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That's one word for it

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Posted by Cotton Belt MP104 on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 8:20 PM

Euclid
I think they use the term, “controlled burn” ....................
 
How would you suggest the news report should have described the fire shown in this thread?
 

 

   tree68 said it is called "perscribed burn"    endmrw0227182020

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Posted by Dakguy201 on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 7:47 PM

Perhaps a thingy exists, but I think if you have more than one of them they are thingies.

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Posted by Mookie on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 7:13 PM

ChuckCobleigh

 

 
Mookie
Thingys is a good descriptive word for so many things...

 

Especially when they are colored yellow?Big Smile

 

See what a good memory you have.  Couldn't think of any way to describe it, so Thingy seemed to fit....notice they disappeared shortly after that, too.

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Posted by Semper Vaporo on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 6:58 PM

Photos often show more of the heat (infrared) of the flames than the visible light given off (especially true of digital cameras).  The flames in a photo will appear much worse than they did to the human eye at the time.

 

Semper Vaporo

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 6:55 PM

Electroliner 1935
Do locomotives still start fires as they did 70 years ago?

It's been known to happen.  Not as much as hotboxes did, though.

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Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 6:20 PM

Those photo's are more extreme than what I remember from my days back on the PRR. We used to recieve stories of small fires popping up along the ROW after a specific locomotive was on a train going across Ohio and Indiana. The resulted from hot carbon chunks being thrown out the stack and finding dry grass to ignite. Seeing these flames is much more extreme. Do locomotives still start fires as they did 70 years ago?

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 5:51 PM

I believe they're just the result of too much fuel in the exhaust - idling too long, failure of the fuel controls mechanism, whatever.  Get enough heat, fuel, and air and it lights off.

This one was a turbo failure, as I recall.  There's video of it.

And others:

 

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Posted by seppburgh2 on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 5:27 PM

Maybe this is a normal cycle on modern locomatives where after some period the CPC lights up the exhust to burn out carbon or excess fuel build up?

http://www.bdtonline.com/news/mcdowell-train-flame-a-possible-burn-off-of-carbon-oil/article_40ade07e-0631-11e8-bf72-df83711e007a.html

 

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Posted by ChuckCobleigh on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 4:54 PM

Mookie
Thingys is a good descriptive word for so many things...

Especially when they are colored yellow?Big Smile

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Posted by Semper Vaporo on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 4:11 PM

Thingys is a good descriptive word for so many thingys... Clown

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Posted by Mookie on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 4:03 PM

zugmann

 

 
BaltACD
Well the description is a little better than 'engine thingy'.

 

I think I used the term engine thingy more in my career than engine car, tbh.

 

Thingys is a good descriptive word for so many things...Shy

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Posted by zugmann on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 3:43 PM

BaltACD
Well the description is a little better than 'engine thingy'.

I think I used the term engine thingy more in my career than engine car, tbh.

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any

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Posted by BaltACD on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 3:23 PM

Paul of Covington
   "Railroad was doing a scheduled controlled burn on an engine car."

   How often do you guys schedule these burns on your engine cars?

Well the description is a little better than 'engine thingy'.

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Posted by switch7frg on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 3:22 PM

Big Smile The ( Newsies)  must be kin folk of the Tooner Ville Trolley gang with Smokey Stover.

Y6bs evergreen in my mind

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Posted by Randy Stahl on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 3:21 PM

All of my burns are rather unscheduled..

It's fixed BTW.

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Posted by Paul of Covington on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 3:14 PM

   "Railroad was doing a scheduled controlled burn on an engine car."

   How often do you guys schedule these burns on your engine cars?

_____________ 

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Posted by Ulrich on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 3:12 PM

Definitely shut it down and fix.

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Posted by Randy Stahl on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 2:58 PM

No one from the RR made any statements to the press... no one knew about it until later.

 

It was running rather rich though.

 

 

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Posted by wanswheel on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 2:45 PM

tree68

In the fire world, a controlled burn (or "prescribed burn") would be one that was set in order to get rid of something, be it an old house or underbrush.

