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Railroad video on Yahoo News this morning......sheering off tops of trilevel autoracks using a low clearance bridge

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Posted by SD70Dude on Thursday, September 17, 2020 6:08 PM

That's in St. Catharines, Ontario.  I've been told that the road bridge crosses at an angle over the track, and the south track will clear doublestacks but the north track will not. 

Until recently this line had not seen regular intermodal traffic for decades, and I believe this particular train had been rerouted, perhaps due to flooding or one of our infamous ice storms.

Greetings from Alberta

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Posted by CMStPnP on Thursday, September 17, 2020 6:02 PM

Hey check it out, I found something similar with CN.....lol    A little worse with the damage though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyWISEckP0U

 

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Posted by 54light15 on Thursday, September 17, 2020 5:27 PM

In a way, it happens with streetcars. There is a CN overpass on King Street West where the street runs below the railway, along with the King car line between Sudbury Street and Atlantic Avenue. There are over-height detectors on both sides of the bridge but on the west end, it is west of Atlantic. So, an over-height truck can hit the bridge if it makes a wrong turn. And one did, carrying brewing kettles from a brewery that had closed down at the foot of Atlantic. The streetcar wire was pulled down, the bridge was slightly damaged and the brewing kettles were ruined and I was late for work. Things happen. 

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Posted by ns145 on Thursday, September 17, 2020 5:07 PM

Overmod

I keep coming back to a fundamental problem here: that even if the T&E crew was issued a large local turn for setout, that included this shove before delivering the autoracks 'wherever they were going', they shoulda known the racks were (a) in their consist, and (b) not going to fit up that lead.  That this somehow was not clear to them has implications that make me nervous.

 

+1    Plus, on the other side of the rail and road bridges was a gasoline piperack passing over the track at the same elevation as the bridges.  Think of what could have happened if the autoracks would have run into that first.  You can't screw around when you are switching at an oil refinery. 

I believe the autoracks were coming from/going to a small unloading facility located about half a mile to the southeast.  I found one reference that indicated that the area east of the refinery was once an intermodal yard for the Cotton Belt that has since been redeveloped.  The auto facility was built sometime in late 2013/early 2014.  

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Posted by charlie hebdo on Thursday, September 17, 2020 4:27 PM

BaltACD

 

 
charlie hebdo
 
Overmod 
BaltACD
Looks to be a group of 20'2" racks operating on a route that clears 19'2" racks. 

Apparently it's a yard lead into an oil refinery that isn't meant to clear over height cars at all... 

So either the T&E crew did that on their own initiative,  a switch was lined incorrectly or,  most likely, someone (dispatcher?) routed them there in error. 

 

Dispatchers don't route anyting in Yards.  That is what Yardmasters are for.  However, over the years and especially since PSR, the Yardmasters at many Yards have been abolished and the responsibilities of running those yards have been transferred to a 'Yardmaster' that has responsibilities to manage several yards.

When I first moved to Baltimore in 1971 there were Yardmasters at the following locations - Bayview, Penn Mary, Mt. Clare, Locust Point, Curtis Bay, Stonehouse Cove.  At present there are Bayview and Curtis Bay.  Bayview's responsibilities include Mt.Clare, Locust Point and Penn Mary in addition to Bayview.  Curtis Bay covers Stonehouse Cove.

Each carrier has done their own consolidations to fit their own needs.

 

Thank you.  Yardmasters then, far away who don't really know clearances, even though they should?

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Posted by SD70Dude on Thursday, September 17, 2020 4:20 PM

Or the yard was plugged and they needed to get those autoracks out of there.  Just stick 'em somewhere else, doesn't matter where!

I know of a grain elevator loading rack that got wrecked that same way.

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Posted by Overmod on Thursday, September 17, 2020 4:10 PM

BaltACD
If this was in fact a lead to a petroleum based industry, it would not normally be used in the yarding of a road train - a road crew would normally have limited if any knowledge about the low clearance without EXHAUSTIVELY reading the ETT and all its various restrictions.

If this is where I think it is, there would be little reason for a road train to be there; it's strictly a stub-ended industrial secondary.  The road in the video is Riverport Road; the line seen on the overpass comes out of West Junction, while the only feed to the 'under' track is from East Junction, and it does not connect with any other through track.  (The 'over' track connects over to the industries on President's Island if you go north and then back west and southwest, and to either eastbound or west over the bridges, or straight on the bluff line that serves Central Station, if you continue north.)  Those of you with a mapping app on your smartphone can navigate to the loop of 55 north where it turns from westbound to northbound to go to the I-55 bridge crossing, west of the I-240 loop, and look for Riverport Road; you will see the tracks when you zoom in sufficiently.

