EXCELLENT POINT. An ounce of prevention is worth tons of cure...

The thing that 'got' me about large sections of that video was the number of people in safety vests meandering around, in and out of frame, often with perplexed or befuddled expressions. Professional moves and lifts have everyone accounted for, clear of any even remotely dangerous exposure until actually needed to do something required. Even a museum moving with its own equipment on its own property ought to consider having logistics for their personnel as well.

My bad. I was was carried away by explaining how a steam engine cab can whack something it would clear on tangent track.

Incidentally, if the bent handrail is loose or has less than 2" clearance all around, it's out of compliance and must be repaired before the car can be used.

Now as to the cast of 1000's in hi-vis vests. They're all accidents waiting to happen. The actual operating crew can't possibly keep track of all those buffs. Could be they were watching for one of the buffs in the wrong place and weren't paying attetion to 2101 not clearing the coach.

I would limit people other than those actually working the move to, say, 45 feet of any moving equipment. Maybe more if some of them appear unusually frisky.

Phil Mulligan

While the incident happened with AFT 1 being pulled back from its resting place - remember the ConRail Butthead came by the incident location without incident to couple up to AFT 1.

Obviously AFT 1 was wider than the ConRail butthead.

I think the foamers think those things work like bullet-proof vests and will magically protect them from harm... no further thought needed.

It's not that the switcher was narrower; it's that the long rigid wheelbase and longer rigid chassis of the locomotive swung over further. Something easy to predict... with 20/20 hindsignt.

I would expect the switcher to have a bit more 'swing' at that location compared to its clearance on 'level tangent track' -- but evidently not enough to foul, either way, and perhaps more significantly not enough to tip the crew off to what was going to be happening between the tender and locomotive at the drawbar... not something, in my opinion, the switcher crew could have clearly seen from their cab.

I still recall switching with that 0-6-0 we used to run at IRM years ago... I'd line the switch for the diverging route, stand on the head ties to catch the cab ladder, climb all the way to the deck and notice we were still going straight. I had time enough to question myself, "Shoot, did I forget to line the switch?" when the scenery out the front cab windows would suddenly slide sideways as the engine finally responded to the curve. That's the same effect we're talking about here.

Fellas, They're called goats not just because they butt the cuts of cars like a billy goat, but because they can go around corners. The thing is, engineers can't see around corners, especially since their seat is right even with the truck centers, which puts their window about over the ends of the ties. In this case, the fireman's side had the movement in sight, plus the engineer had that humongous T-1 tender blocking his view of the clearance in question --- THAT'S WHY WE USE BRAKEMEN.

I would place the blame solely on the B&O Museum. Those extra folks in vests aren't buffs and foamers who came on off the street; they're almost certainly museum members and volunteers. And that's fine, but someone should have spoken up to keep them well back from what's happening. Could you imagine a crowd lingering around like this at, say, IRM? Nope, me neither.