Car Weight and Wheelsets

[Anonymous]

From last Thursday's Washington Post:

"Metro officials said yesterday that four train derailments in the past 18 months *** involved new 5000 series rail cars *** and involved trains with no passengers aboard *** because they are lighter than other types and their wheels fit slightly differently on the rails, ***. Goodine [Metro's assistant general manager for safety] said the probability of a derailment of this type on a main line was unlikely, largely because passengers would add weight to the cars."

Is it art that imitates life, or vice versa?

[retsignalmtr]

those cars should be weighted so that they should stay on the rails whether or not they are carrying passengers. if you figure the average weight of 200lbs per passenger and a capacity of say 50 per car that is only 10,000 lbs of added weight. having worked for a transit system i have seen derailments of fully loaded and empty cars on straight and level track. if those cars are derailing empty they should be taken out of service until a permanent fix is found.