This ought to have been a "local" consist put together by flat switching in the IC yard and meant to do housekeeping for a specific few industries.  What suggests itself, a bit ominously perhaps, is that the PSR revolution has now extended to combining various local turns into longer initially-monster trains that go up and down an extended set of various leads and branches to do business ... perhaps cleverly block-switched so all the blind setouts will be 'on the end' when shoving time comes.  Here might be one reason to join Amy in singing 'no, no, no' about that idea... a sort of a riff on the sort of slightly expedient thinking that produces stringlines in places like Harper's Ferry or Horse Shoe...

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Posted by zugmann on Thursday, September 17, 2020 3:53 PM

BaltACD
Remember, when crews state 'they aren't qualified' on a particular track or move, the response from whomever is ordering the movement is - 'are you being insubordinate'.  With the threats going back and forth until one or the other concedes.  Sometimes there are tragic consequences depending upon who condedes.

With the whole lazy attitude of managers that (many of which have very limtied if any RR experience) think everyone is qualified in any yard or industry becuase it's "just a yard job". 

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

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Posted by BaltACD on Thursday, September 17, 2020 3:50 PM

Overmod
I keep coming back to a fundamental problem here: that even if the T&E crew was issued a large local turn for setout, that included this shove before delivering the autoracks 'wherever they were going', they shoulda known the racks were (a) in their consist, and (b) not going to fit up that lead.  That this somehow was not clear to them has implications that make me nervous.

You would be amazed at how unknowledgeable some T&E personnel are about all the tracks they may be required to operate on are.  That being said that is on tracks they are 'qualified' on.  Once you get into yards, you are 'lucky' if a road crew can line their movement to whatever designated yard track they have been told to move their train to.  

If this was in fact a lead to a pertroleum based industry, it would not normally be used in the yarding of a road train - a road crew would normally have limited if any knowledge about the low clearance without EXHAUSITVELY reading the ETT and all its various restrictions.  

Remember, when crews state 'they aren't qualified' on a particular track or move, the response from whomever is ordering the movement is - 'are you being insubordinate'.  With the threats going back and forth until one or the other concedes.  Sometimes there are tragic consequences depending upon who condedes.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Overmod on Thursday, September 17, 2020 3:37 PM

I keep coming back to a fundamental problem here: that even if the T&E crew was issued a large local turn for setout, that included this shove before delivering the autoracks 'wherever they were going', they shoulda known the racks were (a) in their consist, and (b) not going to fit up that lead.  That this somehow was not clear to them has implications that make me nervous.

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Posted by BaltACD on Thursday, September 17, 2020 3:24 PM

charlie hebdo
 
Overmod 
BaltACD
Looks to be a group of 20'2" racks operating on a route that clears 19'2" racks. 

Apparently it's a yard lead into an oil refinery that isn't meant to clear over height cars at all... 

So either the T&E crew did that on their own initiative,  a switch was lined incorrectly or,  most likely, someone (dispatcher?) routed them there in error. 

Dispatchers don't route anyting in Yards.  That is what Yardmasters are for.  However, over the years and especially since PSR, the Yardmasters at many Yards have been abolished and the responsibilities of running those yards have been transferred to a 'Yardmaster' that has responsibilities to manage several yards.

When I first moved to Baltimore in 1971 there were Yardmasters at the following locations - Bayview, Penn Mary, Mt. Clare, Locust Point, Curtis Bay, Stonehouse Cove.  At present there are Bayview and Curtis Bay.  Bayview's responsibilities include Mt.Clare, Locust Point and Penn Mary in addition to Bayview.  Curtis Bay covers Stonehouse Cove.

Each carrier has done their own consolidations to fit their own needs.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by charlie hebdo on Thursday, September 17, 2020 3:05 PM

Overmod

 

 
BaltACD
Looks to be a group of 20'2" racks operating on a route that clears 19'2" racks.

 

Apparently it's a yard lead into an oil refinery that isn't meant to clear over height cars at all...

 

 

So either the T&E crew did that on their own initiative,  a switch was lined incorrectly or,  most likely, someone (dispatcher?) routed them there in error. 

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Posted by Overmod on Thursday, September 17, 2020 2:26 PM

BaltACD
Looks to be a group of 20'2" racks operating on a route that clears 19'2" racks.

Apparently it's a yard lead into an oil refinery that isn't meant to clear over height cars at all...

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Posted by BaltACD on Thursday, September 17, 2020 9:43 AM

Looks to be a group of 20'2" racks operating on a route that clears 19'2" racks.

That additional foot means something.

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Posted by Overmod on Thursday, September 17, 2020 9:42 AM

Topic is already covered in a thread two or three below this one, started about 14 hours earlier.

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Railroad video on Yahoo News this morning......sheering off tops of trilevel autoracks using a low clearance bridge
Posted by CMStPnP on Thursday, September 17, 2020 9:18 AM

What the hay man...........this isn't supposed to happen..... :(

https://youtu.be/oOpf-xw9FNU

 

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