It's just a leaf from the tree in the left foreground blocking the view. It's two parallel tracks. Look about the same level of ballasting, so one's probbaly not a siding.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Maybe I am not seeing the picture correctly, but that track doesn't seem to be main line. It appears to end right at the left edge of the photo
Resin CasterThis picture made the rounds about 10 years ago or so. The explanation then was it was a distributed power unit that did the damage. Appearantly the crew stopped the train and left it idling for the weekend or something like that. The DP engine did not recieve the proper signal to go into idle and sat there with power to the trucks.
When searching for more info, I found this video. Looks like the EMD really does load up a lot faster than a GE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSmtV8hrlAY
This picture made the rounds about 10 years ago or so. The explanation then was it was a distributed power unit that did the damage. Appearantly the crew stopped the train and left it idling for the weekend or something like that. The DP engine did not recieve the proper signal to go into idle and sat there with power to the trucks.
I got sent out on a report of a runaway motor on a subway train at 205st terminal on the D train during the morning rush hour. The motor was able to overcome the pressure of the brake shoes. When I got there the station was full of smoke from the melting rail and the burning tie. The motor had been running away for quite a while before the power was removed. The rails were dished out severly like in the photo. The funny part was that a track gang had just installed CWR (continuous welded rail) at that location a couple of hours before the incident. Calling on the phone to have power removed takes quite some time. Operating the emergency alarm box removes the power instantly but unless you call the power operator by phone (if it works) the power will be restored in a minute or less. Subway train motors are series wound motors, which will keep going faster and faster without a load until the power is shut off.
ndbprrApparently it was quite common on milwaukee road electric engines in tunnels as there was no reference to movement. There was an article about it in trains many years ago
NYCT has had issues with "run away motors". A failure in the controller and you cannot stop the motor. Electric trains do not have prime movers that can be disabled. Usually you are not standing still when this happens on the subway. Leaast not until you run into the bumper at the endo of the line.
Fortunately they can call it in, and have the power shut off long before they get to a bumper, or worse yet to the end of the tracks.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
NP2626You might be jumping to conclusions! I certainly would want to hear what the engine crew had to say, before coming to the beginnings of any kind of conclusions!
And if the crew was at fault the final word would be--You're fired! And that would include the conductor.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
crhostler61 I've seen some serious examples of rail damage from wheel slip before...but this is crazy. Total WS control failure on a loco in a stalled train...possibly. Mark H
I've seen some serious examples of rail damage from wheel slip before...but this is crazy. Total WS control failure on a loco in a stalled train...possibly.
Mark H
It is not a wheelslip problem. It took quite some friction to grind those rails, wheelslip would have just polished them. The locomotives computer probably thought everything was ok because the axles most likely turning at normal speeds.
If the WS system did malfunction, the traction motors probably would have destroyed themselves.
I think a plausible explanation is that it was a distributed power unit in the middle of the train that malfunctioned. I am not sure exactly how the locomotives communicate, but it could be possible that it never recieved the signal to stop, and it kept trying to move. Obviously this was not wheelslip, as there was enough friction to grind the rails.
Maybe the lead unit had a problem that caused it to lose power bringing the train to a stop. The crew might have not known the DPUs were still running, or it took them awhile to get back to the DPUs to shut them off.
That's not a flat spot -- that's a meltdown. Hello 3 Mile Island, we have a problem...
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
selectorAnyone have a plausible explanation for this?
How about a radio controlled pusher or mid-train unit out of sight from the train crew that got started somehow????
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
That is just incredible! No matter what the reason that caused it.
Looks like an Athearn Hustler got stuck here!
-Bob
Life is what happens while you are making other plans!
I've seen that pic, or one like it before. I think the cause was attributed to a remote control or distributed power unit that malfunctioned and the unit that ground the rails away would not shut down when the rest of the train stopped.
Per Selector:
"I would be very unimpressed with the engineer who contributed to this damage of company property, both wheels and rails. Unless he had fallen unconcious or suffered a heart attack, or the engine's control got away from him such that he couldn't even shut down the prime mover, I don't see how this could have taken place to such an extent".
You might be jumping to conclusions! I certainly would want to hear what the engine crew had to say, before coming to the beginnings of any kind of conclusions!
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
I would be very unimpressed with the engineer who contributed to this damage of company property, both wheels and rails. Unless he had fallen unconcious or suffered a heart attack, or the engine's control got away from him such that he couldn't even shut down the prime mover, I don't see how this could have taken place to such an extent.
Anyone have a plausible explanation for this?
BroadwayLion
The metal shavings around the spots shows that the locomotive was grinding the rails down. The rails are also deformed which indicates that there was a massive amount of friction. I would suspect this took some time to do. Was there another spot like this where the other truck was?
I would really like to see the wheels on the locomotive after this.
Modeling in HO...Reading and Conrail together in an alternate history.
Speed bumps (or dips?)!!
Just a wee bit of wheelslip there.