Trains.com

Oil Train

50741 views
1088 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    October 2014
  • 1,644 posts
Posted by Wizlish on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 9:17 PM

Murray
Euclid
So, why don’t you guys go and start your own thread about everything that is wrong with me instead of hijacking this one

No one is hijacking your thread.

And I suppose all these recent critical posts and comments concern oil trains?

I have a little Youtube clip of my own to add.

If y'all think this is a dead horse thread, ignore it.  If you think Euclid isn't taking the criticism or comments as wholly as you'd like, either just don't post, or if you just can't stand it, keep criticizing or educating ... but stop insulting.  In case you hadn't noticed, this was his thread from the start, and nobody appointed any of us as thread police to shut it up, whether we like all the 'yes but' action and obtuse justification or not. 

There are fairly firm Forum policies about ad hominem attacks and ridicule.  I for one would greatly prefer it if we all respected them, and moved on. 

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 8:43 PM

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 8:24 PM
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 8:19 PM

Euclid
So, why don’t you guys go and start your own thread about everything that is wrong with me instead of hijacking this one?
 

No one is hijacking your thread.

Why after the feedback you have received on your "theories" can't you simply let is go and move on?

Why has this forum been subjected to 17 pages of your "yes but?"

Its time to give this a rest already!

  • Member since
    June 2004
  • From: roundhouse
  • 2,747 posts
Posted by Randy Stahl on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 6:54 PM

I have been looking at this thread. I can only reply that all of the safety devices on the MMA engines were functionaing normally... normally that is for a manned train.

I am certain that there is no one that wants safe oil transport more than I.

I don't have the answers beyond hiring more and better mechanical inspectors and more and better track inspections. To be honest I don't think there as a technology answer to the probem , I see it more as an engineering issue. At the time of the Megantic wreck I was  surprised that there was a volitile mixture of oxygen and fuel in the cars and that the void wasn't filled with inert gas..

 

I don't think that oil trains derail more than other un-newsworthy trains.

 

Randy

  • Member since
    November 2005
  • 4,190 posts
Posted by wanswheel on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 4:34 PM

I like Euclid and miss him when he disappears. He’s very thinkful of pertainments to public safety.

  • Member since
    January 2014
  • 8,221 posts
Posted by Euclid on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 4:16 PM
tree68
 
Euclid
So, why don’t you guys go and start your own thread about everything that is wrong with me instead of hijacking this one?

 

Because at this point there is no further reason to continue the discussion.  Your ideas have been aired, folks have pointed out potential shortcomings of same, and you simply reply by restating the same things over and over again.

As we've seen many times, you simply won't take "no" for an answer, regardless of what others may offer.

 

 

 

Oh I see.  You think you are right and I am wrong, so I am obligated to agree with you.  There are a lot more people reading this than just the ones who show up and post every day.  Explaining anything that is technical or complicated in a way that it can be understood is a challenge.  Just because you think you understand it, does not mean that everybody else does.  Not everybody is following this line by line.  There has also been plenty of fair and constructive discussion here that has gone back and forth without any hostility or even disagreement, even though you suggest otherwise.   
 
Who are you to decide when a topic should be ended just because you see repetition in the discussion?  Rather than come in here and drop snarky comments, why don’t you just stay out of it if you feel that there is nothing to add? 
 
This thread is totally complying with the forum rules.  I cannot imagine being so petty as to come into a thread and declare that I think enough has been said, and if I don’t get my way, I will wreck the discussion with insults.  I think you and some others ought to stand back and take a good look at yourselves.    
  • Member since
    December 2007
  • From: Southeast Michigan
  • 2,983 posts
Posted by Norm48327 on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 3:44 PM

Norm


  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: At the Crossroads of the West
  • 11,013 posts
Posted by Deggesty on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 3:34 PM

Friends, I have a suggestion: since the horse has not only been beaten but flayed, let us leave it alone.

Johnny

  • Member since
    October 2014
  • From: Flint or Grand Rapids, Mi or Elkhart, It Depends on the day
  • 573 posts
Posted by BOB WITHORN on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 3:04 PM
Posted by Euclid on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 3:43 PM
So, why don’t you guys go and start your own thread about everything that is wrong with me instead of hijacking this one?

 
 
Because most reasonable adults have far better things to do than whine and complain about being picked on.
  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,021 posts
Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 3:02 PM

Euclid
So, why don’t you guys go and start your own thread about everything that is wrong with me instead of hijacking this one?

Because at this point there is no further reason to continue the discussion.  Your ideas have been aired, folks have pointed out potential shortcomings of same, and you simply reply by restating the same things over and over again.

As we've seen many times, you simply won't take "no" for an answer, regardless of what others may offer.

You insist on restating your claims over and over, perhaps in hope that if you say them often enough, people will start to believe you.  So far, that hasn't happened.  You should take something from that other than "people won't listen."

