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Locomotive Cabs, and Crew Safety in Collisions

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[quote user="BaltACD"] I have come into possession, through industry channels, of photos that would appear to show that the collision posts, did in fact do their job....at least to the height that they were constructed....the problem was that the collision posts did not extend high enough to protect the cab.  The flat cars hit the collision posts and rose to their height and then the flat cars continued along the top of the collision posts shearing the cab.  In this case the collision posts acted as a launching ramp to the lightly loaded flat cars.  From those pictures it would also appear that the forces defeated the anti-climber also. As can be seen from Mr. Blysard's photos, the collision posts only extend to roughly the height of the operating cab floor. <blockquote> <div><img src="/TRCCS/Themes/trc/images/icon-quote.gif" /> Bucyrus:</div> <div></div> <blockquote>I doubt many people will look at those photos and not conclude that the collision posts failed to do their job.  Although it does depend on what their job was.  There is no question in my mind that the locomotive frame is strong enough to transmit enough force into that work train to buckle its cars rather than buckle the locomotive frame.  The collision posts are intended to extend that locomotive frame strength upwards to a point above the coupler line.  They utterly failed to do that.   </blockquote> <div style="clear:both;"></div>   </blockquote> <div style="clear:both;"></div> [/quote] Yes I can see that the collision posts only extend part way up the height of the cab.  And if they extended higher, they might have ramped the flatcars right over the cab instead of crushing into it.  However, the collision posts bent over about 45 degrees from the force of the impact.  Either the base area of the posts bent, or the main frame bent where the posts attach to it.  That did turn them into a ramp, and a ramp might have saved the crew if it had extended higher.  However, I doubt that the design intent was to have the posts bend and form a ramp.   <o:p></o:p> If that were the intent, the designers would have realized what would happen once the cars rode to the top of the ramp.  So I conclude that the bending of the posts means that they failed to do what they were intended to do, if they were intended to protect from collisions with railroad equipment.   <o:p></o:p> Had they been strong enough to resist bending, there would have been no issue of how high they should be to fully protect the cab.  If they did not bend over, they would not have formed a ramp for the flatcars to ride up.  And if they did not bend over, and the cars could not ride up, the locomotive would have transferred enough compression force into the flatcar to cause them to jackknife.  The locomotive is heavier that the flatcars and their loads, and the locomotive frame is stronger that the flatcar frames.  With the right collision protection device, the cars should take the damage instead of the locomotive.
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