Lithonia Operator How does lowering speed limits by only 1 mph have any meaningful effect at all?
How does lowering speed limits by only 1 mph have any meaningful effect at all?
Usually, the problem was the ATS shoe on the locomotive, not the wayside hardware. (got called out by the DS more than once to go look for Amtrak's lost shoe between Dodge City and La Junta.
Aside from the legalities, there's probably zero difference from an operating standpoint. A train running 80 MPH is not going to handle any differently at 79; a pile up at 80 will still be a big mess, just as it will at 79. I suppose you have to draw the line somewhere, however.
tabeckettI suppose you have to draw the line somewhere, however.
No different than the highways. Fifty-five is legal, fifty-six is not - you can get a ticket for it, although most judges (and LEOs) give you some leeway there.
A retired trooper I know has said "nine is fine, ten, you're mine."
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...
tree68 tabeckett I suppose you have to draw the line somewhere, however. No different than the highways. Fifty-five is legal, fifty-six is not - you can get a ticket for it, although most judges (and LEOs) give you some leeway there. A retired trooper I know has said "nine is fine, ten, you're mine."
tabeckett I suppose you have to draw the line somewhere, however.
Maryland with regard to photo enforced Work Zones - advertises that in Work Zones the posted speed +12 - if the zone is 55 MPH you will get you picture and your ticket at 67 MPH.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
It is interesting to me that the Southern, in ATS territory, never authorized (according to the ETT's I have) a speed greater than 1 mph above the maximum speed allowed for ABS protection. Perhaps this was because almost of the tracks in the system were originally laid in the 19th century, and no more than the minimum necessary earthmoving was done, and rather than have a higher maximum speed allowed on the straighter sections, a uniform limit was imposed--except on stretches that were really crooked?
Johnny
It is very dangerous to stand too close to a moving train for the reasons listed above. Not so bad when I was a kid as most everything moved in boxcars and nothing hanging out. But Dad and I still kept back in case a car jumped the track, that could happen. I remember Dad taking Mom and I down to yard to see them put a car back on the track. It had not fell over but wheels were off the rails. Now there is a big hazard with so much open cargo. Very interesting comments and videos.
I know the passenger trains set their own speeds at times. On UP City of St. Louis going thru Utah, we were running late. The dining car kept dropping dishes and bumping into each other as we ate Dad knew something was up as these guys were used to working on a moving train. After dinner we went into the diner and talked to a guy clocking mileposts and we were doing 100 mph. UP passenger on UP tracks and shove freights out of the way.
My hubby was the night owl in his team with my late FIL about 20 years ago. He also knew the password for the computer on the fleet for the governor setting on the trucks. So going down the road late at night most of the time he had the governor bypassed. His dad always said Wyoming and Nebraska were boring at night. My hubby normally was blasting across them at around 80.
He also has said that half the time he was doing that to make up the time that was lost getting freaking loaded on either end and. When they only got 42 hours Chicago to Stockton or Fullerton and they lost 6 getting loaded some thing had to be done.
Violation of speed limits is not something to boast of.
charlie hebdoViolation of speed limits is not something to boast of.
In the 'olden days' it was! Who obeyed the double nickle? Nobody that I ever saw!
Well according to TV commercials everyone should drive like crazed maniacs with total disregard for everybody and the environment by tearing everything up... oh yeah and seriously speeding.
Shadow the Cats owner My hubby was the night owl in his team with my late FIL about 20 years ago. He also knew the password for the computer on the fleet for the governor setting on the trucks. So going down the road late at night most of the time he had the governor bypassed. His dad always said Wyoming and Nebraska were boring at night. My hubby normally was blasting across them at around 80. He also has said that half the time he was doing that to make up the time that was lost getting freaking loaded on either end and. When they only got 42 hours Chicago to Stockton or Fullerton and they lost 6 getting loaded some thing had to be done.
MiningmanWell according to TV commercials everyone should drive like crazed maniacs with total disregard for everybody and the environment by tearing everything up... oh yeah and seriously speeding.
You mean the ones that encourage people to "go out and tear up trails"?
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
CSSHEGEWISCH Shadow the Cats owner My hubby was the night owl in his team with my late FIL about 20 years ago. He also knew the password for the computer on the fleet for the governor setting on the trucks. So going down the road late at night most of the time he had the governor bypassed. His dad always said Wyoming and Nebraska were boring at night. My hubby normally was blasting across them at around 80. He also has said that half the time he was doing that to make up the time that was lost getting freaking loaded on either end and. When they only got 42 hours Chicago to Stockton or Fullerton and they lost 6 getting loaded some thing had to be done. And some people still wonder why truck drivers no longer enjoy the favorable reputation they once had.
