QUOTE: Originally posted by Trailryder I was there last night when the frist train went through at 6:52 pm it was a coal train eastbound with UP Engines 6021&7513 leading after that trains ran every 15-20 min. for the next hour & half all EB. I left around 9:30. All trains I saw were eastbound. they only had one bypass track open. they had not yet started building a 2nd bypass track. I have over 100 pictures of the derailment area from the last 2 days. I also have a hand full of the bridge in question from 2 weeks ago. I am new to this site is there a way to post pictures? please explain. I will be back in about hour to check replys. Later Bill
-ChrisWest Chicago, ILChristopher May Fine Art Photography"In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration." ~Ansel Adams
Originally posted by Trailryder Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR Austin TX Sub Reply Trailryder Member sinceMay 2005 From: Northern Illinois 130 posts Posted by Trailryder on Saturday, May 7, 2005 12:49 PM good question but the legs of the road bridge look too small to carry any weight plus the workers are using the road bridge alot to get back and forth. blocking off there only creek crossing would have made the job ever more challenging the next road bridge for road traffic is 1 1/2 miles south on Route 30. as for how I got in to get the pics, you just need to be a little sneaky , look harmless, and not attract too much attention, be polite, and ready to get out of the way . myself combined with 2 other railfans had enough guts to work our way right into the action, the workers noticed us but never seamed to mind. I am in the process of updateing the captions for the existing photos and I have about 14 more to upload but they will not get in till tomarrow. Enjoy the Pictures Later Bill P.S. if you happen to visit the Derailment site check out the old GTW steam engines just south of Galt on Route 2 behind a grain elevator If You Don't know where your going, Any Road will Take you There. Reply mudchicken Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Denver / La Junta 10,820 posts Posted by mudchicken on Saturday, May 7, 2005 2:02 PM QUOTE: Originally posted by Chris30 Great pictures! One dumb question. I noticed that they built the shoo-fly right next to the road bridge. The road was not a main highway, just a rural dirt/gravel road. Why didn't the UP think of using the road bridge as a shoo-fly? If it is a weight issue, could the road bridge have been supported by some extra ballast? CC Chris: that bridge, like just about any other highway bridge would not handle 2/3rd's of the weight that a main track railroad bridge designed for Cooper's E-80 loading has to be. (the picture shows that rural road bridge is pretty lightweight itself) T-Ryder: What concerns me is a missing inside steel guardrail in the photo taken a dozen days earlier and I can't tell if there is an ISG on the track that the train on the photo is on. Anyone have a recent photo showing the tracks & bridge with a better view of what was between the rails of both main tracks and the lengths of the ISG's on the bridge approaches. Was there a surfacing gang around that bridge within a couple of weeks of the accident? (Or is somebody about to become an ex-railroader for failing to put an ISG back into place after maintenance work?) The car may have derailed in the crossovers ahead of the bridge and the ISG could have saved a bigger mess - They might not need the thermal infrared crack cameras & materials engineers to solve this. Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west Reply Trailryder Member sinceMay 2005 From: Northern Illinois 130 posts Posted by Trailryder on Saturday, May 7, 2005 7:42 PM Interesting, I think I have a closer and clearer picture of the bridge before the wreck. I will look it up and post it with the others. Later If You Don't know where your going, Any Road will Take you There. Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, May 7, 2005 9:37 PM Has one of the new Double Tracks been open yet? Reply Edit Chris30 Member sinceDecember 2001 From: near Chicago 937 posts Posted by Chris30 on Sunday, May 8, 2005 11:57 AM So, the answer on my bridge question is... We've already put one bridge in the creek this week, lets not make it two![;)] Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, May 8, 2005 5:43 PM Speaking of detour trains, we've been experiencing some of them out of St. Louis heading East. I caught a 120 car loaded coal train with 17,000 plus tons, and its destination was Selkirk, NY. Had three UP engines Two SD70MAC's (one on the lead and one on the rear), and also an SD90MAC. We had never seen a coal train with the radio controlled power on the rear in these parts before, and my engineer wasn't sure how to run the control box on his stand. Eventually he got it figured out and we pushed the train up Bellfountaine hill at about 20mph, which is very impressive for 17,000 tons!!! We are supposed to keep getting detour trains through this week as far as I know. Reply Edit jeaton Member sinceSeptember 2002 From: Rockton, IL 4,821 posts Posted by jeaton on Sunday, May 8, 2005 6:01 PM Trailryder You are hereby nominated for the position of correspondent and photo journalist of the of the month for the Trains.com forum. Very nice piece of work. Nate How's work at the new location? Jay "We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, May 8, 2005 7:02 PM Jay, Work is good. I work less often and make more money. I have also interviewed for a train dispatcher position here in Indy and should know very soon if I will have a new job. Even if I don't make dispatcher, I am enjoying my new work environment and learning a lot of RR history from the old heads. Reply Edit Trailryder Member sinceMay 2005 From: Northern Illinois 130 posts Posted by Trailryder on Sunday, May 8, 2005 8:06 PM Is there any money involved with this position? LOL Later Bill If You Don't know where your going, Any Road will Take you There. Reply jeaton Member sinceSeptember 2002 From: Rockton, IL 4,821 posts Posted by jeaton on Sunday, May 8, 2005 8:11 PM Bill No. The big bucks in this place don't come until you get stars. Each star doubles the money paid to you by Trains.com for each post. You can contact Eric Bergstrum about this. I am sure he will tell you that the check's in the mail. "We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics Reply MP173 Member sinceMay 2004 From: Valparaiso, In 5,921 posts Posted by MP173 on Sunday, May 8, 2005 10:38 PM Mudchicken: