I have always wondered what the procedures are for train crews in the event a tornado warning is issued, do they stop the train and seek shelter in a ditch or try to high tail it out of there? Finally how do dispatchers get tornado warnings? Please let me know thank you.
I can't say for sure about regular freight trains, but Amtrak stops their trains when there are tornado warnings in the area.
There was a You-Tube video referenced here a few months ago of a train crew caught in a tornado that hit right behind the locomotive.
A timely subject!!
Just this month multiple tornados hit Bellemont, AZ, just 15 miles west from Flagstaff. A doublestack train was halted via radio message from the Fort Worth BNSF control center. BNSF has a contract with a weather watch service to alert them of all weather related possibilities and apparently it was effective this time.
Some of the doublestacks were overturned but there were no reports about the locomotives being damaged or the crews being injured. Perhaps someone with personal knowledge or experience can fill in details of how crews are to handle this after the trains are stopped.
I saw on a TV cable documentary (can't remember what network), that some of the Class I RRs use a weather service. This documentary claimed that when Greensburg, Kansas got hit with a tornado, there were stopped trains on both east and west of town on the double tracks. The weather service had warned the RR and the dispatcher gave both the red signals.
Reality TV is to reality, what Professional Wrestling is to Professional Brain Surgery.
No double main tracks at Greensburg, KS.
But I am sure UP did stop their trains.
The below "Action Shot" happened about two years ago. Watch the tank car very closely.
I understand a dispatcher was fired because he did not alert the crew. Cannot remember where the article was on the Internet. A Google search should show the article about this event.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFe0846RgWc
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
And just yesterday or today, some autoracks got toppled in Texas as the result of a twister. The same storm also damaged a high school.
Larry 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...
Upon heavy review of the video...
start-skies mainly clear0:35-heavy rain starts0:45-train goes over crossing0:57-trees begin to bend1:02-debris seen in background begins, high winds1:09-the bang from the train derailing behind is heard1:10-the visible car get pulled to its right/your left1:11-the tipping car reveals its number to be "UP 71955"1:12-tornado comes into frame in upper right corner1:17-the bridge becomes visible that the locos stop on, creepy tank car becomes more visible1:23 sparking tank car reaches bridge, hits guiderails, trucks begin to disintegrate, car bounces a few times1:27-tank car collides with locos, "Hazardous Materials" seems visible on the tank car1:33-boxcar comes sideways, revealing its number as "NS 655564" (not certain of the last digit)1:52-the lightning flashes, though it could instead be a transformer (can be viewed by dragging slider alone)
Very interesting video! The tank car was really something to watch!
edit-updated with info from next posts
Thanks for that link and the 'time log'.
A couple of minor additions:
Video is 2:01 long total.
1:23 - Also look for trees bending, tornado in upper right.
1:53 - bright flash of light - from what ?
- Paul North.
I thought 1:53 was lightning. There certainly looked to be hail, so there should be no surprise that there's lightning.
The best Tornado Warnings can do is to say, within the defined area conditions exist that are favorable for the formation of a tornado.....the procedures have not been refined to the point that a specific tornado can be predicted and located until the wind circulation actually forms the tornado, and even when one is form there is still the question of if it will touch the ground or just exist it's life span in he atmosphere. Tornadoes are the most localized of weather phenomena....having damage paths generally much less than a mile wide and generally on the ground for a limited distance...generally for a few miles.
Unless one is in possession of Doppler Weather Radar than can read the wind circulation patterns in storm cell and be able to discern the radar characteristics of tornado formation...the only way to know of a tornado is to see it.
Transportation companies cannot stop all their activities within areas that come under Tornado Warnings, the warnings occur too frequently and cover such wide areas....the best they can do is to communicate the existence of the warnings to their field personnel so that the field personnel can use their own vigilance and judgement when viewing storm conditions.
Living in a area that is not noted for tornado formation, there are probably a dozen or more days that Tornado Warnings are issued during the Spring through Fall season of weather that is conducive for tornado formation, the warnings once issued have their boundaries continually revised in concert with the movement of the storm cells.....With all that there may be reports of 5 touchdowns within a 400 mile radius of the metropolitan area, only 1 of which is actually confirmed.