Einstein wisely noted, "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

And so it goes with you - you throw your ideas and theories out there again and again, and again, and again.

Of course, that makes the rest of us a little crazy, as we've tried over and over to show you the fallacies in what you present, to no avail.

And one last note on the original topic - the feds foisted a technology on the railroads that couldn't even be implemented because so many parts were missing.  What makes you think that they wouldn't have mandated established technologies with regard to oil trains?

Don't answer that.  Just kick back and take a little vacation.

 

LarryWhistling
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...

  • Member since
    January 2014
  • 8,221 posts
Posted by Euclid on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 2:43 PM
So, why don’t you guys go and start your own thread about everything that is wrong with me instead of hijacking this one?
  • Member since
    December 2007
  • From: Southeast Michigan
  • 2,983 posts
Posted by Norm48327 on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 2:29 PM

Bucky,

I see no need for further discussion of the matter. You abjectly refuse to admit you may be wrong or others may have a valid point.

This discussion, however, needed to be done in the open forum so that you could see there are many folks here who disagree with you.

Over and out!

Norm


  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 2:16 PM

Yes, but.....

Stick out tongue

 

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,021 posts
Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 1:56 PM

Euclid
You and Dave are saying that since you are not seeing my ideas adopted, that has to mean that some hypothetical expert has proven that my ideas are not viable.   

As opposed to the hypothetical expert who is insisting that they are.

I've got an idea.  Rather than defend your ideas against all evidence to the contrary, why not give it a rest for say, a year.  Then if any of your ideas are adopted you can come back and say "I told you so."  

Of course, if they aren't, you are completely welcome to come back and admit failure, too.

Standing by for "yes, but..."

LarryWhistling
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...

  • Member since
    January 2014
  • 8,221 posts
Posted by Euclid on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 1:39 PM
Norm48327
 
Euclid
 
What you seem to be saying is the old fallacy that if a new idea was worthwhile it would have already been invented.
 

 

That is not what he is saying at all. Perhaps some of your ideas have already been tried and found to be unworkable without further refinement or new technology.

 

 

Norm,
 
That is exactly what he was saying.  He said this: “If professional people in the industry who have access to more data and can actually research these alternatives have not adopted them there must be a reason.”
 
I assume he means that the reason that there must have been is that they found the ideas unviable.  Yet Dave has no way of knowing what they found or even if they did research the ideas.  It is just like you saying this:  Perhaps some of your ideas have already been tried and found to be unworkable without further refinement or new technology.”
 
You are both saying the same thing which amounts to looking for a reason why what I am proposing is not in use.  And you both conclude that the ideas are not in use because they are unviable.
 
How about considering this explanation:  They have not yet thought of the specific combination of ideas I am proposing, and that is why they have not adopted them.
 
Or how about this one:  They have found the same ideas that I am proposing and intend to pursue them because they like the ideas.  The reason why they have not adopted them is that they have not yet had time to get it done.
 
You and Dave are saying that since you are not seeing my ideas adopted, that has to mean that some hypothetical expert has proven that my ideas are not viable.   
  • Member since
    July 2006
  • 9,610 posts
Posted by schlimm on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 1:37 PM

WilliamKiesel

Prevention must be zero tolerance, absolute; given the nature of Bakken crude oil.

Bakken crude oil is a stratified multi constituent liquid. Its weight is such that something like 28,000 gallons are the weight limit for a 30,000 gallon tank car. Visualize the 2000 gallons as about 36 drums of 55 gallon capacity. That's quite a bit of empty space inside a tank car. It is about 269 cubic feet.

What is the factor of cargo sloshing in the tank cars? What are the fluid dynamics for a stratified liquid such as Bakken crude? How does the distributed inertia and viscosity of Bakken crude contribute to unstable vehicle dynamics and rail/ wheel interaction? Might  skin friction result in the tank due to sloshing creating localized heating, stress and failure? Are boiling liquid expanding vapor events (BLEVE) causing the derailments?


Are the braking dynamics of ordinary air brakes contributing to slosh and a series of events leading to failure? Is there an optimal speed of operation for Bakken crude? Is there a maximum number of tank cars not to be exceeded? Is the draft gear and energy absorption of the tank cars adequate for handling Bakken crude.
These are the questions must be examined.


The inherent problem with railroad tank cars is that they are stupid. That is, there are no sensors on the tank cars to identify what the cargo is doing and how it affects vehicle dynamics. Knowing what is going on n the tank is first and foremost needed.

FRA PHMSA announcement simplly dela with stupid vehicles, rail tank cars. Given the potential and reality for catastrophe smart railroad cars need to part of the problem solving.

 

Great post of some good, fact-based questions.

