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Worn Rail Car Wheels Cause Losses

It is not unusual for insureds to own private railroad sidings or turnouts as part of their industrial operations.

By Charles C. Roberts, Jr., Ph.D., P.E. | Updated on August 27, 2005

It is not unusual for insureds to own private railroad sidings or turnouts as part of their industrial operations. Typically, freight cars are shuttled by railroad companies onto insureds’ sidings for loading and hauling of products. Occasionally, substantial property losses occur from derailments on insureds’ tracks during routine movement of rail cars. Such a loss site, at which a derailment cost hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage to the siding, roadbed, switch gear, and switch, is shown in Figure 1.

The railroad company also made a claim for repair of the locomotive and rolling stock. This implied that the insured’s track had caused the derailment, a common assertion by the railroads. However, inspection of the rail car wheels, which are property of the railroad, told a different story.

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