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Post by calzephyr on Jan 22, 2013 6:39:18 GMT -8
On Sunday morning after Church, I had made plans with some guys from the Bay area to take pictures of the Union Pacific on Donner Pass. We normally meet up someplace and go from there. When I got over to the station to meet up, I found out a derailment had taken place and all trains were on hold. We got to see the place where some of the initial problems happened just east of town at a crossing where the flange marks on the crossing shows one set of wheels rode over the crossing about 15" inside the rails. It is two more miles or so to Colfax so this train was dragging at least one set of wheels on the gravel and ties for two or three miles. We could see parts all along the track starting at the point those wheels hit the crossing east of town. Twenty one springs and the bearing retainer along with many other parts were found along the track leading into town. Most of the people in town was watching the cleanup and we were able to get fairly close behind the Police tape to watch the crew in action. The well car that had the problem was a total loss and the side frames wer split and each side was pulled out of the mess. Larry s806.photobucket.com/albums/yy345/Trainsforyou/Colfax-Newcastle/?albumview=slideshow |
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Post by kentuckysouthernrwy on Jan 23, 2013 8:55:51 GMT -8
Nice pictures in your slide show.
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Post by calzephyr on Jan 23, 2013 10:42:43 GMT -8
Nice pictures in your slide show. Karl Thanks for the comments. Most of the town was there also since watching the clean up was very interesting to see how those large machines could pick up the wreck. It reminded me of the model Tonka Truck type of machines. larry |
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Post by KIM on Jan 23, 2013 18:19:28 GMT -8
That will leave a mark.
Back in the 80s or early 90s, I was watching a train go through my town. I noticed that one of the wheels on a grain car was jumping like crazy. I got to the police station as fast as I could to report it, but the officer just took my name and phone number, and shrugged me off. As I left I him make some remark about "dumb train watchers". About an hour later another police officer, followed by a Sheriff's Deputy, showed up at my job to ask me about the jumping wheel. It turned out that just a few miles farther down the track, the train had derailed and smashed up several cars. It was also mentioned that the railroad company had never been notified about the wheel.
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Post by calzephyr on Jan 25, 2013 8:49:32 GMT -8
That will leave a mark. Back in the 80s or early 90s, I was watching a train go through my town. I noticed that one of the wheels on a grain car was jumping like crazy. I got to the police station as fast as I could to report it, but the officer just took my name and phone number, and shrugged me off. As I left I him make some remark about "dumb train watchers". About an hour later another police officer, followed by a Sheriff's Deputy, showed up at my job to ask me about the jumping wheel. It turned out that just a few miles farther down the track, the train had derailed and smashed up several cars. It was also mentioned that the railroad company had never been notified about the wheel. Douglas The dispatchers are in Omaha for the Union Pacific and getting in touch with them would be next to impossible. Reporting the wheel problem you noticed to the local authorities as you found out will be taken with a grain of salt! Every train that meets a train in a passing siding is watched by a crew member and given the OK as the train passes. They probably don't care if they have an alert from most of us. I was watching a train that could not pump up the air properly and told the crew member what car might be the problem since I had hear the car leaking air. It had a very bad leak and I don't think they listened and ended up walking the complete train before setting out that car I had told them was leaking air. Larry |
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Post by rhpd42002 on Jan 27, 2013 10:24:58 GMT -8
Nice set of pics of the mess, Larry. I guess I have a slight advantage if I call the CSX dispatcher in Jacksonville, Fl. I tell who I am, where I'm located and what the particular problem is. It's rare, but I have had to call them about us being on the right of way, searching for criminal suspects in the woods in/near town, stalled semi-trucks on grade crossings and once a semi-trailer went off the edge of the road while turning too sharply and it was leaning close to the rails. The train eased by REAL S L O W so it wouldn't vibrate it down the ditchbank and into the train.  |
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Post by calzephyr on Mar 13, 2013 7:57:49 GMT -8
Nice set of pics of the mess, Larry. I guess I have a slight advantage if I call the CSX dispatcher in Jacksonville, Fl. I tell who I am, where I'm located and what the particular problem is. It's rare, but I have had to call them about us being on the right of way, searching for criminal suspects in the woods in/near town, stalled semi-trucks on grade crossings and once a semi-trailer went off the edge of the road while turning too sharply and it was leaning close to the rails. The train eased by REAL S L O W so it wouldn't vibrate it down the ditchbank and into the train. I drove up to Colfax again recently and all is normal again like it never happened. The crossing signal is a plain J type but overall, you can't tell the incident took place. Larry |
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Post by kentuckysouthernrwy on Mar 13, 2013 14:43:43 GMT -8
I called CSX a year or so back about a covered hopper that had stuff blowing out of it's bottom dumps. Heard dispatcher tell the train about the report with a sarcastic, "report of the mysterious white powder" and that the car was said to be empty but they did stop and check. I'm not sure their finding or report back to dispatcher as I was pressed for time and left before they called back. The railroad police officer that answered was professional.
