to blow semis over, so I'm not surprised a train of double-stacked freight cars was toppled.

Last edited Sat Dec 20, 2025, 05:46 PM - Edit history (1)

Corrected...
I never had heard of that!
It's something I wouldn't have thought of.

Do the semis have to be carrying lighter loads for that to happen?

Trucks with high volume trailers with 'light' loads are susceptible to being blown over by the wind. I have had some pretty scary events on the interstate up in that area. When it gets bad up on the continental divide many trucks get off the interstate and use US30 that follows the rail route, a little less windy. With the way those boxes were stacked on the train, not surprised in that kind of wind.

I can attest that I have personally had a few cold sweat moments in the area of this wreck. One time I had a load of potato chips and the wind was so strong it was lifting the front end of the trailed up so intensely that it was almost picking the drive axles up with it! Another time I almost got blown over, it was scary trying to find a place where I could get out of the wind, an impossible task out there... had I known how bad it was going to be, I would have shut down for the day, both times.

Hell, even over here in northern New England last night it was rally windy, warnings are still in effect through tomorrow, I awoke to not only no internet service available, I didn't even have cell service on my phone! It was out for around 18 hours, just came back a little while ago. The wind is a powerful thing.

My underline

"One time I had a load of potato chips, and the wind was so strong"

I retired from the big rigs back in 1992 after about a million and a half miles, then there were the other vehicles, limos, repos and some heavy equipment in years following the road warrior days. Back before tattletales, satellites, 53 footers and automatic transmissions. It was an experience for sure.

There are many tales to tell and I am hoping to assemble a collection of short stories about those days and see if anyone will publish them.

Link to tweet

That's some desolate terrain. They should plant some trees or something!

If they did, there would be a forest there. That's up along the Continental Divide and it's one of the windiest places in the contiguous 48. Even the grass is so stiff it could pierce a tennis shoe sole.

One of the reasons I hated I-80 across Wyoming, lots of big hills and wind.

Clearly doesn't come across in texts. I know not much grows there...was just being silly.

Maybe it's a good location for Trump's library! All his coloring books might blow away!

Might have been silly but not entirely sure.

A friend lived in one or the other and he said there was always a risk for tractor trailers to land on their sides during high winds. The bigger the sail the more force is generated.

The wind was so strong, I barely made 6 miles out of Ft. Collins before I gave up.

where for many people, it's dangerous to go outside and a lot of outdoor work is suspended, although I don't recall what authority makes those declarations.

I worked many field service jobs there at refineries and trona plants there, and all high work is suspended on wind days. I remember not being able to keep my hard hat on at ground level in Casper.....

Wyoming is the only state I recall traveling to that has railroad-style swing gates for shutting down interstates during high-wind storms.

so this was pretty stupid to run them in high winds empty. There's not enough weight on the cars to resist incredibly high winds.

I hope the people inside of the trucks are ok.

Caught on camera: Watch as a semi flips over from strong winds along I-25 in Wyoming.

Link to tweet

Last edited Sat Dec 20, 2025, 08:01 PM - Edit history (1)

by winds strong enough to make the train look like a child's toy.

Rocknation

Apr 2024: Train Conductor Finds Himself Caught In Tornado's Path

Here are drone pictures of the scene. The cars were easily derailed. I believe 31 of them went over.

News photos: BNSF train derailed by tornado in Nebraska
By Trains Staff | April 26, 2024 | Last updated on April 27, 2024


BNSF locomotives show the effects of a storm that saw some of the train’s freight cars derailed by a tornado. Sam Brodersen

WAVERLY, Neb. — A BNSF train was derailed this afternoon when it was struck by a tornado between Waverly and Lincoln, Neb.. The tornado was one of a series in an outbreak across the Midwest today (Friday, April 26).

KSBN-TV reports the incident occurred about 3:25 p.m., according to a BNSF representative. There were no injuries to the crew and no hazardous materials were released.

{snip}


The overturned cars of the train struck by the tornado. Sam Brodersen

{snip}