C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan

  • Member since
    December 2007
  • From: Southeast Michigan
  • 2,983 posts
Posted by Norm48327 on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 12:36 PM

Euclid
 
What you seem to be saying is the old fallacy that if a new idea was worthwhile it would have already been invented.
 

That is not what he is saying at all. Perhaps some of your ideas have already been tried and found to be unworkable without further refinement or new technology.

You are ignoring everything that has been posted in response to you; "Two track railroad, one track mind" syndrome. It's time for you to acknowledge that others have valid arguments. Until you can do that your posts are nothing more than trolling. Adiscussion involves both sides. You're not listening to the other side.

Norm


  • Member since
    January 2014
  • 8,221 posts
Posted by Euclid on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 12:14 PM
 
Dave,
 
Why do you assume that those solutions have been permanently rejected just because they have not yet been enacted?  Times change and new problems emerge that suddenly make old ideas worthwhile even though they have not found a purpose in the past.  Take ECP brakes for example.  That idea came to fruition in the 1990s amid fanfare and great promise.  It was a solution in search of a problem, and it found many.  But the various drawbacks to conventional air brakes were just not enough to tip the balance in favor of ECP when magnitude of the conversion sunk in.
 
But suddenly starting in 2008, the oil by rail boom began and led to a big, bold problem that appears to have no solution that the industry will accept.  So this is a new problem in search of a solution.  And when that happens it is natural to reconsider older solutions that could not find a problem worth solving in the past, but might be worth applying to solve this new problem.  
 
What you seem to be saying is the old fallacy that if a new idea was worthwhile it would have already been invented.
  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,021 posts
Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 12:04 PM

dehusman
What that should tell you is there are barriers, downsides, consequences to those "solutions" that make them unattractive. Those are off the shelf "solutions", until something mitigates the barriers, downsides and consequences, those "solutions" will continue to be passed over.

Bingo!!! Thumbs UpYes

Cue the "yes, but..."

LarryWhistling
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...

  • Member since
    September 2003
  • From: Omaha, NE
  • 10,621 posts
Posted by dehusman on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 11:09 AM

I don’t know if you realize this, but the collection of ideas that I am proposing are not just unproven concepts that I have come up with in a vacuum.  ECP brakes, empty/loaded sensors, derailment sensors, and solid drawbars are all well-established concepts in practical use with proven merit. 

The question you haven't asked, or have accepted a simplistic answer for, is if all these technologies have been around for decades and have been tried at various times in various places around the world, why haven't they been adopted by more (any) railroads or car manufacturers on a regular basis?  If professional people in the industry who have access to more data and can actually research these alternatives have not adopted them there must be a reason.  Railroads have adopted lots of new technology over the last 3 or 4 decades (fiber optics, solid state, new detection systems, DPU, shelf couplers, head shields, energy management systems, new truck designs, new track standards, CWR, etc., etc.) but for some reason (or reasons) have not adopted your favorite "solutions".  What that should tell you is there are barriers, downsides, consequences to those "solutions" that make them unattractive. Those are off the shelf "solutions", until something mitigates the barriers, downsides and consequences, those "solutions" will continue to be passed over.

 

Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Western Pennsylvania
  • 69 posts
Posted by WilliamKiesel on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 11:08 AM

Prevention must be zero tolerance, absolute; given the nature of Bakken crude oil.

Bakken crude oil is a stratified multi constituent liquid. Its weight is such that something like 28,000 gallons are the weight limit for a 30,000 gallon tank car. Visualize the 2000 gallons as about 36 drums of 55 gallon capacity. That's quite a bit of empty space inside a tank car. It is about 269 cubic feet.

What is the factor of cargo sloshing in the tank cars? What are the fluid dynamics for a stratified liquid such as Bakken crude? How does the distributed inertia and viscosity of Bakken crude contribute to unstable vehicle dynamics and rail/ wheel interaction? Might  skin friction result in the tank due to sloshing creating localized heating, stress and failure? Are boiling liquid expanding vapor events (BLEVE) causing the derailments?


Are the braking dynamics of ordinary air brakes contributing to slosh and a series of events leading to failure? Is there an optimal speed of operation for Bakken crude? Is there a maximum number of tank cars not to be exceeded? Is the draft gear and energy absorption of the tank cars adequate for handling Bakken crude.
These are the questions must be examined.


The inherent problem with railroad tank cars is that they are stupid. That is, there are no sensors on the tank cars to identify what the cargo is doing and how it affects vehicle dynamics. Knowing what is going on n the tank is first and foremost needed.

FRA PHMSA announcement simplly dela with stupid vehicles, rail tank cars. Given the potential and reality for catastrophe smart railroad cars need to part of the problem solving.

  • Member since
    January 2014
  • 8,221 posts
Posted by Euclid on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 10:32 AM
Norm,
 
My ideas are 100% practical and I have explained them in easy to understand, common sense terms. 
 
