RMweb Gold PaulRhB Posted August 30, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 30, 2011 The engineer didn't wait for full brake release after joining up and lots of power and a sharp curve meant this was the result. http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=373241&nseq=30 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Oh dear.................... Nice shots of trucks! that second one looks like the force totalled it. Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edcayton Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Do they rely solely on gravity to keep the tanker bodies on the bogies (trucks)? Ed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave1905 Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Yep, gravity is a wonderful thing. The side frames sit on the roller bearing cages (the axle ends) by gravity and the car rests on the center plate by gravity. That truck isn't "totalled" its just disassembled. It will take a wheel truck (mechanical repair truck) about 15-20 min to put it back together, maybe another 10-20 min to get all the brake gear rearranged. the hardest part will be straightening out the bent brake rods (note the trucks are still "attached" by the brake rods.) The fun part is they are all flammable gas loads (I think 1075 is LPG). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
baldeagle Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 There was a film on a TV channel a bit back, [may have been 2010, on "Discovery"], about the "Pacific Fruit Express", and they showed the replacement of a wheel set. Train pulls up in the night, in the middle of an enormous space, full of nothing, and two or three bods appear with a truck, a set of wheels, and some large jacks. They split the train, lift up the end of the car, roll old wheels out, roll new wheels in, join up cars, and off they go - that was the first time that I knew that American trains are held together by gravity - amazing stuff! A film worth looking out for, but I never got the title. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alastairq Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 I note the comment regarding 'shelf' couplers ? [i thought shelf couplers were peculiar to us modellers?] what would be the future outcome regarding the engineer? suspension? P45 and close the door behind you? or...to quote our transatlantic colleagues...'shittappens?' Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gridwatcher Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Awesome shot.......! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady_Ava_Hay Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 what would be the future outcome regarding the engineer? suspension? P45 and close the door behind you? or...to quote our transatlantic colleagues...'shittappens?' Just as a guess I would suspect that it will depend whether some form of standing instruction is in the 'book' to wait so many seconds before powering up or whether the brake gauge needs to be watched to see when all the brakes are off. That rule will almost certainly be there if this has happened before but if it hasn't, the engineer will be back at work soon enough. His union will ensure that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshine coast Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 Just like a model railroad really ........ I see that there is a wayward Kadee spring on the track bed as usual Regards Trevor ...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted September 2, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 2, 2011 Just as a guess I would suspect that it will depend whether some form of standing instruction is in the 'book' to wait so many seconds before powering up or whether the brake gauge needs to be watched to see when all the brakes are off. Watching the brake gauge on the loco could well be a waste of time depending on train length etc as it only shows the state of the brake pipe pressure at that end of the train. To find out what's happening at the back you need an 'end of train' monitor which will relay the brake pipe pressure to the loco - an essential on a long train. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian daniels Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 You could also look at your airflow guage to see if the brakepipe is still being charged or is at "rest" so to speak. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Ray Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 I note the comment regarding 'shelf' couplers? Well, as you can see...the shelf couplers worked perfectly - the tank cars, even on their sides, are still coupled (no punctures by errant 'uncoupled' couplers. Images like these I keep, not because I like disaster porn (in fact, to me this accident was an expensive waste - expecially if that flipped over autorack at the end of the train was loaded with new vehicles), but because it is rare to find clear images of the underframes (or lack thereof) of modern rolling stock. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pH Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 All you would ever want to know about the mechanics and physics of 'stringlining' - http://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-reports/rail/2005/r05v0141/r05v0141.pdf. This is the report on an accident on the CN line (ex-BCOL) north from Squamish, BC. A 144-car train with 5 locos on the head end (4 operating) and 2 mid-train slaves stringlined on a river bridge, dumping a car of caustic soda into the river and wiping out most of the fish downstream in the river. The mid-train slaves had been set up wrongly, operating in the opposite direction to the lead engines, and had shut down as a result. That meant the train changed from being a train with distibuted power to a 'conventional' one, to which different rules apply. The engineer did not know this had happened, and started up the fifth lead engine as the train slowed down on the hill. Result - 9 cars off the road, 4 of them (including the caustic soda tanker) in the river. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alastairq Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 The above demonstrates what is, in my experience, a typical result of corporate changes, and a complete lack of recognition of the value of human experience, and human intervention. Profitability comes first, understandably, but there seems to be an acute lack of ability to place a 'value' on experience and knowledge, outside that of so-called corporate experts. The trouble is, for large corporations, experience within the lower orders of a workforce is apparently an embarrassment....or so it appears? I noted comments within the report concerning the loss of local experience due to the corporate change. There seems to be an acceptance of the concept that everybody is replaceable...nobody is indispensable. In reality, this is , IMHO, untrue. and is evidenced in the report above.... I note CN's almost 'desperate' attempts to rectify the situation created by the losses which resulted on takeover.....stable doors and bolts spring to mind? Companies too busy trying to retain hi-flyers...yet seem to totally ignore those who have the skills and experience, but simply either reject, or don't want anything to do with ambition, advancement, career in the accepted sense......... sorry, rant over....just seeing the results of much of the above ethos at my workplace environment.......leading many skilled people to resort to 'soddit, let 'em rot' mode. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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