A Disaster Recovery Operation

Date: 2004-11-09
Owner: Gallery Administrator
Size: 24 items
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This is the general scene of the accident. The two locos have plowed through the earth for more than one hundred meters until they were stopped dead in their tracks by a tree, or, maybe I should say stopped dead in no tracks. The two locos and the wagon

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You can see the bogies of the freight wagons as they lie in the trench dug up by the twin WDG-2 locos.

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This is the second of the twin WDG-2 locos bearing No. 14699 lying
helplessly inside the trench just next to the tree, which was up-rooted by the lead loco. The zig-zag shape of the whole freight train, as it came to halt, can be clearly seen.

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This shows the lead loco bearing No. 14788 of Gooty shed badly damaged after hitting the tree. The tree's stump is lying below this loco. If it were not for this tree, the whole freight train would have proceeded for another 200 or so meters where there

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The poor dead tree lying next to the lead loco and the second loco.

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The recovery effort. The crane has been placed on the main line as it lifts one of the crippled wagons from the trench and places it on the other side of the main line. There was a row of trees on the other side of the main line and the crane operator v

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This shows the green coloured freight wagon placed between the row of trees and the crane being readied for further recovery efforts. The crane has a capacity of 140 tonnes if the load is within the tracks. When it takes a swing outside, the lifting cap

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The recovery of the next wagon shell. The green coloured wagon shell recovered earlier can be seen on the right hand side of the crane partially hidden by the red coloured wagon forming part of the accident relief rake.

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The scene after all the wagons have been recovered and only the two WDG-2 locos were left for retrieval. The canal-like trench dug by the locos can be clearly seen in this picture. The axles of the freight wagons entangled in the earth are also seen.

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The scene after recovery of all the wagons but before the recovery of the two locos. Gangmen have filled up the trench dug up by the twin WDG-2 locos and a temporary track has been laid right up to the trailing loco to enable the crane to reach the locos.

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The temporary railway track laid up to the trailing loco is clearly visible here. The crane has been brought up on this track with the help of a WDM-2 for retrieving the WDG-2 loco and putting it back on rails. The loco is being readied for lifting on o

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This shows the general scene when the loco has been lifted at one end to make the monster hang in mid-air at about thirty to forty degrees with respect to the ground. In the foreground, you can see the main line, which was not affected by this derailment

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The view of the bottom side of the loco after it has been lifted up. We can clearly see the diesel fuel tank, which got damaged and almost 4000 liters of diesel ran out. The workers are trying to fill up the trench below the loco. This manual effort pro

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The earth-mover equipment was brought in, which did a neat and fast job of filling up the trench below the loco. In this picture, you can see this earth-moving equipment in action while the loco has been kept suspended at about forty-five degrees. The r

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No sooner had the earth-moving equipment filled up the trench and leveled the earth below the loco than the track construction group moved in quickly -- men carrying wooden sleepers, some dragging the new rail, yet others nailing the rail holders on to th