Exactly. It's loads of fun to be going 5 mph over a 65 or 70mph speed limit with a large semi passing you at 80 and another bozo coming up from behind and tailgating you.
At 2am just how much traffic is on I80 across Wyoming actually. According to my hubby there were times when he literally would go 10 miles without seeing another truck or car on the road. Especially in Nevada Wyoming Montana Western Texas Arizona New Mexico Utah and the Dakota's.
Yet my hubby and his father were the first to stop if someone else ever needed help on the side of the road even if they had a tight deadline. 5 over speeding most state troopers in the late 90s didn't even care unless you were in Ohio or California on 5 over.
Shadow the Cats ownerAt 2am just how much traffic is on I80 across Wyoming actually. According to my hubby there were times when he literally would go 10 miles without seeing another truck or car on the road. Especially in Nevada Wyoming Montana Western Texas Arizona New Mexico Utah and the Dakota's. Yet my hubby and his father were the first to stop if someone else ever needed help on the side of the road even if they had a tight deadline. 5 over speeding most state troopers in the late 90s didn't even care unless you were in Ohio or California on 5 over.
At 2 AM I have crossed ENTIRE STATES on I-95 without having to release my cruise control.
In 1994, I drove with my brother in law in his 1991 Chevrolet 454 SS pickup truck from New York to Miami. On I-95 at 4 am, you get in a pod of cars all doing 100 mph and you won't be bothered by cops. Why not go that fast, otherwise you're holding up traffic.
charlie hebdo Violation of speed limits is not something to boast of.
And what are these 'speed limits' we are talking about? Around Chicago, 'speed limits' are, at best, mere suggestions.
Do the speed limit on the New Jersey Turnpike and I guarantee you someone's going to run right over you!
Not just that, but you could be doing 100mph on Route 95 between Richmond and Washington and I can also guarantee someone's going to pass you!
Just don't exceed the speed limit on those last 30 miles in Georgia on Route 95 before you hit the Florida border! The local cops are ready to pounce like tigers on drivers getting antsy because they're "almost there!" Trust me, I've seen it!
Alas, when the flow of traffic is running 5-10 MPH over the posted, that law-abiding driver putzing along at the speed limit is actually dangerous.
Even the railroads know that having everything running at the same speed is more efficient - that's one reason they dislike Amtrak.
As noted, law enforcement tends to look the other way if you're running with the flow of traffic. A retired state trooper I know said "nine is fine, ten you're mine."
Of course, that's on the open road (ie, Interstates) which were designed for high speeds in the first place. I tend to stick with the posted in town. As the sign says, "Drive like your kids live here."
Waaaay back in 1974, with the gas shortage of the time, the national speed limit was dropped to the now-familiar 55 MPH. Oddly, based on NTSB stats, the death rate actually went up at that time (reversing a ten year downward trend), even if the number of deaths dropped (because people simply weren't driving).
I've heard a couple horror stories from people nabbed in VA.
https://jalopnik.com/what-every-driver-should-know-about-speeding-in-virgini-1669902845
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
BaltACD Shadow the Cats owner At 2am just how much traffic is on I80 across Wyoming actually. According to my hubby there were times when he literally would go 10 miles without seeing another truck or car on the road. Especially in Nevada Wyoming Montana Western Texas Arizona New Mexico Utah and the Dakota's. Yet my hubby and his father were the first to stop if someone else ever needed help on the side of the road even if they had a tight deadline. 5 over speeding most state troopers in the late 90s didn't even care unless you were in Ohio or California on 5 over. At 2 AM I have crossed ENTIRE STATES on I-95 without having to release my cruise control.
Shadow the Cats owner At 2am just how much traffic is on I80 across Wyoming actually. According to my hubby there were times when he literally would go 10 miles without seeing another truck or car on the road. Especially in Nevada Wyoming Montana Western Texas Arizona New Mexico Utah and the Dakota's. Yet my hubby and his father were the first to stop if someone else ever needed help on the side of the road even if they had a tight deadline. 5 over speeding most state troopers in the late 90s didn't even care unless you were in Ohio or California on 5 over.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
.
