Do trains get hit by lighting if so what happens

[Anonymous]

if trains get hit by lighting what happens does it shut down. or do traction motors flash over..

[Anonymous]

if trains get hit by lighting what happens does it shut down. or do traction motors flash over..

[Anonymous]

It fries the points and condensor in the distributor. It also burns up the plug wires. It also makes the engineer and conductor mess their trousers.
Ken

[Anonymous]

It fries the points and condensor in the distributor. It also burns up the plug wires. It also makes the engineer and conductor mess their trousers.
Ken

[David3]

I hope if I become an engineer that won't happen to me, but it probably will considering the odds!

[David3]

I hope if I become an engineer that won't happen to me, but it probably will considering the odds!

[cabforward]

david3,

if you have chronically bad luck, that is a bummer..

if your luck is about the same as everybody else's, it's incredibly good.. the odds of being struck by lightning are slight to the extreme.. the odds of lightning striking a loco while you are in it are too extravagant to calculate..

in waiting for lightning to strike your loco, you would win the lottery dozens of times and marry every playmate of the month in a year of your choosing..

how long would you have to live for those things to happen?

the odds are the lottery and the playmates would happen long before the lightning would come anywhere near you..

[cabforward]

david3,

if you have chronically bad luck, that is a bummer..

if your luck is about the same as everybody else's, it's incredibly good.. the odds of being struck by lightning are slight to the extreme.. the odds of lightning striking a loco while you are in it are too extravagant to calculate..

in waiting for lightning to strike your loco, you would win the lottery dozens of times and marry every playmate of the month in a year of your choosing..

how long would you have to live for those things to happen?

the odds are the lottery and the playmates would happen long before the lightning would come anywhere near you..

[edblysard]

Antbro,
have had lightning hit cars near me, and in my train, it can give you a real good tickle.
And a good excuse to quit switching that the trainmaster really cant argue with.
If it hits a locomotive, it will trip the ground fault relay, the alternator will be isloated from the rest of the wiring, and then the lightning will go to ground through the wheels and rail.
It will scare the crap out of whoever is inside the locomotive, but it will follow the path of least resistance down the metal body and into the wheels.
Liken it to a airplane being hit by lightning, which happens all the time, they are designed for that to occur, and so is a locomotive.
Stay Frosty,
Ed

[edblysard]

Antbro,
have had lightning hit cars near me, and in my train, it can give you a real good tickle.
And a good excuse to quit switching that the trainmaster really cant argue with.
If it hits a locomotive, it will trip the ground fault relay, the alternator will be isloated from the rest of the wiring, and then the lightning will go to ground through the wheels and rail.
It will scare the crap out of whoever is inside the locomotive, but it will follow the path of least resistance down the metal body and into the wheels.
Liken it to a airplane being hit by lightning, which happens all the time, they are designed for that to occur, and so is a locomotive.
Stay Frosty,
Ed

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ironken

It fries the points and condensor in the distributor. It also burns up the plug wires. It also makes the engineer and conductor mess their trousers.
Ken

Hey Kenny, Sounds like you are speaking from experience [:D][:D][:D][:D].

I've got you all beat...Back in the summer of 1998, I was working on the north end of Acca Yard in Richmond VA, when we had a tornado warning, and the tornado came right down the center of the yard, past AY, and tore up the signals at the end of the wye on the south side of the yard. I remember racing for the rear box car, getting up and telling my hogger to high ball it through the yard. I'll never forget that wall of water that raced us. It almost caught up to me as we managed to keep the rear of our cut ahead of it by only a few car lengths. It was travelling fast! Talk about a wind storm...eeech....[:p] We made it from the North End to the South End in record speed. I've never seen cars rock back and forth as they did, but we made it down there just in time to get cover.

Who cares about a little cattle prodding, when the real stuff will simply blow you away! [;)]

MUD...

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ironken

It fries the points and condensor in the distributor. It also burns up the plug wires. It also makes the engineer and conductor mess their trousers.
Ken

Hey Kenny, Sounds like you are speaking from experience [:D][:D][:D][:D].

I've got you all beat...Back in the summer of 1998, I was working on the north end of Acca Yard in Richmond VA, when we had a tornado warning, and the tornado came right down the center of the yard, past AY, and tore up the signals at the end of the wye on the south side of the yard. I remember racing for the rear box car, getting up and telling my hogger to high ball it through the yard. I'll never forget that wall of water that raced us. It almost caught up to me as we managed to keep the rear of our cut ahead of it by only a few car lengths. It was travelling fast! Talk about a wind storm...eeech....[:p] We made it from the North End to the South End in record speed. I've never seen cars rock back and forth as they did, but we made it down there just in time to get cover.

