Teen wins $10K for school project investigating train derailments—here’s what he found

A teen has won $10,000 for his successful science project on train derailment. This investigation reveals flaws in infrastructure that could lead to catastrophic accidents.

Gary Allen Montelongo, a middle school student, transformed a toy train set into a valuable experiment.

He created miniature railroad tracks and coded programs. He operated a model train to identify weaknesses in train infrastructure that could lead to derailments.

Montelongo first won his regional science fair, which allowed him to compete in the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge against 29 other students.

He showcased his research and tackled various challenges like coding, battery construction, disease detection, genome editing, and environmental science there.

His hard work paid off when he received the Broadcom Coding with Commitment Award, recognizing him as one of the five top winners at the competition’s awards ceremony.

Maya Ajmera, president and CEO of the Society for Science, commended Gary for his creative research approach.

“He integrated mechanical engineering and learned how to use machines and specialized tools, as well as being a coder,” she told Business Insider, stressing that this combination of skills was crucial to his remarkable success in the competition.

Gary’s science project on train derailment is highly relevant across the country.

The Federal Railroad Administration revealed that in 2023, there were 1,301 train derailments in the United States.

Although minor incidents occur at low speeds, some can cause serious property damage and spill hazardous materials.

One such incident is the Ohio train derailment.

In February 2023, while Montelongo was interning in railway safety, a freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio.

The accident resulted in a major chemical spill, which led to the evacuation of the entire town.

Gary expressed his shock over the train derailment. Still, his University of Texas Rio Grande Valley classmates quickly began discussing the incident and its potential causes, particularly regarding the railroad’s suspension system.

After his internship ended, he continued to think about the derailment, which motivated him to visit the train tracks near his home.

While there, he carefully examined the large springs in the trains’ suspension systems.

Gary noticed some springs were new while others were old and rusty, showing signs of wear with less space between the coils.

This observation led him to consider how these variations in springs might impact the performance of trains and tracks, fueling his curiosity for further research.

“It kind of just hooked me into it,” he said.

He knew he needed an accelerometer to measure vibrations to conduct his research.

Having started coding at 8, he took the initiative to create and program his own accelerometer.

He then built three sets of model railroad tracks from foam, using three types of springs: new, midlife, and old.

This setup allowed him to mimic the various suspension systems he had observed near his home, setting the stage for his experiment.

Gary tested a model train on various tracks, measuring how the springs vibrated and bounced.

He also added weights to the train to assess the impact of an uneven load on the tracks.

He pointed out that “all the springs that were completely worn out were really bouncy and shaky.” He explained that these worn springs led to many derailments, particularly uneven weight distribution.

Now in his first year of high school, Gary is balancing his studies with playing football and hopes to pursue a career as a mechanical engineer.

“I really enjoyed designing things and coding things,” he said. “What I really want to do is design the spaceships that go up to space.”

Gary hopes to work at NASA or SpaceX one day and enjoys building rocket ships in a mobile game during his free time.

Meanwhile, an investigation into the Ohio derailment revealed that the accident was caused by a faulty wheel bearing, a critical component of the suspension system.

Here is Gary Montelongo discussing his successful science project on train derailment: