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CSX Runaway

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CSX Runaway
Posted by CMStPnP on Thursday, November 26, 2020 8:39 PM
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Posted by Flintlock76 on Thursday, November 26, 2020 9:15 PM

Interesting, but in those last 40 seconds I was waiting to see a locomotive going like a bat out of hell chasing it.  Nothing.  What a let-down.

A Keystone Kops or Laurel and Hardy moment gone to waste.

Anyone know the story?

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Posted by Semper Vaporo on Thursday, November 26, 2020 9:24 PM

Poorly cropped video... starts with the car in the middle of the scene and it is gone in just a second or two.  The rest of the video is useless and wasted my time.  Should have had at least some those useless seconds from the end moved to the begining so we could see more of the approach of the car.

Semper Vaporo

Pkgs.

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Posted by blhanel on Thursday, November 26, 2020 9:28 PM

Someone explained in a YouTube comment that the camera was a Trainorders.com webcam, which was triggered by movement and stays on for a predetermined period.  Whoever posted it didn't edit.  Happened in 2005...

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Posted by zugmann on Thursday, November 26, 2020 9:29 PM

Edit:  my point was rendered moot.  

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


  

The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any

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Posted by ericsp on Thursday, November 26, 2020 11:44 PM

Flintlock76

Interesting, but in those last 40 seconds I was waiting to see a locomotive going like a bat out of hell chasing it.  Nothing.  What a let-down.

A Keystone Kops or Laurel and Hardy moment gone to waste.

Anyone know the story?

I was expecting to see a milk carton.

"No soup for you!" - Yev Kassem (from Seinfeld)

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Posted by BaltACD on Thursday, November 26, 2020 11:47 PM

Flintlock76
Interesting, but in those last 40 seconds I was waiting to see a locomotive going like a bat out of hell chasing it.  Nothing.  What a let-down.

A Keystone Kops or Laurel and Hardy moment gone to waste.

Anyone know the story?

To be perfectly honest - that happened on my territory.

I don't recall hearing about it, of course I was working nights at the time and the video obviously happen during daylight hours.

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Posted by CMStPnP on Friday, November 27, 2020 12:16 AM

OK, here is another one on NYSW in which it shows the car crashed.    This one was set free by a local brat kid.    The political talk is rather entertaining.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doEOipH3WfY

 

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, November 27, 2020 7:20 AM

CMStPnP

OK, here is another one on NYSW in which it shows the car crashed.    This one was set free by a local brat kid.    The political talk is rather entertaining.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doEOipH3WfY

The tender was sent out for repairs and is back.  I haven't been down to Utica for a while to see how the cosmetic restoration is going.

The youngster was never charged, though I believe NYS&W now uses more robust means of securing cars there.  And the lead to the station has been severed.

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Posted by CMStPnP on Friday, November 27, 2020 7:54 AM

tree68
The tender was sent out for repairs and is back.  I haven't been down to Utica for a while to see how the cosmetic restoration is going. The youngster was never charged, though I believe NYS&W now uses more robust means of securing cars there.  And the lead to the station has been severed.

I am actually surprised they did not have that steam locomotive display protected by a derail further up the track given that if it was ever hit it could damage the depot as it did.    Seems to me someone should have spotted that or possibly even remove a section of track prior to the display?

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Posted by Euclid on Friday, November 27, 2020 8:10 AM

As I recall, there was a derail in the path of the runaway covered hopper, but it was not set in the derail position.

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, November 27, 2020 12:03 PM

CMStPnP
tree68
The tender was sent out for repairs and is back.  I haven't been down to Utica for a while to see how the cosmetic restoration is going. The youngster was never charged, though I believe NYS&W now uses more robust means of securing cars there.  And the lead to the station has been severed. 

I am actually surprised they did not have that steam locomotive display protected by a derail further up the track given that if it was ever hit it could damage the depot as it did.    Seems to me someone should have spotted that or possibly even remove a section of track prior to the display?

It's a good distance from the last regularly used track in the SuzyQ yard and the display location of the steamer.  Taking a closer look - the station track was a safety valve for the switch to the mainiline, so probably was routinely thrown along with the mainline switch.  I don't know as I've never worked that side.

What's amazing is that the hopper ran across numerous crossings (including one four lane that's pretty busy) and did six or seven blocks of street running (passing the FX Matt Brewery) and only clipped one automobile.

The car also managed to fine a clear track through the yard...

As far as the railroad was concerned, it was probably a "whodathunk" moment - everything lined up (Swiss cheese anyone?).

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Posted by MMLDelete on Friday, November 27, 2020 1:45 PM

A single car won't activate crossing signals, right? What about block signals?

I temember that a short Amtrak train was required to pull extra, unneeded, cars, in order to trip something.

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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, November 27, 2020 3:06 PM

Lithonia Operator
A single car won't activate crossing signals, right? What about block signals?