What is an ISG? Bill....great photos. Thanks for sharing. The creek looks like it has quite a bit of water...and it has been very dry this spring. I share your concerns regarding rain...we are expecting rain this week. ed Reply Chris30 Member sinceDecember 2001 From: near Chicago 937 posts Posted by Chris30 on Sunday, May 8, 2005 10:58 PM Trailryder, Thanks for all of the great pictures. FYI... a lot of new pictures of been added. The damage to some of the cars is amazing - ripped apart like tin cans! Trailryder, please alert when, if, you add any more new pics. CC Reply ericsp Member sinceMay 2015 5,134 posts Posted by ericsp on Sunday, May 8, 2005 11:30 PM The boxcar in this picture http://www.pbase.com/trailryder/image/43134666 is probably carrying salt. I am guessing it had HCGX reporting marks. The manganese [sic] was probably in the GPFX pressure-differential hopper. Was this http://www.pbase.com/trailryder/image/43134683 a reefer or a boxcar? If it was a reefer, it would be potatoes. If it was a boxcar, it would be some type of tomato product. "No soup for you!" - Yev Kassem (from Seinfeld) Reply Trailryder Member sinceMay 2005 From: Northern Illinois 130 posts Posted by Trailryder on Monday, May 9, 2005 12:07 AM I have changed the caption in question above to relate the correct infomation, thanks for the expert help. I have added about a dozen more pictures tonight and updated most of the captions. if you have not viewed the gallery since 7:00pm sunday you may wi***o check it out again. I may add more tomarrow night but thats all for now. Thank you all for the kind words of encouragement. Later Bill If You Don't know where your going, Any Road will Take you There. Reply ericsp Member sinceMay 2015 5,134 posts Posted by ericsp on Monday, May 9, 2005 12:14 AM QUOTE: Originally posted by Trailryder I have changed the caption in question above to relate the correct infomation, thanks for the expert help. I have added about a dozen more pictures tonight and updated most of the captions. if you have not viewed the gallery since 7:00pm sunday you may wi***o check it out again. I may add more tomarrow night but thats all for now. Thank you all for the kind words of encouragement. Later Bill You are welcomed, although I am not sure I am an expert. Thanks for the pictures. "No soup for you!" - Yev Kassem (from Seinfeld) Reply mudchicken Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Denver / La Junta 10,820 posts Posted by mudchicken on Monday, May 9, 2005 6:40 AM ISG = Inside Steel Guardrail Would normally catch the wheels on a derailed truck and keep them on top of the ties to keep the railcar from striking a fixed object like the side of a through truss bridge (or going over the side of other bridges). On the western railroads, these usually start 50-100 feet in advance of the bridge (or more on high speed lines)...... Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west Reply CopCarSS Member sinceAugust 2002 From: Turner Junction 3,076 posts Posted by CopCarSS on Monday, May 9, 2005 7:52 AM Bill, Thanks for the great pics! Chris Denver, CO -ChrisWest Chicago, ILChristopher May Fine Art Photography"In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration." ~Ansel Adams Reply jeaton Member sinceSeptember 2002 From: Rockton, IL 4,821 posts Posted by jeaton on Monday, May 9, 2005 8:32 AM On the closeup of the track over the bridge prior to the wreck. Sure looks like a section is missing. Jay "We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics Reply Trailryder Member sinceMay 2005 From: Northern Illinois 130 posts Posted by Trailryder on Monday, May 9, 2005 10:19 PM I have added 7 more photos to the derailment gallery. They are from today and they show the new bridge nearing compleation. I have also learned that they think the derailment was caused by a faulty/broken/missing Angle bar on or near the bridge. Track speed limit in this area is 70mph, but unofficialy I heard the train was doing 44mph when it derailed. I will post more if and when I get them. T.T.F.N. Later Bill If You Don't know where your going, Any Road will Take you There. Reply jeaton Member sinceSeptember 2002 From: Rockton, IL 4,821 posts Posted by jeaton on Monday, May 9, 2005 10:32 PM I have got to say they are making quick work of that new bridge. Would it be so nice if highway reconstruction went that fast. Something for the Mudhen if he comes back on. On that prewreck close up it looks like bolted rail over the bridge span and some missing ISG. Any thoughts? Jay "We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics Reply mudchicken Member sinceDecember 2001 From: Denver / La Junta 10,820 posts Posted by mudchicken on Monday, May 9, 2005 11:33 PM That close to the bridge, if a stripped joint/blind joint failure happened (broken bolts), properly installed ISG would most likely prevented catastrophic bridge failure. The derailed wheels would not have time to wander. Curious to hear how this is closed out. My initial comment and question stands. Any trained railway engineer would see the same thing from a distance. Did not look right the first time I saw the before picture and then looked at the deformed first diagonal member in the truss. Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west Reply 1234 Join our Community! Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account. Login » Register » 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 More great sites from Kalmbach Media Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy
Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR Austin TX Sub
QUOTE: Originally posted by Chris30 Great pictures! One dumb question. I noticed that they built the shoo-fly right next to the road bridge. The road was not a main highway, just a rural dirt/gravel road. Why didn't the UP think of using the road bridge as a shoo-fly? If it is a weight issue, could the road bridge have been supported by some extra ballast? CC
"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics
"No soup for you!" - Yev Kassem (from Seinfeld)
QUOTE: Originally posted by Trailryder I have changed the caption in question above to relate the correct infomation, thanks for the expert help. I have added about a dozen more pictures tonight and updated most of the captions. if you have not viewed the gallery since 7:00pm sunday you may wi***o check it out again. I may add more tomarrow night but thats all for now. Thank you all for the kind words of encouragement. Later Bill
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