[Pecosbill]

A buddy sent me pics that were from a story he had seen about a train derailment in Michigan back in 1967 where several train cars containing brand new Tempests, Lemans’s and GTO’s were severely damaged. I wonder what ever became of them? Back then it was just a carload of new cars. Today, well, ..............

[OCMDGTO]

Now that's a tragedy! Pretty sure I've seen those pics somewhere

[Stuart]

They surely would have been scrapped.

[Firedup6975]

Very sad

[geeteeohguy]

One of the guys posted a bunch of photos of that about 8 years ago or so. Might have been Steve Barcak, Keith Seymore, or 60sstuff. There are a multiple photos/angles.

[OG68]

Several years ago there was a RoRo (Roll on Roll Off) ship bringing Mazdas over that capsized off Alaska. They were able to right the ship and bring it into port. As can be expected there was significant damage to the vehicles but quite a few where undamaged. Rather than face any future liability problems Mazda (or their insurer) scrapped the entire shipment. No parts or vehicles were sold.

[Lightfoot]

Not just Lemans/Tempests, but they look to be all 2-door models, which is a crying shame.

I remember the post from 7-8 years ago. No harm in bringing it back up as many here may have missed it.

I witnessed firsthand a big derailment (aftermath) in Watervliet Mich, where I grew up. A westbound trainload of 1976 Buick Electras. I think about 10 or 11 car carriers left the track. A couple three ended up on their side. I took a 12 exposure roll of photos with my 110 camera, which got lost in the shuffle of moving years later. Wish I still had them. Also wish I woud have taken a couple more rolls of pictures during the clean-up. At 17, I wasn't fully aware of the historical value they would have.

[Lightfoot]

Found the PDF file of the 1976 newspaper story.

http://23.25.1.108/Coloma/GSI_Multi_...1976-06-17.pdf

[locomotivebreath]

I’ve heard but can’t confirm that anytime a loaded auto rack is in any sort of derailment or collision , the automobiles inside have to be considered wrecked and are written off . Seems a stretch though if ya just say derailed one wheel in a low speed switching mishap or something minor like that . Putting one wheel on the ground wouldn’t do much more than bounce the suspension on the cars a bit .

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by OG68

Several years ago there was a RoRo (Roll on Roll Off) ship bringing Mazdas over that capsized off Alaska. They were able to right the ship and bring it into port. As can be expected there was significant damage to the vehicles but quite a few where undamaged. Rather than face any future liability problems Mazda (or their insurer) scrapped the entire shipment. No parts or vehicles were sold.

That's nearly always the case for cars that are heavily damaged in transit, their loss will be covered by insurance anyway.

Minor scrapes and scratches are a different story. My brother in law worked in the body shop at a car dealership, and a good part of his job was making repairs to new cars coming in off the transport truck. This was many years ago, but I assume dealerships still have to do it.

[428goat]

Train derailed near where I worked and I left the shop with a couple of guys to take a look a couple of days later. There was a boxcar of TVs split open and there was a Cat driving over the new TVs. Some other guys were throwing them out of the boxcar to get run over by the Cat.

[JimFB400HO]

I remember that because, at the time, my dad was waiting for a Catalina company car to be delivered. He was told it would be arriving later than expected. Hearing that story on news, we wondered at the time if his car was delayed because it was on that train or something else.

[sdbob]

Another was the Union Pacific carrying 05 GTO a. Hit a coal train. At least 35 GTOs scrapped.

[gtokid1968]

Because of lawsuits in the past anytime a railcar comes off the track and has any kind of damage the load scraped.
I used to put trains back on the track around Chicago in the 80's and 90's
I have seen cars ran over with a D9 Cat and burred
and ran over and loaded onto flatcars and sent to a scrape yard.
Not sure when they got sued and started destroying them, but they were doing for years before I got there.

[Jeff Hamlin]

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[Jeff Hamlin]

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[66sprint6]

Don't forget this one. There was a great article with good clear pictures in Popular Mechanics, I believe about a year later.

https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/15/w...north-sea.html

[mgarblik]

Hate to see all that carnage of now classic cars. Back then, it was a simple tax write off. Looked like several of the big cars had eight lug wheels! When I worked at the Pontiac dealership, one of my duties was checking the cars in off the trucks. It was actually an important job because once I signed-off, any scrapes, paint damage, dents, dings, cracked glass, broken taillights were the dealer's responsibility and Pontiac and the carrier were off the hook. This was 1979-1981. But at the time, the rules were, ANY roof damage requiring more than very light fill and paint, the cars were scrapped. Other body damage less than $600.00 could be repaired at the dealership body shop WITHOUT disclosure to the new car buyer. (part of dealer inspection and prep) Damage in excess of $600.00 had to be disclosed to the new car buyer and they had the choice to accept the car, (if special order), or decline. Stock cars were sold at a discount. That's the way it was done at that time. Funniest incident I remember was a new Sunbird on the top of the carrier, manual transmission. truck driver pops it out of gear and starts the engine and it instantly flies off the top of the carrier, down the ramp, off the truck and across the street, smashing into a concrete retaining wall at the grocery store on the opposite corner. The drivers eyes were as big as saucers! Car was totaled before ever making it into the dealer. Quick look revealed someone had stolen the master cylinder while he was at a rest stop was our guess. Brake fluid all over under the hood, lines there, no MC. Pontiac Zone had us chop the VIN out of the windshield and just take it to the local scrap yard. Short life for that one.

[grandam1979]

How about this,https://www.thedrive.com/news/15683/...ile-in-transit

[Simple Man]

59 Fords....