I temember that a short Amtrak train was required to pull extra, unneeded, cars, in order to trip something.

A single car MIGHT activate track circuits, signals and crossing protecti; then again it might not.

The B&O and subsequently CSX place a 30 MPH speed limit on single units operating by themselves.  Signal Maintainers explained to me that with the relay supported signals sysems in operation through most of the 20th Century a single piece of equipment operating at speeds over 30 MPH could 'activate and then release' circuits faster than the relays could show the activation to the rest of the signal system so it could actually activate.  

While I am not a signal engineer or maintainer, it does take multiple relays operating in the proper sequence to implement the proper action - be that changing a signal aspect or activating crossing protection.

I believe CN & UP are the ones currently requiring Amtrak to operate with 7 cars.  While there may be some delays in the detection and operation of their signal systems.  In my OPINION it is more about those companies fighting against Amtrak than it is about any technical failings of those companies signal systems.  If their signals systems requrie approximately 600 feet of train to operate their circuits reliably they must not be using electrically activated relays - more likely agitated hamsters.

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Posted by adkrr64 on Friday, November 27, 2020 3:14 PM

Euclid
As I recall, there was a derail in the path of the runaway covered hopper, but it was not set in the derail position.

I heard that there was a derail set in the derailing position, but the tie it was attached to had rotted and the car just pushed it aside.

After the incident, the siding from which the car began its journey was severed from the main on the downhill side.

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Posted by CMStPnP on Friday, November 27, 2020 3:17 PM

BaltACD
I believe CN & UP are the ones currently requiring Amtrak to operate with 7 cars.  While there may be some delays in the detection and operation of their signal systems. 

Senator Dick Durban (D-IL) is already onto that sham and promised to have it investigated because in his view if they are having that issue with passenger trains those railroads cannot be operating safely.    Saw him say it on C-SPAN at an Amtrak hearing.    That was about 3-4 months ago.

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Posted by MMLDelete on Friday, November 27, 2020 5:45 PM

What exactly are CN and UP hoping to accomplish with this seven-car thing?

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Posted by Erik_Mag on Friday, November 27, 2020 6:38 PM

BaltACD

       Lithonia Operator

A single car won't activate crossing signals, right? What about block signals?

I temember that a short Amtrak train was required to pull extra, unneeded, cars, in order to trip something.

A single car MIGHT activate track circuits, signals and crossing protecti; then again it might not.

From what I've read about signals, this is why speeders and hi-rail vehicles have insulated wheels - if it doesn't reliably activate the track circuit then make sure is doesn't do it at all.

The B&O and subsequently CSX place a 30 MPH speed limit on single units operating by themselves.  Signal Maintainers explained to me that with the relay supported signals sysems in operation through most of the 20th Century a single piece of equipment operating at speeds over 30 MPH could 'activate and then release' circuits faster than the relays could show the activation to the rest of the signal system so it could actually activate.  

From what I've read about track circuits is that light cars don't reliably shunt the rails, especially when there is a bit of rust on the rail surface. BART had that problem when the service started up, the signal system didn't work reliably until after the first train of the morning passed over the section of track.

Probably the biggest PITA with track circuits is that the ties and roadbed contribute to current leaking between the rails and the track circuits which mimic the effects of wheelsets shunting the rails. What makes this problem even worse is that the leakage current varies, so that adjusting the track circuit to not trigger on a high leakage day may lead to a short train not triggering the track circuit on a low leakage day.

A further problem is with standard DC track circuits where the track relay needs substantially less current to drop out than to pick up (this is true of almost all electromechanical relays).

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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, November 27, 2020 10:40 PM

Lithonia Operator
What exactly are CN and UP hoping to accomplish with this seven-car thing?

Piss off Amtrak in the hopes that they will terminate service because of the excessive costs.

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Saturday, November 28, 2020 7:25 PM

Isn't there also the Amtrak profile of the wheeels are different than freight cars ?  That profile has been stated wlsewhere that is causes less of an electricla path ? 

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Posted by MMLDelete on Saturday, November 28, 2020 9:53 PM

I could be wrong, but my recollection  is this involves one Amtrak train a day each way. I don't see how that could be so disruptive to the railroads.

Is is primarily because it runs so much faster than freights? And while there's only one of it, it needs to pass lots of freights, and that chess game gets dicey as it's such a moving target? I can't remember if this route was double-tracked much; so I'm not clear on how many opposing-train meets there are, also.

I'm going to google and see if I can figure out which train it is.

 

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Posted by tree68 on Sunday, November 29, 2020 7:02 AM

Lithonia Operator
Is is primarily because it runs so much faster than freights?

That's a primary reason.  When I watch trains at Utica, NY, the traffic "bubble" around Amtrak trains is quite obvious.