I don’t know what you mean by “affordable.”   This is a serious problem and it is not going to be solved by cheap knickknacks.  I think affordable in this case is measure of what it is worth to retain the oil hauling business.  Wishing, hoping, and symbolic gestures are not going to be enough.  Success will only be measured by achieving results.      
 
I don’t know if you realize this, but the collection of ideas that I am proposing are not just unproven concepts that I have come up with in a vacuum.  ECP brakes, empty/loaded sensors, derailment sensors, and solid drawbars are all well-established concepts in practical use with proven merit.  My only unique contribution is differential braking; and that is only possible since the advent of ECP brakes.  And even that is not a totally new concept since it is just an automated version of pulling on a train in the advent of a UDE, with the intent of mitigating a pileup in case the UDE has been caused by a derailment.  All I have done is uniquely package this collection of measures to address the newly emerged problem of exploding oil trains.
  • Member since
    November 2013
  • 1,097 posts
Posted by Buslist on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 10:15 AM

Thumbs UpThumbs Up

Norm48327

 

 
Euclid
I am just somebody who sees a rising problem of exploding oil trains growing with the fast rise in crude oil traffic.  So I suggest ways to solve that problem.  I think solving the problem will require changing something.     
 

 

 

Perhaps it does, but continuous hammering away at the same subject over and over without offering any practical and affordable solutions accomplishes nothing. If you had some genuine railroad credentials you would realize that. Most of your posts have been simply rewording of the previous one and looking for a different outcome. It doesn't work that way.

Do you not think the powers that be would like to have zero derailments and accidents? They surely would, but they realize there is no such thing as perfection in any endeavor. They take safety very seriously, both for employees and the public.

 

 

+1

  • Member since
    December 2007
  • From: Southeast Michigan
  • 2,983 posts
Posted by Norm48327 on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 8:07 AM

Euclid
I am just somebody who sees a rising problem of exploding oil trains growing with the fast rise in crude oil traffic.  So I suggest ways to solve that problem.  I think solving the problem will require changing something.     
 

Perhaps it does, but continuous hammering away at the same subject over and over without offering any practical and affordable solutions accomplishes nothing. If you had some genuine railroad credentials you would realize that. Most of your posts have been simply rewording of the previous one and looking for a different outcome. It doesn't work that way.

Do you not think the powers that be would like to have zero derailments and accidents? They surely would, but they realize there is no such thing as perfection in any endeavor. They take safety very seriously, both for employees and the public.

Norm


  • Member since
    January 2014
  • 8,221 posts
Posted by Euclid on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 7:24 AM
I am just somebody who sees a rising problem of exploding oil trains growing with the fast rise in crude oil traffic.  So I suggest ways to solve that problem.  I think solving the problem will require changing something.     
  • Member since
    March 2016
  • From: Burbank IL (near Clearing)
  • 13,540 posts
Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Tuesday, April 21, 2015 6:45 AM

It appears that Bucky (or whatever he calls himself) is a philosophical cousin of the unlamented futuremodal, who absolutely insisted that dual-powers, Roadrailers and open access would save American railroading.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
  • Member since
    May 2004
  • From: Mason City, Iowa
  • 901 posts
Posted by RRKen on Monday, April 20, 2015 4:56 PM

tree68

Let's face if folks - Bucky's solutions are going to save the day, and it's the railroads' fault if they don't immediately embrace and implement those solutions.

 

If I had a dime for every self-proclaimed expert like Bucky who supposedly save the day, I would be rich.  

I never drink water. I'm afraid it will become habit-forming.
W. C. Fields
I never met a Moderator I liked
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Monday, April 20, 2015 3:57 PM

Norm48327

 

 
tree68

Let's face if folks - Bucky's solutions are going to save the day, and it's the railroads' fault if they don't immediately embrace and implement those solutions.

 

 

 

The world should be beating a path to his door. He will be rich and famous.

 

 

And then we can say we know someone famous.........

  • Member since
    March 2002
  • 9,265 posts
Posted by edblysard on Monday, April 20, 2015 2:39 PM

What truly amazes me is that the NTSB has failed to recognize the raw and apparently untapped talent Bucky has of simply looking at an video of a derailment, and without every having set foot at the wreck site, can, from far away, describe in exacting detail the movement of every car involved, and explain with such total detail the how and why each car ended up where it did, even though he has collected no evidence from the site, made no measurements, was not involved in the original investigation, or examined any of the cars involved in person.

Why they don't simply close the agency and just send videos directly to him to both explain what and how any accident happened, and to give the proper and precise solution to prevent such accident from ever happening again is beyond me.....save the government a lot of money that way.

23 17 46 11

Join our Community!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

Search the Community

Newsletter Sign-Up

By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy