Damage from debris on track

[Anonymous]

On Sun. 6/13 we were on Amtrak #87 NYC to Richmond. Approx. 25 miles N of Balt. we hit, in the middle of nowhere, apparently deliberately placed debris which interrupted brake lines and caused emerg. braking. Repairs were impossible at site. Two following trains took us on (ever try to board from the roadbed gulley between tracks?). Amtrak people handled it all very well, and ran a special section of cars from one "rescue train" on to Richmond for us. They allowed us to take out the emerg. windows to get cooler air, thank God.
Query: anyone know, or have any way of knowing, what the dedris was? Sounded like stone, but could have been metal ( if metal and across the tracks, shouldn't the block signal have read "stop'?). Any way to know how much damage was done?[?]

[Anonymous]

SHHHHH!!!! This is a TOP SECRET POST! If you reply, you WILL be assimilated- resistance is futile! Oh darn............

[Anonymous]

Robert: Metal laid across the track will usually not act as a jumper to the track circuit. It takes a very good electrical connection to do this in order to avoid a lot of false occupancies caused by wet track. A hi-rail or track machine, which is a pretty heavy item, will usually not activate the signaling system.

Almost any large, heavy item can take out a brake hose. Often it's a tree down over the track or rocks fallen onto the track. Any time there's a high wind, especially with wet soil, and trees down are to be expected. The largest I've personally run over at speed (50 mph!) was 6" diameter, which amazingly did not get a brake hose but dented the P42 that I was riding pretty well.

[Anonymous]

Mark: Thanks.
Robert

[BaltACD]

Vandals place any manner of debris on the tracks....cement blocks, shopping cars, bicycles, cross ties....anything and everything imaginable...to and including dead bodies. (a body being mangled by at train does a wonderful job of obscuring evidence of murder).

Whether the debris will cause the train to go into emergency from striking it, is the luck of the draw...sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't....however, if the engineer views the debris as being 'significant' he will place the train brakes in emergency.

Tree's falling across the tracks can do a significant amount of damage and are an increasing problem as the defered weed programs of years gone by have permited what were weeds 20 years ago to become real trees today.