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Post by calzephyr on Mar 13, 2013 17:04:38 GMT -8
I called CSX a year or so back about a covered hopper that had stuff blowing out of it's bottom dumps. Heard dispatcher tell the train about the report with a sarcastic, "report of the mysterious white powder" and that the car was said to be empty but they did stop and check. I'm not sure their finding or report back to dispatcher as I was pressed for time and left before they called back. The railroad police officer that answered was professional. Most of the time, they probably do not take outside information from the general public unless it is a Police officer. I can understand this to a point since each train is inspected by a crew on the ground or maintenance personnel as the train passed and they can spot trouble quickly. I normally look at a train as it passes and hear at least one wheel bearing set on many of the trains that sounds like it is the last ride! Reporting that is useless unless there is smoke or parts beginning to come off the trucks. I have wondered if any of their dragging equipment detectors listen for bearing noise. Larry Larry |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2013 5:20:30 GMT -8
For anyone that ever wondered why solid bearings were eventually outlawed, what I saw in the 1970's on the Grand Trunk Western when riding in the car with my dad confirmed the reason.
We were driving west on U.S. Route 6 or 162nd(159th) street in South Holland, Illinois. As we approached the GTW grade crossing, we saw a lot of BLACK smoke. This was the GTW's double track mainline and it had a set-out track just north of the crossing.
Sitting on the set out track was a 50 foot double door box with ALL EIGHT of its journals one fire. The crew was working on extinguishing the flames. On our return trip the car was still on the siding but with the fire out and awaiting the arrival of car knockers to fix its problem.
While a volunteer at the Illinois Railway Museum on a cold January day in Illinois, Nick, IRM's general manager, was headed back to the museum from town after lunch. As he was crossing the CNW's Belvedere Sub, he noticed one rail was broken. The Belvedere Sub is a dark railroad (no signals - track warrant).
He called the CNW and reported the broken rail. About an hour later a CNW supervisor showed up, got out of his truck, looked at the broken rail, got back in his truck and drove away. A few hours later a MOW truck and gang arrived. They welded the broken rail with little fanfare and left.
A half hour after the track gang left, the eastbound train out of Belvedere with its train of autoracks, 86 foot auto parts cars from the Chrysler assembly plant and a healthy assortment of grain hoppers hammered over the freshly repaired rail at 50 mph.
The CNW always took calls from IRM about safety issues seriously.
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Post by calzephyr on Mar 14, 2013 5:30:06 GMT -8
For anyone that ever wondered why solid bearings were eventually outlawed, what I saw in the 1970's on the Grand Trunk Western when riding in the car with my dad confirmed the reason. We were driving west on U.S. Route 6 or 162nd(159th) street in South Holland, Illinois. As we approached the GTW grade crossing, we saw a lot of BLACK smoke. This was the GTW's double track mainline and it had a set-out track just north of the crossing. Sitting on the set out track was a 50 foot double door box with ALL EIGHT of its journals one fire. The crew was working on extinguishing the flames. On our return trip the car was still on the siding but with the fire out and awaiting the arrival of car knockers to fix its problem. While a volunteer at the Illinois Railway Museum on a cold January day in Illinois, Nick, IRM's general manager, was headed back to the museum from town after lunch. As he was crossing the CNW's Belvedere Sub, he noticed one rail was broken. The Belvedere Sub is a dark railroad (no signals - track warrant). He called the CNW and reported the broken rail. About an hour later a CNW supervisor showed up, got out of his truck, looked at the broken rail, got back in his truck and drove away. A few hours later a MOW truck and gang arrived. They welded the broken rail with little fanfare and left. A half hour after the track gang left, the eastbound train out of Belvedere with its train of autoracks, 86 foot auto parts cars from the Chrysler assembly plant and a healthy assortment of grain hoppers hammered over the freshly repaired rail at 50 mph. The CNW always took calls from IRM about safety issues seriously. Jim I have seen hot boxes on the old type journals and once they started burning, they were hard to put out. The reefer below is being set out at Effingham and you can see the fire on the front truck. This one was not very smoky, but was burning and had to be put out. That reefer was loaded and probably caused a lot of extra work since no ice was available in this area. Larry  |
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Post by kentuckysouthernrwy on Mar 14, 2013 6:43:48 GMT -8
I have been reading an old book from 1948 or so about the experiences of a man that worked for the SP from the late 1800s to WW-II. He related the story of a caboose crew spotting fire in mid train and dumping the air. They then packed up equipment they carried to jack up the car and replace the brass on the track. As the caboose crew walked up to the spot of the fire they found a fire, started by the head brakeman on a sheet of tin on the deck of a flat car. He was keeping warm in the cold. I was amazed that they were going to replace the bearing material right on the road.
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Post by calzephyr on Mar 19, 2013 19:11:41 GMT -8
I have been reading an old book from 1948 or so about the experiences of a man that worked for the SP from the late 1800s to WW-II. He related the story of a caboose crew spotting fire in mid train and dumping the air. They then packed up equipment they carried to jack up the car and replace the brass on the track. As the caboose crew walked up to the spot of the fire they found a fire, started by the head brakeman on a sheet of tin on the deck of a flat car. He was keeping warm in the cold. I was amazed that they were going to replace the bearing material right on the road. Karl This one was repaired on the siding also just like your story. This location is 100 miles east of St. Louis and the car is a reefer, which would be loaded. It had to be repaired and picked up quickly. Larry |
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