Gaviota Coast Wind Safety Project

High Wind Gusts / Gaviota Steel Car Cover Incident

Union Pacific Diesel Locomotive at the Gaviota Rail Siding

This incident occurred on July 1, 2006, when a freight train that was crossing the Gaviota Trestle experienced severe gusty down canyon wind gusts that exceeded 60 mph against the side of the train.

This incident involved four steel car container tops, weighing over 1000 pounds each. Sometime  between 01:00 AM and 05:00 AM, they were blown off the Gaviota Trestle, ending up on both the beach and adjacent to the train trestle.

Santa Barbara County Fire Station 18 personnel worked closely with UPRR and the California State Parks at Gaviota State Beach to remove the hazards, which in turn enabled the park to reopen to the public on a holiday weekend. Post Gaviota incident discussions with UPRR identified the need for UPRR  to have access to weather stations. High winds through the Gaviota Coastal area canyons can be mitigated by stopping trains, slowing the speed limit on the rail, minimizing the types of commodities transported or prohibiting empty cars from traveling along the coast during high winds.

 

Gondola Car Cover (Can) Beach Removal (SBCOFD, UPRR & CA STATE PARKS)

Four steel gondola car covers were blown off onto the Gaviota State Beach. Two on the beach and two adjacent to the Gaviota Train Trestle.

 

Santa Barbara County Firefighters secured heavy steel tow chains to the top of the train cover, which facilitated a lightweight crane (with rubber tires) to gain access to the covers without compromising the state parks prohibition for motorized vehicles on the beach.

 

The covers were easily removed using UPRR's Crane once secured with the chains.

 

The removed railcar covers were temporarily stored at the Gaviota State Beach parking lot.

Gondola Car Can Hillside / Trestle Removal (SBCOFD, UPRR & CA STATE PARKS)

 

Truck company personnel from Santa Barbara County Fire Station 11 secured rescue ropes to one of the cans that had the potential for falling down into the state park area.

 

A heavy duty wrecker was called in for removing one of the cans. This type of wrecker has two heavy duty tow cables. One was used to pull / drag the can down the hillside and the other was connected to the top of the railway, through a pulley that was connected to a UPRR railcar hoist.

 

The top tow cable was let out as the bottom cable was reeled in. This provided the maximum amount of safety for firefighters as well as minimizing damage to the native chaparral and vegetation.

  

What was interesting was that the railcar covers were round and smooth, so as the can was pulled down the hillside, the vegetation simply popped back up, showing minimal signs of damage.

  

All four steel railcar covers were removed from state park property that same day, the park was re-opened on a July 4th weekend and lessons were learned that will prevent this type of accident from occurring again. This was reported to be the first time this had happened to a UPRR railcar.

Home Page ● Project Description ● Who's Involved ● Highway Radio Advisory System ● Dynamic Message Signs ● California DOT Motorist Warning System Messages ● Caltrans "Live" Highway Webcams ● Surf the 101 ● OTS Grant Information ● Gaviota Coast Wind Related Incidents ● Project Related Web Links ● Gaviota Coast Photo Gallery ● NOAA Minimum Weather Station Requirements ● Santa Barbara City FD Weather Website ● Weather Station Examples ● Wind Speed Descriptions ● Existing Highway Webcam Locations  ● Existing Highway Warning Sign Locations  ● Existing Weather Station Locations  ● Proposed Highway Webcam Locations  ● Proposed Highway Warning Sign Locations  ● Proposed Weather Station Locations  ● Contact Us

Website Updated August 3, 2006