http://www.ktre.com/story/30734564/train-cars-blown-off-railroad-bridge-at-loop-287-w-in-lufkin
Wonder how they will blame the crew for this....
Cold front hit east Texas this morning with tornadoes.
23 17 46 11
Why didn't the engineer drive the train down below the bridge for shelter?
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
Auntie Em! Auntie Em!
edblysard http://www.ktre.com/story/30734564/train-cars-blown-off-railroad-bridge-at-loop-287-w-in-lufkin Wonder how they will blame the crew for this.... Cold front hit east Texas this morning with tornadoes.
I feature the winds were more substansual than the 40 MPH that was mentioned in the article!
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
F-2 Tornado in North Harris county, so....
Standing derailment not caused by subgrade failure. Interesting.
Brand new covered hoppers.....break-in period is now over. Now officially broken.
Positive Twister Control failure?
FRA reportable?
edblysard (12-13):
Who is financially responsible for cleaning up the freight cars mess, the A&NR Railroad or TxDOT? The incident is out of my territory, but I would imagine A&NR is kind of a shortline operation that would hardly have the resources for such a big cleanup.
Take care,
K.P.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- K.P.’s absolute “theorem” from early, early childhood that he has seen over and over and over again: Those that CAUSE a problem in the first place will act the most violently if questioned or exposed.
Most likely the operating company, A&NR ....who would be collecting the storage or demurage fees. (Not sure where an act of god occurance cuts off responsibilities)
http://www.anrrr.com/aboutanr.htm
Thought International Paper was the fee owner. Curious to see how TxDOT became a player in this, unless it's for some spur or lead built for economic development purposes with a state grant...Or was the newsworker covering the story referring to the highway right-of-way easement or lease below the bridge and does not know the difference.
Semper Vaporo Why didn't the engineer drive the train down below the bridge for shelter?
Sarcasm, I hope. No engineer (or locomotive) on a cut of stored standing cars.
I'd say that the 40mph wind estimate was probably a tad conservative.
Since three covered hoppers = one clipper ship in sail area, and those old windjammers could make 20 knots with a fair wind...
As for TDOT, time was that they controlled ALL transportation in the state - railroads in Texas were required to be Texas corporations.
Chuck
Clearly, they failed the "roll test..."
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...
Several random thoughts. Balt and MC chime in.
1. Straight line winds are fickle. Have been at location no winds but observed winds that blew down many items.
2. If one of my trains has to stop for high winds stopping on an overpass does not seem a good idea.
3. Some RRs have not learned the lesson SP learned on the Moffet route.
4. If storing cars why not split the cars so they are not over a highway, river, creek, etc ?
CRANDIC had a similar problem with cars parked on a bridge over the Iowa river in Iowa City many years ago. I remember seeing news videos showing them cutting through couplers using a torch on the end of an 8 or 10 ft. long pipe so the workman could be standing on the bridge and away from the cars as they came apart and fell into the river.
I understand they now have a rule that says no cars are to be stored on overpasses.
Semper Vaporo CRANDIC had a similar problem with cars parked on a bridge over the Iowa river in Iowa City many years ago. I remember seeing news videos showing them cutting through couplers using a torch on the end of an 8 or 10 ft. long pipe so the workman could be standing on the bridge and away from the cars as they came apart and fell into the river. I understand they now have a rule that says no cars are to be stored on overpasses.
Yet when it comes to 'protection' against flooding river conditions, one of the tricks employed is to put the heaviest cars available on bridges in the attempt to use 'additional gravity' to keep the bridge piers anchored in the riverbed.
BaltACD Semper Vaporo CRANDIC had a similar problem with cars parked on a bridge over the Iowa river in Iowa City many years ago. I remember seeing news videos showing them cutting through couplers using a torch on the end of an 8 or 10 ft. long pipe so the workman could be standing on the bridge and away from the cars as they came apart and fell into the river. I understand they now have a rule that says no cars are to be stored on overpasses. Yet when it comes to 'protection' against flooding river conditions, one of the tricks employed is to put the heaviest cars available on bridges in the attempt to use 'additional gravity' to keep the bridge piers anchored in the riverbed.
Yeah, that was what CRANDIC did in Cedar Rapids in 2008, trying to save an old bridge on the south side of town... it failed for two reasons... one is that the water got so high as to be pushing on the cars themselves and the other is because the piers were not sunk into the river bed, but were just large HOLLOW concrete boxes that were sitting atop the river bed and the bed on the downstream side washed out from the rapid flood water, allowing the piers to simply tip over.
U.P. was doing the same thing to their bridge on the north side of town above the dam. It was nearly lost because of all the houseboats that came loose upstream and hit the RR bridge. Most went under it and were shredded in the process. It was feared that the large empty plastic drums that the houseboats were mounted on would get stuck under the bridge and lift it off the piers.
The incident I was refering to occurred several years before in Iowa City; the cars were just stopped on a bridge (as I understand it, it was a common practice to do so when the yard was full) and a wind blew them over the side.
No matter what actions mere mortals take to protect their structures, if Mom Nature sets her mind to it - she is still undefeated.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Can a tornado knock over a heavy locomotive?
Modeling the "Fargo Area Rapid Transit" in O scale 3 rail.
Semper Vaporo It was nearly lost because of all the houseboats that came loose upstream and hit the RR bridge. Most went under it and were shredded in the process. It was feared that the large empty plastic drums that the houseboats were mounted on would get stuck under the bridge and lift it off the piers.
So did UP hire some people to come out and take target practice with their AK-47s and AR-16s ?
Boyd Can a tornado knock over a heavy locomotive?
Maybe an EF5 with a direct hit(300 MPH winds...).
tree68 Boyd Can a tornado knock over a heavy locomotive? Maybe an EF5 with a direct hit(300 MPH winds...).
Would that be a NH EF5 or Milw EF5???
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