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Posted by BaltACD on Sunday, November 29, 2020 11:31 AM

Lithonia Operator
I could be wrong, but my recollection  is this involves one Amtrak train a day each way. I don't see how that could be so disruptive to the railroads.

Is is primarily because it runs so much faster than freights? And while there's only one of it, it needs to pass lots of freights, and that chess game gets dicey as it's such a moving target? I can't remember if this route was double-tracked much; so I'm not clear on how many opposing-train meets there are, also.

I'm going to google and see if I can figure out which train it is.

The one thing to remember - the throughput of a line segment gets set by slowest regular traffic.  Remember all your grade schoold math problems about a train leaving Chicago and a train leaving Cleveland.  That problem gets played out with every train that enters a Train Dispatchers territory - be it single track or multiple track.  Unlike model railroads, you can't just pick up a train because it is 'in the way'.  Every train has run the territory to the train's destination.  Faster trains overtake slower trains and still have to meet opposing trains.

The second thing that has to be thought about for the faster trains - how far in advance of the faster train must the slower train get in the clear so the faster train doesn't get other than Clear signals.  With today's nominal 3 mile signal spacing, the leading train must be more than 6 miles ahead of the overtaking train so that the overtaking train doesn't get signals that will restrict its speed.

Before a Dispatcher lines ANY signal for a train he needs to have a defined move for that train in his plan of his railroad.  Just lining signals because at train is looking at a STOP signal is fast way to Codlock the entire railroad.

 

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Posted by Fred M Cain on Friday, December 4, 2020 7:36 AM

You know, there seems to be an awful lot of online videos of train derailments and other accidents that were shot in just the last few years.

Are train derailments increasing again?  I've wondered about the safety of CSX et al running 170+ car trains.  Would that possibly lead to more derailments?

Back when I was a kid there was still a rear-end crew in a caboose.  Often times (but not always) they could spot dragging equipment up ahead and dump the air before everything piled up.

I don't see how the head-end crew could possibly keep an eagle eye on the whole train when it's that long.

Regards,

Fred M. Cain

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Posted by Paul Milenkovic on Friday, December 4, 2020 8:02 AM

Flintlock76

Interesting, but in those last 40 seconds I was waiting to see a locomotive going like a bat out of hell chasing it.  Nothing.  What a let-down.

A Keystone Kops or Laurel and Hardy moment gone to waste.

Anyone know the story?

 

This is the John Cage of rail videos, the Jackson Pollock of rail videos, the Philip Glass of rail videos.

It is the essence of the Minimimalist School of rail videos, where the rail video has been reduced to its underlying substance.

One hopper car appears out of nowhere in the initial frames of the video, a lone hopper car, no locomotive, but that rail car is in motion, propelled by gravity along Sand Patch, the iconic railroad grade.

We see it for but a fleeting moment and it is out of view.  Gone.  No more train action although we long for more.

As we stare at the screen seeking what happens next, we hear the unmistakable steel-wheel-on-steel-rail sound fade, fade, slowly, into silence.

And we are left wondering.  Why?

See this video for answers

P. D. Q. Bach: Prelude to "Einstein on the Fritz" - Bing video

If GM "killed the electric car", what am I doing standing next to an EV-1, a half a block from the WSOR tracks?

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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, December 4, 2020 8:26 AM

Paul Milenkovic
...

One hopper car appears out of nowhere in the initial frames of the video, a lone hopper car, no locomotive, but that rail car is in motion, propelled by gravity along Sand Patch, the iconic railroad grade.

...

Look close - it is a intermodal car.

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Posted by Overmod on Friday, December 4, 2020 8:34 AM

Does that make it the Ridley Scott of rail videos, the Oliver Stone of rail videos, the Michael Moore of rail videos? Mischief

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Posted by CMStPnP on Friday, December 4, 2020 9:06 AM

BaltACD
Look close - it is a intermodal car.

So there is one TOFC shipper that CSX could have charged a premium for expediting their shipment.    I'll bet that short train did a lot better than the schedule between the two points it traveled (heh-heh).

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Posted by Fred M Cain on Friday, December 4, 2020 9:40 AM

CMStPnP

 

 
BaltACD
Look close - it is a intermodal car.

 

So there is one TOFC shipper that CSX could have charged a premium for expediting their shipment.    I'll bet that short train did a lot better than the schedule between the two points it traveled (heh-heh).

 

I'm wondering how they finally stopped the car.  Did it finally derail on a curve?  Or, did it eventually come to an upgrade, slow down, stop, then start rolling back the other way?

Or, did CSX intentionally derail it somewhere to prevent it from doing even more damage?

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Posted by rdamon on Friday, December 4, 2020 10:41 AM

http://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/t/42031.aspx

This may work better: https://tinyurl.com/yyx2d7mb

Prior thread on subject

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