Tornado Warnings are great information, but they are just that...Information to be used by the individuals in the warning area.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
kolechovski I thought 1:53 was lightning. There certainly looked to be hail, so there should be no surprise that there's lightning.
Could well be - but then why not more of it during the rest of / before that in the video ?
My impression is that of a power line or transformer short-circuiting - it seemed to be more of an 'orange'-colored flash to me. The train was blowing for a crossing, so there may have been some power lines ahead of it, since that's the direction the flash came from . . .
Thanks again for taking the time to study and post the timings for those key points !
Very hard to pinpoint the source of that flash, even with back-and-forth movements of the slider to reproduce it, but with lit signals at that crossing, it's quite possible. I added that to the description. I'm not quite ready to rule out lightning, even though I like the transformer idea better. I've seen enough odd storms also that will only do occasional, very large flashes, even though there's fierce rain that would seemingly prompt so much more activity.
Can anyone find any damage reports from the area to see what other damages were done, or if the accident report lists any other nearby damage? I don't know where that is exactly, so I have no clue where to begin looking.
My understanding is the incident occurred North of Chicago in Illinois in late January 2009.
kolechovski Very hard to pinpoint the source of that flash, even with back-and-forth movements of the slider to reproduce it, but with lit signals at that crossing, it's quite possible. I added that to the description. I'm not quite ready to rule out lightning, even though I like the transformer idea better. I've seen enough odd storms also that will only do occasional, very large flashes, even though there's fierce rain that would seemingly prompt so much more activity. Can anyone find any damage reports from the area to see what other damages were done, or if the accident report lists any other nearby damage? I don't know where that is exactly, so I have no clue where to begin looking.
Don Phillips article in the Nov, 2008 issue covers this topic in quite great detail
BaltACD The best Tornado Warnings can do is to say, within the defined area conditions exist that are favorable for the formation of a tornado.....the procedures have not been refined to the point that a specific tornado can be predicted and located until the wind circulation actually forms the tornado, and even when one is form there is still the question of if it will touch the ground or just exist it's life span in he atmosphere. Tornadoes are the most localized of weather phenomena....having damage paths generally much less than a mile wide and generally on the ground for a limited distance...generally for a few miles. Unless one is in possession of Doppler Weather Radar than can read the wind circulation patterns in storm cell and be able to discern the radar characteristics of tornado formation...the only way to know of a tornado is to see it. Transportation companies cannot stop all their activities within areas that come under Tornado Warnings, the warnings occur too frequently and cover such wide areas....the best they can do is to communicate the existence of the warnings to their field personnel so that the field personnel can use their own vigilance and judgement when viewing storm conditions. Living in a area that is not noted for tornado formation, there are probably a dozen or more days that Tornado Warnings are issued during the Spring through Fall season of weather that is conducive for tornado formation, the warnings once issued have their boundaries continually revised in concert with the movement of the storm cells.....With all that there may be reports of 5 touchdowns within a 400 mile radius of the metropolitan area, only 1 of which is actually confirmed. Tornado Warnings are great information, but they are just that...Information to be used by the individuals in the warning area.
I think you're confusing a Tornado Watch with a Tornado Warning. A Watch means that conditions are right for the possible developement of tornados and can be a big area. A Warning is issued when a tornado has been sighted or indicated by radar. Warnings are given for a much smaller area and shorter time periods.
When an actual warning is issued, trains are told to stop where safe and off of crossings if possible.
It's not just tornados either. A severe thunderstorm that is producing high velocity straight line winds also will bring things to a stop. There have been a few trains that have had cars, trailers, or containers blown over because of high winds.
Jeff
I'm not intimately familiar with the line on which the ill-fated train was moving--it was between Harvard, Illinois, and Janesville, Wisconsin, headed for the latter--but I can tell you that the same tornado, or at least the same storm, leveled the barns and damaged the farmhouse at our favorite apple-picking (and cider-doughnut) venue north of Poplar Grove, Illinois, They have rebuilt; we were there last month and noticed that some things had been rearranged a bit from where they'd been in the old barn complex. There was also an alcove that they were calling "tornado alley", in which pictures of the tornado damage were displayed.
The tank car in the wreck video contained ethylene oxide. Pretty severe test of the car's crashworthiness, huh?
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
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