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Saskatchewan village helps stranded Via Rail pssegers on Christmas Day

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Posted by lenzfamily on Tuesday, December 26, 2017 9:19 PM

Miningman

JPS1--There are OH&S rules covering outside working temperature and conditions. Pretty much everything involving working outside stops at --40. Pretty difficult to climb a pole in a snowmoblie outfit. Of course there are always emergencies and there are carve outs in the law for that. Theyuse snow machines inthe winter and quads inthe summer. They still climb poles up here, a lot really, but use a scissors lift or rotating boom with a basket if possible. Many areas are quite inaccessible with this equipment however. High winds and rain are also factors.

We have a Linesman Course here every year...wow is that a gruelling course...incredible physical activities. 

Our College and all schools close down at -40 officially and everyone is sent home. 

 

Miningman

I can feel the pain.

A similar situation existed in Yukon for me. Back in the late 60's early 70's most outlying (from Whitehorse) communities were just starting to be served by the highline from Whitehorse Rapids and Aishihak Generating Stations. Wintertime was particularly hard on transmission lines. Conductors shrank, crossarms broke, transformers and other  apparatus could and did fail.

At the time I ran a standby generating plant at Carmacks YT for Yukon Electrical as a sideline. Many times during the winter I could count on being called out to put our townsite on line after the highline failed, particularly in extremely cold weather. The outages could be as short as a few hours  or as long as a few days.  Those long outages were lucrative for an onsite operator.

From time to time I would go with the lineman (and they often only sent out one!) from Whitehorse up to the highline to help him with any problems on the Yukon Electrical side. We would climb long steep hills to access drops, substations or switchgear. There were no access roads to speak of. It was very good exercise in very demanding conditions day or night. There wasn't much in the way of OHSA then either. That came later.

Thankfully I wasn't qualified to climb poles. Just worked on the ground. Now my blood is just too thin....

Charlie

 

Charlie

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, December 26, 2017 6:28 PM

Miningman
idling doesn't help, things need to be moving. 

Idling is actually frowned upon, but people still do it.

Another cold weather issue mentioned on another thread is fuel - if it's not treated, Diesel fuel will gel, which makes life difficult as well.

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
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Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

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Posted by Miningman on Tuesday, December 26, 2017 6:12 PM

JPS1--There are OH&S rules covering outside working temperature and conditions. Pretty much everything involving working outside stops at --40. Pretty difficult to climb a pole in a snowmoblie outfit. Of course there are always emergencies and there are carve outs in the law for that. Theyuse snow machines inthe winter and quads inthe summer. They still climb poles up here, a lot really, but use a scissors lift or rotating boom with a basket if possible. Many areas are quite inaccessible with this equipment however. High winds and rain are also factors.

We have a Linesman Course here every year...wow is that a gruelling course...incredible physical activities. 

Our College and all schools close down at -40 officially and everyone is sent home. 

  • Member since
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  • From: Texas
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Posted by PJS1 on Tuesday, December 26, 2017 5:45 PM

Miningman

JPS1-- It's pretty hard on cars and trunks...tires get 'square', batteries lose power, it takes some time to warm things up, idling doesn't help, things need to be moving. 

I'm told by the pilots here that airplanes love the cold weather and actually 'perform better'. 

The nails on the roof keep popping, sound like gunshots in the middle of the night...has the dog very concerned, staying vigilant.  

Thanks for the insights.  I live in the Rio Grande Valley.  Among the thousands of snowbirds that come to the Valley every winter are many Canadians.  Great neighbors. From your comments I can understand why many Canadians head for a warmer climate in the winter.

I had a young man on my team whose father was a lineman for an electric co-op in North Dakota.  He said that when it got extremely cold the lineman could not work on the power lines.  Is that true for your part of the world?

Rio Grande Valley, CFI,CFII

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Posted by Miningman on Tuesday, December 26, 2017 3:59 PM

JPS1-- It's pretty hard on cars and trunks...tires get 'square', batteries lose power, it takes some time to warm things up, idling doesn't help, things need to be moving. 

I'm told by the pilots here that airplanes love the cold weather and actually 'perform better'. 

The nails on the roof keep popping, sound like gunshots in the middle of the night...has the dog very concerned, staying vigilant. 

  • Member since
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  • From: Northern New York
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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, December 26, 2017 1:14 PM

JPS1
What impact has the extreme cold weather had on freight train operations?

Brakes can be a problem - gaskets get hard and it becomes difficult to maintain the brake line.  Pumping up a big train takes a while anyhow - if leakage is high, it takes that much longer.

Recall also that locomotives don't generally use anti-freeze.  As long as they are running, they're probably OK, but a pipe (or radiator) exposed to that cold won't take long to freeze up if the flow of hot water is somehow restricted.   

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

  • Member since
    February 2016
  • From: Texas
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Posted by PJS1 on Tuesday, December 26, 2017 12:57 PM

Miningman
 It's been crazy cold here in Saskatchewan...we are expected -54 up here in the far North. 

What impact has the extreme cold weather had on freight train operations?  Also, what impact has it had on air and road travel?

Rio Grande Valley, CFI,CFII

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Posted by tatans on Tuesday, December 26, 2017 10:20 AM

It's cold in Saskatoon today it is -37C  or -35 below F.  either way it's cold, just remember at 40 below it is the same C. or F. easy to remember.

Merry Christmas.

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Posted by Miningman on Monday, December 25, 2017 11:13 PM

It's been crazy cold here in Saskatchewan...we are expected -54 up here in the far North. My furnace is having a hard time keeping up and the forecast ten days out has no relief at all. 

I think they were lucky to be in Southern Saskatchewan when the train broke down...there are many many towns and interconnecting roads. 

If it was in Northern Ontario it might have been a different story.

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  • From: Calgary AB. Canada
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Saskatchewan village helps stranded Via Rail pssegers on Christmas Day
Posted by AgentKid on Monday, December 25, 2017 10:45 PM

So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.

"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere"  CP Rail Public Timetable

"O. S. Irricana"

. . . __ . ______

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