are a bit redundant), and should be of interest to any student, who would want to know how physics is applied to real-world problems.

Book was exactly the title I was looking for, it arrived in excellent condition and at a very good price.

This book analyses in great depth all the factors that contribute to train crashes or alternatively what improvements have been implemented to achieve greater safety on the rails It wasn't what I expected as there wasn't a great deal of "in depth" analysis of actual crashes i.e. In "RED for Danger", ( a fine book on railway accidents.) specific accidents are described in fine detail as to lead up . the cause and where the blame was attributed, ending with details of improvements resulting from THAT particular accident. This book describes EVERY aspect of rail safety and what might go wrong with some brief examples of rail accidents. Rail Joints, steam pressure, rail wear, couplers, brakes, track circuiting etc ( in fine mathematical equations ) As a Technical Book on rail safety I would give it 5 stars As a book on actual Rail Accidents it gets only 3 stars

I must admit to a bit of bias on this book as the author has mentioned more than one accident investigation on which I worked while at the Transportation Safety Board of Canada. That said, he is thorough in his treatment and his technical explanations are accurate and easily understandable. For the the average layman, understanding the dynamic of a rail accident is not simple but George Bibel gets the job done in fine style. I would not hesitate to recommend this book to professional railroad men as a resource. Given what I have seen in the media lately, perhaps journalists should study it so that they can know what information to look for and what questions to ask before going to press. Highly recommended. Steve Callaghan

Apresentação em forma bem clara e técnica inicialmente detalhando depois para ir mais fundo na causa do acidente.

There are two group who buy a book of this title. There are those interested in operation and history and those who want a deep technical analysis of the construction and maintenance of railroads. This book is clearly for the latter. George Bibel covers all points in respect of the technical issues to do with what can go wrong with railroads and the actions taken by those who legislate and run the railways to improve safety. There are large number of statistics from which reseachers can gain background details, formulas and means of calculation safety margins and whilst those already deeply involved in vehicle build may find the details abreviated those on the margin will indeed find this book useful. The details on crashworthyness of passenger cars, track maintencnce, brakes, and the FRA and NTSB pressure for Positive Train Control is covered at length. In the case of the latter I remain surprised that the technology of Postive Train Seperation (as opposed to Control) is dealt with only in passing but like Mr Bibel this is badly treated by everyone - so it is hardly surprising. If there are any omissions it is the area of signalling, wrong side failures and phantoms. The only crititism I have is the rather foolish omission of the location of most of the accidents used as examples which will irritate some readers who (like me) have to then to search other lists to identify the additional details. I would also advise the author to check carefully before launching into steam locomotive boiler accidents. He has double counted the accident at Powellton, West Virginia of the 27th Dec 1934 reporting it again as 1935, failed to get the details of Tenay, France right and totally ignored the fact that almost all the boiler incidents in North America are crown sheet failures and not boiler pressure explosion. The mechanism of the two failures is wholly different but he has treated the causal reasons as the same. It is for this reason that I have not given it 5 stars. Despite these errors of historical fact (which is not really what the book is about) it is a worthwhile read and I would commend it to those who are interested in train wrecks.

Great read thus far, as I am abouts a thrird way in.