Ohio Train Wreck

[Darryle]

Don't they have software and monitoring hardware now on the trucks of railcars? Seems like I read an article about this being a federal requirement? Maybe came about after this incident?

I live close to a rail yard and one night I saw a loaded flatbed car with a set of "wheels" locked up and dragging. The car was about halfway down to train and the tracks were literally smoking when the gates came up. I wanted to get out and see how hot the rail actually was, but traffic told me to move along.

 

[Weaver93]

I had thought with the additional drag of the rail car going bad the engine would change pitch and the engineer would think to check? Just saying....

There are track sensors that detect hot bearings and the conductor did try to stop, but detection temperatures are set by the railroad and sensors were so far apart by the time they tried to stop it was too late.

I blame the whole thing on Precision Railroading which is a way to measure railroad efficiency. NS has struggled to meet numbers since the inception. Usually they make their numbers by cutting costs in new equipment purchases, maintenance and personnel. Add up cuts in all three and you get East Palestine OH.

Norfolk Southern content with minimum safety too often, regulators say after Ohio train derailment

Regulators say Norfolk Southern has made improvements since a fiery Ohio derailment but still falls well short of being the "gold standard for safety" it is striving to be. Instead, the railroad is too often only willing to meet minimum safety requirements.

www.pbs.org

 

[MtPockets]

Don't they have software and monitoring hardware now on the trucks of railcars? Seems like I read an article about this being a federal requirement? Maybe came about after this incident?

I live close to a rail yard and one night I saw a loaded flatbed car with a set of "wheels" locked up and dragging. The car was about halfway down to train and the tracks were literally smoking when the gates came up. I wanted to get out and see how hot the rail actually was, but traffic told me to move along.

No, there is no sort of electrical connection between the cars. Only air for the brakes.

 

[Mike Matteson]

I posted up in the balloon thread what farce the government response has been.

Post in thread 'CCP Baloon over the US'
https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/ccp-baloon-over-the-us.323191/post-2747707

So the wreck occurred Feb 3rd, so for 18 days Norfolk has done NOTHING to remediate the site. NOTHING! So after 18 days, EPA decides maybe we need to "order" the cleanup? This is mind numbing incompetence and ridiculous Norfolk has done NOTHING to remediate the spill site.

EPA orders Norfolk Southern to clean up Ohio train derailment site

The EPA has officially ordered rail company Norfolk Southern to clean up the site of the train derailment that spilled toxic chemicals into the environment on Feb. 3.

www.foxbusiness.com

So for 18 days, chemicals have been permeating the soil toward groundwater. You cannot unequivocal state the groundwater is safe or homes are safe due to this ongoing percolation process dependent upon soil permeability.

This whole response is obscene in lack of a government agency (EPA) to be so slow in exercising their authority (18 freaking days!) to protect the citizens of East Palentine. The long term impact IMO, is likely to be quite severe once the extent of the subsurface contamination is determined through extensive soil and groundwater investigations.

Every shipper has to have spill response plan as part of their transportation. Norfolk failed in implementation and East Palentine is paying the price.

Well that our president and his staff at work. SLEEPING IN THE BASEMENT! Sad state of affairs. I've seen some dumb presidents, and he takes the CAKE.
What worse is that the problem was known 45 mile away. It's also my understanding that train weck happen all the time across our country.
I wonder what the maintance requirements are on train cars? How often is it's require? How often requirement are to check them. They got to know how many miles are on each car, and what the time frame is for problems. I see electic motors and train wheels connected being shipped all the time up and down the freeways by trucks.
I would like to see what the requirement are for services of trains and there cares. Who owns them, and what their tracking requirement are.
It appears it's clear, that somebody has their head stuck in the mud.
We have a real bang up staff at the president office, with most having their heads stuck in the mud too.

 

[Mike Matteson]

There are track sensors that detect hot bearings and the conductor did try to stop, but detection temperatures are set by the railroad and sensors were so far apart by the time they tried to stop it was too late.

I blame the whole thing on Precision Railroading which is a way to measure railroad efficiency. NS has struggled to meet numbers since the inception. Usually they make their numbers by cutting costs in new equipment purchases, maintenance and personnel. Add up cuts in all three and you get East Palestine OH.

View attachment 539990

Norfolk Southern content with minimum safety too often, regulators say after Ohio train derailment

Regulators say Norfolk Southern has made improvements since a fiery Ohio derailment but still falls well short of being the "gold standard for safety" it is striving to be. Instead, the railroad is too often only willing to meet minimum safety requirements.

www.pbs.org

That explains a lot to me. A very system at best.
Thanks for the info.

 

[Weaver93]

No, there is no sort of electrical connection between the cars. Only air for the brakes.

What @Darryle is referring to is WTN (wireless train network) and it has been slow to be adopted due to cost. Railroads fought it at first because of the unit and installation cost, but it is becoming more commonly accepted as competition drives down cost. You would think the $60 million or so NS has paid so far for East Palestine would upfit a lot of trains! Keep in mind though, that is less than 2% of NS annual profits.

 

[MtPockets]

What @Darryle is referring to is WTN (wireless train network) and it has been slow to be adopted due to cost. Railroads fought it at first because of the unit and installation cost, but it is becoming more commonly accepted as competition drives down cost. You would think the $60 million or so NS has paid so far for East Palestine would upfit a lot of trains! Keep in mind though, that is less than 2% of NS annual profits.

Is that a passenger train system? I've never heard of that for freight.

The bottom line is railroads in general are much safer and more cost effective than any other form of freight transportation. NS has been shown to be less concerned about safety and it shows very glaringly in the results.
Hopefully they will take care of those affected by the East Palestine derailment.

 

[Weaver93]

Is that a passenger train system? I've never heard of that for freight.

The bottom line is railroads in general are much safer and more cost effective than any other form of freight transportation. NS has been shown to be less concerned about safety and it shows very glaringly in the results.
Hopefully they will take care of those affected by the East Palestine derailment.

Truth is they are safer for the population because they take a route that is more secluded than trucks, but when things go wrong it is usually on a much grander scale.

 

[41Magnum]

I had thought with the additional drag of the rail car going bad the engine would change pitch and the engineer would think to check? Just saying....

Don't know for sure how many engines the train had but let's say he had 4 Locomotives, 2 on the headend and 2 mid train helpers. That's around 35,000 H.P. +/- I dare say he didn't feel a thing until the train went into emergency due to the air line being severed/came apart when the derailment happened.