Who cares about a little cattle prodding, when the real stuff will simply blow you away! [;)]

MUD...

[Anonymous]

yes they do whether there was anyone in it at the time or not i dont know. however an old conrail unit SD70MAC Rn 779 came through the shop a few weeks ago it had taken a lightning strike. it did extensive damage to breakers, modules, emdec computer, current transformers, damaged both of the siemens traction control computers, and fried several of the cards in the new york air brake computer i dont know the costs of these repairs however i know they are nowhere nearly as expensive as when they run an SD 60 in the river i have seen that also.

[Anonymous]

yes they do whether there was anyone in it at the time or not i dont know. however an old conrail unit SD70MAC Rn 779 came through the shop a few weeks ago it had taken a lightning strike. it did extensive damage to breakers, modules, emdec computer, current transformers, damaged both of the siemens traction control computers, and fried several of the cards in the new york air brake computer i dont know the costs of these repairs however i know they are nowhere nearly as expensive as when they run an SD 60 in the river i have seen that also.

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by geniusorus
[ however i know they are nowhere nearly as expensive as when they run an SD 60 in the river i have seen that also.

Really! And just how do they do that? This sounds interesting. Give us some more details on this one!

Mookie

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by geniusorus
[ however i know they are nowhere nearly as expensive as when they run an SD 60 in the river i have seen that also.

Really! And just how do they do that? This sounds interesting. Give us some more details on this one!

Mookie

[zardoz]

Mook-
They end up in the river if the engineer takes his/her hands off the steering wheel ! [;)]

[zardoz]

Mook-
They end up in the river if the engineer takes his/her hands off the steering wheel ! [;)]

[mudchicken]

Can't speak for locomotives, but can about what does happen when lightning hits a torsion beam liner and the com/signal lines 50 Ft. away from the track. The track liner has every circuit fried and can barely move (towed it into the clear). The blue light is awesome except it is accompanied by a horrific noise. We all had "fro"s and the hair on our arms stood straight up. There was .s.r.o. at the section house for access to the potty and somewhere to change clothes.

[mudchicken]

Can't speak for locomotives, but can about what does happen when lightning hits a torsion beam liner and the com/signal lines 50 Ft. away from the track. The track liner has every circuit fried and can barely move (towed it into the clear). The blue light is awesome except it is accompanied by a horrific noise. We all had "fro"s and the hair on our arms stood straight up. There was .s.r.o. at the section house for access to the potty and somewhere to change clothes.

[dekemd]

CSX had an AC4400 hit by lightning in North Carolina a few weeks ago. I didn't get to see it but the engineer said it melted most of the relays into a big blob, and fried every computer on board. It was the trailing unit in the consist so they weren't hurt, just scared the crap out of 'em!

Derrick

[dekemd]

CSX had an AC4400 hit by lightning in North Carolina a few weeks ago. I didn't get to see it but the engineer said it melted most of the relays into a big blob, and fried every computer on board. It was the trailing unit in the consist so they weren't hurt, just scared the crap out of 'em!

Derrick

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by zardoz1

Mook-
They end up in the river if the engineer takes his/her hands off the steering wheel ! [;)]

[}:)] Gee Thanx Zardoz!

Mook

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by zardoz1

Mook-
They end up in the river if the engineer takes his/her hands off the steering wheel ! [;)]

[}:)] Gee Thanx Zardoz!

Mook

[Mookie]

As much damage as lightning can do - why don't the whiz kids that make the equipment figure out how to drain all that energy off so it won't fry the electronics?
Lightning rods maybe?

Mookie

[Mookie]

As much damage as lightning can do - why don't the whiz kids that make the equipment figure out how to drain all that energy off so it won't fry the electronics?
Lightning rods maybe?

Mookie

[Anonymous]

oh you had to tell me that DEKEMD where ever this AC 4400 is that got hit by lightning im sure it is DIT to huntington and I will probably become very well aquainted with it in the near future as for your question mookie i dont know the whole story on how the SD 60 ended up in the river however i know that the mud and ballasts were so thick in this unit they couldnt bar the engine over im guessing they are goign to mark it off as a loss the carbody is demolished and any of the electronics in this unit are in bad shape also.

[Anonymous]

oh you had to tell me that DEKEMD where ever this AC 4400 is that got hit by lightning im sure it is DIT to huntington and I will probably become very well aquainted with it in the near future as for your question mookie i dont know the whole story on how the SD 60 ended up in the river however i know that the mud and ballasts were so thick in this unit they couldnt bar the engine over im guessing they are goign to mark it off as a loss the carbody is demolished and any of the electronics in this unit are in bad shape also.

[Anonymous]

MUDINURI,

Awesome story. That would have been something to see!

[Anonymous]

MUDINURI,

Awesome story. That would have been something to see!