Worcester Telegram seems to knew that.

http://www.telegram.com/news/20160612/holden-firefighters-hone-skills-by-burning-old-house

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 2:16 PM

Euclid
How would you suggest the news report should have described the fire shown in this thread?

As what it was - unburned fuel in the exhaust ignited.  Not really an engine malfunction, but close.

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Posted by Semper Vaporo on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 1:46 PM

If a car had backfired and attracted the attention of some member of the public and they reported it to some authority, it would have been reported in/on the news so that others that might have heard it would understand what had really happened.  Thus probably this was reported to someone of authority and they investigated and found it to be not a threat to the public, so it was reported as such... albeit rather poorly described.

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Posted by Randy Stahl on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 1:07 PM

Euclid
I think they use the term, “controlled burn” just to mean it is something intended or normally occurring rather than an accidental fire.  I am sure they realize that the fire has not intentionally been set to dispose of part of the locomotive.  I would give them credit for not regarding the fire as an accidental, destructive burn.  That is how the public regarded the fire on the oil train locomotive involved in the Lac Megantic runaway. 
 
How would you suggest the news report should have described the fire shown in this thread?
 

It's as news worthy as a car backfiring.

I guess it distracted the crowds at Elizabeth Warrens anti gun rally.

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Posted by Euclid on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 11:33 AM
I think they use the term, “controlled burn” just to mean it is something intended or normally occurring rather than an accidental fire.  I am sure they realize that the fire has not intentionally been set to dispose of part of the locomotive.  I would give them credit for not regarding the fire as an accidental, destructive burn.  That is how the public regarded the fire on the oil train locomotive involved in the Lac Megantic runaway. 
 
How would you suggest the news report should have described the fire shown in this thread?
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Posted by Deggesty on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 10:53 AM

BaltACD

Engine car I can expect from the media.

But the rail company's media official had to be the one that gave the statement that it was a 'controlled burn'.  This official must have departed the media Friday to becom the mouthpiece of the company on Monday - without going the the Railroad 101 course.

 

Whoever or whatever the official is, he needs a good grounding in railroad operation--and in peculiarites of certain engines.

Johnny

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Posted by Deggesty on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 10:50 AM

7j43k

 

 
zugmann

 

 

Odd.

 

I heard that it was a new FRA requirement for improved grade crossing safety:

If repeated loud horn sounds don't get your attention, then perhaps giant flames coming out of an engine car would.

It would certainly get mine.

 

 

Ed

 

LaughLaugh

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Posted by 7j43k on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 10:43 AM

zugmann

 

Odd.

 

I heard that it was a new FRA requirement for improved grade crossing safety:

If repeated loud horn sounds don't get your attention, then perhaps giant flames coming out of an engine car would.

It would certainly get mine.

 

 

Ed

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 8:01 AM

In the fire world, a controlled burn (or "prescribed burn") would be one that was set in order to get rid of something, be it an old house or underbrush.

OTOH, I wouldn't expect an office drone, or even a run-of-the-mill PR person, to know about and understand why instances such as that occur.

LarryWhistling
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Posted by Overmod on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 7:49 AM

Well, it's as controlled as one of those ever is on a GE...

And it seems to fit with the more normal use of 'controlled burn' in fire management... tree?  Would any railroad-management drone not already in the fire service use that particular term of art?

If they were clever it would be an opportunity to discuss regeneration of DPFs as a valuable strategy in diesel-locomotive management, all the more significant for being almost utterly spurious.

I just find it sad that Mr. Jung and the whole staff (I somewhat uncharitably suspect that when you have a paper called the "Telegram" you're already somewhat behind the technology power curve) still have no idea what they're looking at, or why there might be an interesting story in it.

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Posted by oltmannd on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 7:47 AM

That engine car be very much broken.  Fire on the inside - okay.  Fire on the outside - less so.

-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/

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Posted by BaltACD on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 7:01 AM

Engine car I can expect from the media.

But the rail company's media official had to be the one that gave the statement that it was a 'controlled burn'.  This official must have departed the media Friday to becom the mouthpiece of the company on Monday - without going the the Railroad 101 course.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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