Murphy Siding BaltACD Shadow the Cats owner At 2am just how much traffic is on I80 across Wyoming actually. According to my hubby there were times when he literally would go 10 miles without seeing another truck or car on the road. Especially in Nevada Wyoming Montana Western Texas Arizona New Mexico Utah and the Dakota's. Yet my hubby and his father were the first to stop if someone else ever needed help on the side of the road even if they had a tight deadline. 5 over speeding most state troopers in the late 90s didn't even care unless you were in Ohio or California on 5 over. At 2 AM I have crossed ENTIRE STATES on I-95 without having to release my cruise control. I've driven I-90 in northern Wyoming in the wee hours of the morning and seen no other cars for 30-45 minutes at times. There's also spots there where there are no houses and no lights visible at night. Eerie! For what it's worth- I drove the spped limit.
I've driven I-90 in northern Wyoming in the wee hours of the morning and seen no other cars for 30-45 minutes at times. There's also spots there where there are no houses and no lights visible at night. Eerie! For what it's worth- I drove the spped limit.
No kidding that is part of the reason why my hubby has some PTSD. He was heading across Wyoming late one night kid on a crotch rocket wiped out hit some sand or dirt on the road. He wiped out in front of my husband. Kid had on a helmet but no protective riding gear aka leathers. My husband said he peeled himself like a banana on the roadway when he laid his bike over at over 80 MPH the kid had just passed my husband. This was 6 years before we met. Hubby did not have a cell phone all he had was sat coms to get help with. ETA for the ambulance was over 1 hour at his location. Just getting a police officer there was 40 minutes. The kid died before the cop even got there. My husband did the best thing I swear to this day however. He had the cop take him to meet the kids mother and tell her that her child did not die alone. He had someone there with him at least. However he did not tell her that her baby was screaming please kill me from the pain for most of the time as he bled out. He instead told her his last words where tell my mother that I love her and he died peacefully. For 20 years now my husband can not sleep on the night of that crash he witnessed. All he can do 2 decades later still is stare out the window and cry.
In a similar vein, several years ago there was a flurry of cyclists doing around 100 MPH on the Outer Drive and some other expressways in the Chicago area. About that time, I was driving in to work early on a Saturday morning on I-55 at about 60-65 MPH when two or three cycles blew by me at an estimated 90+ MPH. I just hoped that I wouldn't see them scraped all over the roadway a few miles down. Fortunately, that didn't happen.
CSSHEGEWISCH In a similar vein, several years ago there was a flurry of cyclists doing around 100 MPH on the Outer Drive and some other expressways in the Chicago area. About that time, I was driving in to work early on a Saturday morning on I-55 at about 60-65 MPH when two or three cycles blew by me at an estimated 90+ MPH. I just hoped that I wouldn't see them scraped all over the roadway a few miles down. Fortunately, that didn't happen.
I first saw cyclists and thought, wow Lance Armstrong must be kicking it up!!
:D
Shadow the Cats ownerHe wiped out in front of my husband.
I think your husband had an experience that is as hard as one can. Glad he has you to help him. My experience back in the 70's had a much much happier outcome. And it is one of the reasons that when my son wanted to get a motorcycle, I refused to help him. I was Northbound on the Kennedy Expressway near Jefferson Park and in the center lane. I had been following a man on a motorcycle in my lane when his rear tire blew. The bike started fishtailing and fortunatly all three lanes of traffic slowed from about 50 mph and then he left the bike. I never knew that a body could bounce, but he did. He had no helmet, no leathers, but when he hit the pavement he bounced. All cars stopped and no one hit him. Other drivers moved his bike to the left guardrail and he was able to walk and talk so I took him in my car to the next exit and to a gas station where I could call the police (before cell phones) for him. And wierd thing was he told me that this was the second time something like this had happened to him.
I hope he tried a different brand of tire so there wasn't a third time.
I wonder if he decided to wear a helmet after the 2nd time?
York1 John
Some years back got a ticket on an AEI site that one antenna had low read counts of the tags. We got out there to see the antenna tower (a ten foot stick of Rohn 25G) to be standing at an angle and obviously twisted. This tower stands between the double track mainline of the UP Marysville Sub. Not too far away we found the remains of a ratchet strap tightener in the ballast. It was obvious the hook had caught the tower leg and twisted it as well as tore the strap leaving the ratchet assembly behind. We lined the antenna up as best we could as so far as I know, the tower is still there.
RadioTechWe got out there to see the antenna tower (a ten foot stick of Rohn 25G) to be standing at an angle and obviously twisted.
Serves as a lesson that they should have guyed it! (Or maybe used 45?)
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.