Prophetic Sculptor

[Recusant]

No doubt it's been around Facebook a couple of times already, but I'll post a thread here anyway. A figurative and playful sculpture near Rotterdam called "Saved by the Whale's Tail" has become a piece of inadvertent performance art.

"Saved By The Whale: Dutch Train Runs Off Elevated Tracks, Is Caught By Statue's Tail" | NPR

A massive sculpture of a whale's tail keeps a metro train aloft Monday after it shot through a stop block at De Akkers station in Spijkenisse, Netherlands. No injuries were reported.
Image Credit: Robin Utrecht/ANP/AFP

A Dutch train burst past the end of its elevated tracks Monday in the Netherlands.

But instead of crashing to the ground 30 feet below, the metro train was caught — held aloft by an artist's massive sculpture of a whale's tail. Despite some damage, no injuries or deaths were reported.

The sculpture at the end of the tracks was given a prescient name: "Saved by the Whale's Tail," according to France 24. It was built in 2002, installed at the De Akkers station in Spijkenisse, a city just outside Rotterdam.

[Continues . . .]

Popular Mechanics takes a look at the engineering aspects of the incident. Spoiler: the sculpture is acting as part of a cantilever system.

[Dark Lightning]

I saw that elsewhere (not on FB) and am quite a bit surprised that some structure like that is taking the weight. It's going to be an interesting recovery, and TBH, I'm more than a little bit surprised that there wasn't something before that tail to stop the train. 

[Tank]

Never seen this before!

[Bad Penny II]

Never seen this before!

So it isn't fake?

[Tank]

Never seen this before!

So it isn't fake?

I don't think so. But I wouldn't believe it on the 1st April

[Tom62]

It is real news. The sculpture is located at the metro station "De Akkers" in Spijkenisse (near Rotterdam) It was created by  Maarten Struijs.

[Icarus]

I agree with DL.  That the train is suspended largely by the whale tail is surprising. The load appears to be a little bit more in compression than in bending.  The angle of the tail,....a wild assed guess,  is something on the order of 30 degrees.  That gives us some hope that the thing will not collapse before the rescue. Of course all that depends on the strength of  material of the whale tail.

Glad I was not on that train!!!

[Recusant]

From the Popular Mechanics article:

While the whale tail is certainly contributing some vertical support, it's actually the second train car, connected to the precariously dangling front carriage, that's doing the heavy lifting. . . .

[Bad Penny II]

From the Popular Mechanics article:

While the whale tail is certainly contributing some vertical support, it's actually the second train car, connected to the precariously dangling front carriage, that's doing the heavy lifting. . . .

If it wasn't the carriage probably wouldn't be at that angle.
From that pic it doesn't really look like the carriage is on the tail.

[Tank]

In latest news there are moves to get this made permanent if only in look rather than actuality.