RailNews

Strasburg 475 Damaged in Collision With Excavator

A screenshot from the Virtual Railfan webcam shows the moments before Strasburg’s Norfolk & Western 4-8-0 475 collided with an excavator. 

Strasburg 475 Damaged in Collision With Excavator

By Railfan & Railroad Staff

STRASBURG, Pa. — The front end of former Norfolk & Western 4-8-0 475 was damaged during a collision with an excavator on the Strasburg Rail Road on Wednesday. No one was injured in the incident. 

According to multiple videos posted online of the incident — including a Virtual Railfan livestream — the locomotive was running around its train at Paradise, Pa., when it went through a misaligned switch and right into an maintenance of way excavator. The bucket of the excavator punched a hole through the locomotive’s smokebox. 

When Strasburg crews run around the excursion train, they usually wave to passengers on the other track and, according to the video, that may have prevented them from seeing the misaligned switch and stopping in time. 

The train was brought back to Strasburg with another locomotive and late in the day, the railroad dispatched one of its diesel switchers to bring the damaged 475 back to the shop. A blue tarp was covering the front end of the locomotive. 

This story will be updated when there is additional information to report. 

This article was posted on: November 2, 2022