Rail buckle detection and risk prediction

A forward-facing camera (22,Fig.3) mounted on a locomotive (24,Fig.3) traveling on the railroad track captures images 58 of a buckled rail and its dimensions. Upon receipt of the images indicating a rail buckling event, an event recorder (30,Fig.3) collects additional data associated with the buckled rail including the train's speed, engine speed or throttle position and, optionally, its location. An alarm signal (38,Fig.4) is transmitted to a display interface of a remote unit (42) if the buckled rail dimensions meet a threshold. The images (82,Fig.8) may further include the ballast (16,Fig.1) and its condition and a thermal camera (72,Fig.7), mounted underneath the locomotive, may measure rail temperature. Thus a risk for rail buckling (74,Fig.6) may be determined (e.g. when the rail temperature exceeds a threshold and the ballast condition is poor) and transmitted for display on a remote unit (42,Fig.6) associated with a railroad company.