I just saw a patched SP working as a DPU on an eastbound coal train that sounded like a shotgun going off in intervals ranging from every .5to 5 seconds ... Not really a true emergency... but what would be the best way to contact somebody at Union Pacific and make sure it got to somebody who could do something about it? Is the grade crossing emergency number applicable in this situation?
That's why they put that number there.
Otherwise, check the phone book to see if UP has a listing in your phone book.
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...
I always use and have several of the railroads numbers off the Crossings im near. It goes to the Railroad Police.
Why not call 911 and let them worry about it?. They probably have all the railroad emergencyy phone numbers on speed dail..
I believe the number you want would be 888-UPRR-COP.
But I wouldn't call them about the popping noise--that was probably the spitter valve blowing condensation out of the air reservoirs.
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)
Diggwadd I just saw a patched SP working as a DPU on an eastbound coal train that sounded like a shotgun going off in intervals ranging from every .5to 5 seconds ... Not really a true emergency... but what would be the best way to contact somebody at Union Pacific and make sure it got to somebody who could do something about it? Is the grade crossing emergency number applicable in this situation?
I agree with the comment posted by someone else that this was not an emergency, and not something that needed to be reported. However, when in doubt, and if you don't have another contact number, the grade crossing number contact will do. They'll simply forward you to the right contact.
I've been very favorably impressed by how quickly UP responds to its emergency grade crossing contact number. A few months ago, I saw a UP crossing on the Geneva Sub (the commuter line running west from Chicago) sporatically activating after a train had passed and there was no other train in the vicinity. I reported it to the UP grade crossing number, About 5 minutes later, a commuter train came through. It obviously had been restricted by the dispatcher, as it came through the crossing at very low speed and sounded its horn, as required by FRA rules for "false activations" (UP trains don't normally sound horns at most crossings in Chicago commuter territory). Obviously, the railroad has procedures in place to quickly get this information to its trains.
I dont know what type of new fangled engines you guys are running, but no engine I have ever seen purged itself with a noise anywhere near the volume and sound of a shotgun, if the noise is described correctly.
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Its not a noise I had heard before.
coborn35 The unit in question was a AC44CW , ex SP now patched UP . And yes it was a "boom boom boom" rather than a "pop pop pop tat pop tat".
The train in question was a 558 axle (135 loads) EB coaltrain , 2 on the point and the unit in question as the DPU. Hard on the throttle going up a %.7 grade. Detector 5.8 miles to the west reported no defects, 29 degrees
She wasnt hunting, I didnt see any extra smoke, cars in front of her looked good too.
Its not the engine purging then. Thats more of a PSSSSST noise. I dont think I have ever heard anything quite like a shotgun going off on an engine.
Though I have little in-depth knowledge of internal-combustion engines . . .
That sounds like a 'backfire' in the automotive context. Might it be related to the occasional gouts of flame that are seen from the stacks of some GE engines (mostly), which I believe results from an accumulation of unburned fuel ? Backfires are usually more explosive in nature because of the greater energy from gasoline, but if this diesel detonation is happening deeper in the engine than the stack - such as in the exhaust manifold or turbocharger area, where the unburned fuel is still confined and under pressure - I could see that occurrence resulting in more of a "boom" sound than an unconfined combustion in rthe stack area.
Just my , and so feel free to tell me where and how i'm wrong on any of that . . .
Suggestion to the Original Poster: If you change the 'Subject" of this thread to better summarize that phenomenon, you might attract more qualified responses. And/ or, also post it over on the "Locomotives Forum" here, at: http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/741.aspx
- Paul North.
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