Conrail?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqlc7cAoDxA
I doubt that actually happened. Is there any reference to actual facts of a real accident that this was based on?
CSX (Chessie at the time) Saginaw Sub - Just north of Plymouth. Six Mile Road overpass is here: N 42 24' 41" W 83 28' 7"
It did happen: http://articles.latimes.com/1985-10-05/news/mn-1073_1_runaway-boxcars
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...
Well, it must be true. The concept sounds entirely feasible, but the way the story is told stuck me as being farfetched. So, did the crossing signals just happen fail to activate when this runaway came through?
EuclidSo, did the crossing signals just happen fail to activate when this runaway came through?
Crossing signals sense the shunting (shorting) of the rails by the train. It's very possible that a couple of cars may not be able to shunt the rails enough to trip the signals. It can happen with light locomotives as well.
Rusty rails can also be a problem - we deal with it every spring. I doubt that was a problem on that line at the time, as it saw a fair amount of traffic. The Ford assembly plant at Wixom was still active at that time.
Signal maintainers have to deal with a fine line between too sensitive, and not sensitive enough. Especially in northern climes, that involves balancing between being sensitive enough to detect trains, yet being unsensitive enough to not be activated by road salt and the like.
tree68 Euclid Crossing signals sense the shunting (shorting) of the rails by the train. It's very possible that a couple of cars may not be able to shunt the rails enough to trip the signals. It can happen with light locomotives as well. Rusty rails can also be a problem - we deal with it every spring. I doubt that was a problem on that line at the time, as it saw a fair amount of traffic. The Ford assembly plant at Wixom was still active at that time. Signal maintainers have to deal with a fine line between too sensitive, and not sensitive enough. Especially in northern climes, that involves balancing between being sensitive enough to detect trains, yet being unsensitive enough to not be activated by road salt and the like.
Euclid
Maintainers routinely adjust the impedence level of track voltage to what is required to permit the signal system to operate under ambient conditions. The article was dated 10/5 - and even in Michigan, snow is rare that early in October.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACDThe article was dated 10/5 - and even in Michigan, snow is rare that early in October.
Agreed - just pointing out that signals aren't a "set and forget" item, and that it's necessary to achieve a balance.
By October, any residual salt around the crossings should have been washed away by the summer rains...
Keep in mind that this had to have been a re-creation (how unusual it would have been to have cameras in the right places for the actual event!). The locomotive was from the Central Michigan Railroad, which does not run over the CSX Saginaw Sub that I'm aware of.I still don't know how the two cars could have become separated from their train without dumping the air. Was this a deliberate act of vandalism/sabotage?
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)
CShaveRR Keep in mind that this had to have been a re-creation (how unusual it would have been to have cameras in the right places for the actual event!). The locomotive was from the Central Michigan Railroad, which does not run over the CSX Saginaw Sub that I'm aware of.I still don't know how the two cars could have become separated from their train without dumping the air. Was this a deliberate act of vandalism/sabotage?
Looking at the background scenery during the scenes at the bridge, and comparing it to satellite and topo images, it's pretty clear that the overpass used for the re-enactment is not the same one where the incident actually occurred. But I have to give them credit, they came close!
I drove the Northville Road a number of times back in the day - I had a high school girlfriend who lived on Five Mile Road.
The train looks to have been mostly a "stock" shot. At least they got the state right...
The news story doesn't address why the cars were rolling. There were a number of sidings in the Wixom and Novi areas that could have contributed. They could have been there long enough to bleed the air off.
tree68 CShaveRR Keep in mind that this had to have been a re-creation (how unusual it would have been to have cameras in the right places for the actual event!). The locomotive was from the Central Michigan Railroad, which does not run over the CSX Saginaw Sub that I'm aware of.I still don't know how the two cars could have become separated from their train without dumping the air. Was this a deliberate act of vandalism/sabotage? Looking at the background scenery during the scenes at the bridge, and comparing it to satellite and topo images, it's pretty clear that the overpass used for the re-enactment is not the same one where the incident actually occurred. But I have to give them credit, they came close! I drove the Northville Road a number of times back in the day - I had a high school girlfriend who lived on Five Mile Road. The train looks to have been mostly a "stock" shot. At least they got the state right... The news story doesn't address why the cars were rolling. There were a number of sidings in the Wixom and Novi areas that could have contributed. They could have been there long enough to bleed the air off.
At the time of the incident the rail industry and Chessie in particular were not as strident on the application of hand brakes that the entire industry is at the present time. Suspect, but don't know, that cars may have been set into a double ended yard track and not properly secured, ran away and thus we have the story. Vandalism is always a potential, above and beyond employee's failure.
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