RAILROAD ACCIDENT REPORT: AUTO-TRAIN CORPORATION TRAIN DERAILMENT ON THE SEABOARD COAST LINE RAILROAD NEAR JARRATT, VIRGINIA, MAY 5, 1976

About 6:57 a.m., on May 5, 1976, 25 automobile carriers derailed from Auto-Train Corporation's northbound train No. 4 near Jarratt, Virginia. No one was injured. The train was traveling about 72 mph on the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (SCL). The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was an undetected, fractured, loose, and out-of-gauge wheel which struck the track structure. Dragging and incompletely released brakes caused the wheel to overheat at its tread; the overheating caused design stress patterns on the wheel to change and the wheel to fracture. The brakes did not fully release because of the train's length and because of the type of brake equipment used.

• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  Bureau of Accident Investigation, 800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20594
• Publication Date: 1976-10-21

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures;
• Pagination: 26 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Auto on train; Automobile rack cars; Brake components; Braking performance; Crash investigation; Derailments; Failure; Machine valves; Metallography; Metallurgy; Passenger trains; Thermal stresses; Wheels
• Uncontrolled Terms: Observations
• Old TRIS Terms: Auto-train corporation; Brake valves; Tread braking; Wheel failure; Wheel metallurgy; Wheel thermal stresses
• Subject Areas: Passenger Transportation; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00147591
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Transportation Safety Board
• Report/Paper Numbers: NTSB-RAR-76-11
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Feb 16 1977 12:00AM