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Union Pacific Fire Train in California fighting fires

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Posted by John Liebson on Tuesday, April 23, 2019 10:02 AM

tree68

 

I was referring to the entire train as a "fire engine," not just the engines themselves.

 

 
John Liebson
but the two diesels hauling this train are certainly the largest 'fire engines' I have ever seen.

 

Alas, they are simply moving the train.  Back in the day, there was usually a pump mounted on top of the boiler of the steam locomotive.

 

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Posted by zardoz on Monday, April 22, 2019 8:05 PM

CMStPnP

Now if they could mu the 9672 to the fire train, they could have a truly symbiotic relationship. (Good part starts at 0:48)

This version is shorter at only 3:12 long

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Posted by tree68 on Monday, April 22, 2019 3:23 PM

tdmidget
Tiny steams from little toy plastic nozzles directed ramdomly at vegetation or brushfires out of range is not fire fighting

I'm not so sure they were fighting fire at all, just exercising the equipment.

Those "toy plastic nozzles" are still capable of 80-100 gallons per minute each.  

I will agree that some Class A foam, or other additive, would be useful if they were actually fighting fire.

Fixed fan nozzles on the leading end would also be useful.

Odds are that unless the timing was such that they were actually encountering fire near the rails, what they'd be doing is building a buffer, not an unusual practice.

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
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Posted by tdmidget on Monday, April 22, 2019 12:13 PM

As a former firefighter there is no way I could call that "fighting a fire". Tiny steams from little toy plastic nozzles directed ramdomly at vegetation or brushfires out of range is not fire fighting.  If there was any danger the the locomotives would not be the first in line. They are not even protecting company assets like ties by wetting them ( and which could be mechanized to prodsuce a uniform wetting) but merely wasting time and money.

Amazing that with the cute buzzwords  Like "Precision Scheduled Railroading" there is this waste of resources, apparently to show that UP is saving the country from fire.

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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, April 19, 2019 7:02 AM

SPSOT fan
No better way to fight hard to reach fires and defend rail lines in the wilderness!

Must be a fun job, ride a train and fire a water cannon!

Meanwhile praying that you don't run into an area where the fire engulfs you and the train and you have no way out.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by SPSOT fan on Friday, April 19, 2019 3:55 AM

No better way to fight hard to reach fires and defend rail lines in the wilderness!

Must be a fun job, ride a train and fire a water cannon!

Regards, Isaac

I model my railroad and you model yours! I model my way and you model yours!

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Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, April 17, 2019 4:31 PM

John Liebson
but the two diesels hauling this train are certainly the largest 'fire engines' I have ever seen.

Alas, they are simply moving the train.  Back in the day, there was usually a pump mounted on top of the boiler of the steam locomotive.

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...

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Posted by John Liebson on Wednesday, April 17, 2019 3:34 PM

In my years in the fire service, I have written apparatus specifications, operated various types and sizes of apparatus, helped set up displays of many dozens of pieces of apparatus at training conferences, visted many fire stations, and so on, but the two diesels hauling this train are certainly the largest 'fire engines' I have ever seen.

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Posted by RailEagle on Friday, April 12, 2019 1:36 PM

If that doesn’t count as rare mileage I don’t know what does.

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, April 12, 2019 6:50 AM

I believe there are several such rigs in the west.  The Adirondack line used to have several, including one owned by the fellow who built the line (Webb).

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...

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Posted by ATSFGuy on Thursday, April 11, 2019 10:53 PM

Interesting idea for UP.

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Union Pacific Fire Train in California fighting fires
Posted by CMStPnP on Thursday, April 11, 2019 10:45 PM

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