http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1368282/Sabotage-blame-miniature-train-derailment-killed-year-old-boy.html

Terrible tragedy in South Carolina. Is this the first death on record from a model railroad accident?

With only seeing the photos of the track in that article, my assumption would be that the S-curve in the track caused the derailment. I hope this doesn't affect the future operation of other ride-on miniature railroads.

Yes I agree, I think that sabotage was involved.

I read about that earlier. From the photos the bridge looks like it has a hump in it. The railroad had operated for over 50 years without an issue....but it also says the yearly inspection was not done right. Very sad indeed.

I think I know what you mean, Rob. I'd hate to hear of train ride closures. But people are precious and fragile. Besides the one fatality, there were other horrible, life-destroying injuries. I think it's important to find out precisely what happenened here, not to burn someone who erred, but to help reduce the likelihood of similar catastrophies in the future.

As to the cause, I think it should be pointed out that even if the inspector had run the train, it might not have brought to light the problem. The engineer test ran the train prior to the fatal crash, and apparently found nothing seriously wrong. I don't know whether test runs simulate loaded condtions with dead weight added to the cars, but even so, there is a difference between unmoving dead weight, and the dynamic loading of real people.

Also, they mentioned that the train had been running for fifty eight years. I'm afraid they may find a predictable fatigue failure is at fault.

The equipment in question has been recently thoroughly gone through both mechanically and structurally. The person that was the engineer has a long standing in the park train community of being extremly careful. As none of us (that I'm aware of anyway) were there or have first hand knowledge of the operation I suggest that we put a hold on all speculation as to the cause and effect of this tragic incident, until such time that more confirmed facts are released.

ABC News has footage of the crash....train was going way to fast....and it is being reported the engineer is admitting to going way to fast. Very sad all around because I think this may start the end of park train rides. The little boy is the son of a Gaffney SC pastor so I hope that while he may bring legal action it will not be over the top and cause all the trains to shut down. Very sad is all you can say......sad for all involved.

I've read the police report, and even to a layperson it's fairly obvious that he was in shock at the time, plus he has since been diagonosed to be suffering from a concussion. I haven't seen the video, so I won't comment on it as others have tried to find it and it seems that it is no longer available. I think the best thing we can do is stop speculating and jumping to conclusions at this time.

WARNING: The video is unsettling. Steve, feel free to remove it if it's too much.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/video/child-films-fatal-train-ride-accident-13194807

This just breaks my heart. And so did the tragedy in Japan. And New Zealand. And...

(2011 isn't shaping up to be a stellar year.)