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BNSF rearranges some more farmland in Northwest Iowa

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BNSF rearranges some more farmland in Northwest Iowa
Posted by Murphy Siding on Friday, August 2, 2019 4:27 PM

https://www.ksfy.com/content/news/Train-derailment-causes-issues-in-Northwest-Iowa-513477541.html

      BNSF derailed a train just down the line a bit from the derailment that dumped oil into the Rock River last year near Doon Iowa. This one does not appear to be flood related. I heard said on the radio that this is the 3rd derailment in Sioux County since June, 2018.

    Recently, the BNSF derailed a bunch of cars in a grain train a few miles east of Sioux Falls, S.D., about 35 miles from the above mentioned derailment. 

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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Posted by Paul_D_North_Jr on Sunday, August 4, 2019 8:48 AM

No obvious reason.  Interesting that at the end of the Sheriff Dept.'s drone video, there's a centerbeam flat and several tank cars tipped over towards the inside of the curve . . . though that might have resulted from the greatly increased drag as the cars behind (?) them derailed.  But their trucks are right there, so it might have been just a tip-over, not s string-lining. 

- PDN. 

"This Fascinating Railroad Business" (title of 1943 book by Robert Selph Henry of the AAR)
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Posted by Euclid on Sunday, August 4, 2019 9:22 AM

Paul,

I noticed those head end cars tipped over to the inside of the curve too.  I wonder if it was a case of stringlining due to continuing to pull on the train after the derailment made an emergency application of brakes.  The purpose of that pulling would be to stretch the cars ahead of the derailment to reduce the pileup effect.  If that is what happened, it looks like they pulled hard enough to stringline the cars still on the rails ahead of the derailment. 

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Posted by traisessive1 on Sunday, August 4, 2019 10:47 AM

You can't do that. As soon as the air dumps on the engine, the power cuts and and you drop to idle. 

10000 feet and no dynamics? Today is going to be a good day ... 

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Posted by Paul_D_North_Jr on Sunday, August 4, 2019 10:58 AM

There's so little slack between the cars that at any speed above a crawl, after the derailment starts the train would be stretched tight and the stringlining starting to happen before the crew could react in that way.

- PDN. 

"This Fascinating Railroad Business" (title of 1943 book by Robert Selph Henry of the AAR)
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Posted by Euclid on Sunday, August 4, 2019 11:31 AM

traisessive1

You can't do that. As soon as the air dumps on the engine, the power cuts and and you drop to idle. 

 

Okay, thanks.  I used to hear some engineers say they would pull when getting a UDE to stretch the train in case the UDE had been caused by a derailment.  But that was back when it would have been possible. 

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Posted by Overmod on Sunday, August 4, 2019 11:43 AM

Paul_D_North_Jr
There's so little slack between the cars that at any speed above a crawl, after the derailment starts the train would be stretched tight and the stringlining starting to happen before the crew could react in that way.

Someone might also comment on the percentage of this type of derailment that does not produce a prompt UDE when the derailment starts.  I believe in some cases a brake hose never separated before a relatively large number of cars were on the ground or in the process of tipping; I would suspect that derailments of unit coal trains with rotary couplers might show this characteristic to a greater degree.  This might well increase the tension in at least some of the drawbars to the point of 'getting a knuckle' before brakes even start to apply ... or power is automatically reduced.  And one reasonably predictable effect would be increased tendency to stringline, perhaps both in the underailed and derailed portions of the train.

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Posted by Euclid on Sunday, August 4, 2019 11:55 AM

Overmod
 
Paul_D_North_Jr
There's so little slack between the cars that at any speed above a crawl, after the derailment starts the train would be stretched tight and the stringlining starting to happen before the crew could react in that way.

 

Someone might also comment on the percentage of this type of derailment that does not produce a prompt UDE when the derailment starts.  I believe in some cases a brake hose never separated before a relatively large number of cars were on the ground or in the process of tipping; I would suspect that derailments of unit coal trains with rotary couplers might show this characteristic to a greater degree.  This might well increase the tension in at least some of the drawbars to the point of 'getting a knuckle' before brakes even start to apply ... or power is automatically reduced.  And one reasonably predictable effect would be increased tendency to stringline, perhaps both in the underailed and derailed portions of the train.

 

That would certainly account for what appears to be a stringline effect in those head end cars. 

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Posted by rdamon on Sunday, August 4, 2019 12:02 PM

Hard to tell from the start of the video, but it appears that something was "on the ground" behind those refers when looking at the ties. 

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Posted by jeffhergert on Sunday, August 4, 2019 12:16 PM

Euclid

 

 
traisessive1

You can't do that. As soon as the air dumps on the engine, the power cuts and and you drop to idle. 

 

 

 

Okay, thanks.  I used to hear some engineers say they would pull when getting a UDE to stretch the train in case the UDE had been caused by a derailment.  But that was back when it would have been possible. 

 

It is still possible.  Most UP road units, and I wouldn't be surprised if other roads also have it, have a 20 second delay before the PCS cuts out from an in-train emergency application.  Placing the engineer's brake valve in the Emergency position will nulify the 20 second delay.

Jeff  

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Posted by zardoz on Sunday, August 4, 2019 12:26 PM

jeffhergert
Placing the engineer's brake valve in the Emergency position will nulify the 20 second delay.

What about if you initiate a dump using only the EOT?

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Posted by jeffhergert on Sunday, August 4, 2019 12:35 PM

zardoz

 

 
jeffhergert
Placing the engineer's brake valve in the Emergency position will nulify the 20 second delay.

 

What about if you initiate a dump using only the EOT?

 

 

I don't think using only the EOT emergency toggle switch alone would negate the 20 second delay.  I think only placeing the brake valve in emergency does that.

Jeff

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