Specific instances you are referring to please? My crystal ball is broken and I can't read your mind.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Do not agree. I remember a daisy-chain derailment of several TOFC flatcars on the CWI in Hegewisch. It took the better part of the day to pick up the derailed cars. The track was intact. The "Lake Cities" detoured on the parallel ex-NKP route between Pullman Jct and Hammond.
croteaudd The cleanup of train wrecks was a true phenomenon to see. The name of the game was to bulldoze everything out of the way, lay panel track, and open the line as soon as possible! Amtraks could get through in just a few hours! Now, it is a prolonged horror movie! It can take several days to reposition all the effected Amtrak equipment! Truly a time tragedy! Is all this preliminary to the end of railroading as we know it? Does everybody agree?
Photos from a thread in another forum show wreck clearance in the days before off track contractors getting in the business.
https://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/derailment-kent-oh-1962.153074/#post-1281712
Nope.
The railroads (or the contractors, these days) still push the offending cars out of the way and restore the track as quickly as possible. With few exceptions, the railroads want it fixed as quickly as possible, too.
The plethora of rail cams has allowed viewers to witness these operations from time to time.
Kansas City Junction has had two derailments that I know of, both of which were viewed live (and replayed many times). One on ground level and one on the elevated line.
It was several days before the derailed cars on the ground level were finally cleared from the site. But the line was easily open within 24 hours. I don't recall if they used panel track or were simply able to put the existing rail back in place (no doubt with new ties).
The elevated line was a little more complicated, as they couldn't just push the cars out of the way (autoracks), and instead had to hoist them, then lower them to the ground below. Still, it was only about a day before trains were again using the elevated line.
I'm sure you can find video on YouTube of both incidents.
Amtrak will usually take one of three actions in such cases - annul the affected trains, reroute them if possible, or bus passengers across the gap. On a busy, daily service corridor, that can cause problems for the passengers. On lines with thrice weekly service, it may make no difference at all.
Events like East Palestine, where there was remediation required, are rare.
The repair of the washouts on the Adirondack RR this past fall was delayed more by bureaucracy than anything else. The repair of the washouts on the Hudson line was much faster.
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...
The detour option for the UP ex-Rio Grande route is the UP Overland Route, Denver-Salt Lake. Its actually faster. Both lines are UP, so no need to coordinate with other RRs.
croteauddEverybody: What inspired this thread was the incident in Colorado that is currently going on, or at least had been. I rode the Rio Grande Zephyr with the Misses in 1982 on that route. It was a spectacular trip, but except for the beginning and end (and Dotzero), there was no alternative route, unlike the eastern US where there are plenty of alternative options for rerouting. Many years ago, because of her employment the Misses called me about a derailment at Verdemont, Calif. (BNSF, San Bernardino, Calif.) not too far from where we live. On site, an auto-rack train was found to have had derailed with the usual crunching of many autos. An exhausted NTSB man came and said a switch had been hotwired and had moved under the moving train! But, that location had detour options. The Colorado wreck (above) had no detour options, except No. 5 at Denver.
The era of private railroad passenger trains and 21st Century railroading are two different worlds.
In the era of private passenger trains, most origin/destination pairs of consequence had competing carriers. East to Chicago you had B&O, PRR, NYC, Erie, DL&W/NKP for example. Not only were they competing routes, they were intertwined and connected with each other at multiple locations along their routes.
Over years of coexistence numerous Detour routes existed and were known to the operators of each route. Once a derailment was reported at any particular location, the Detour Plan that covered that track segment was put into effect, with the derailing carrier notifying the detouring carrier of the trains that would be detoured and their approximate arrival time at the inital detour points so pilots could be called to guide crews over the detour route. In many cases detours to passenger trains could be effected with less than four hours total delay.
Freight train detours were more involved account tonnage, power and physical characteristics of the detour route as well as possible clearance restrictions. Only Priority freight trains would be detoured.
In the 21st Century you have two routes from the East to Chicago - CSX & NS. Amtrak has three trains from Chicago to the East- Lake Shore Limited, Capitol Limited and the 3 days a week Cardinal - each operating on different routings (LSL & CL share a routing Chicago to Cleveland). Amtrak barely has enough crews to operate these services On Time. Freight carriers on these routes, with the implementation of PSR on each property, barely have enough crew to support their regualr business, let alone have personnel for detours.
Modern railroading is dependent on the road network.
There are very few locations that are not reachable by road hauled equipment vs. the traditional wreck train, and highway moves cover more locations faster.
The old steam division points are still there, it is just the roundhouse (and everything else) has been bulldozed, and the rail lifted. Today they are materials yards and parking lots for trucks.
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