A picture for choochooman

[Weezer]

Found this on igmur. It's captioned: train burnout. Is such a thing even possible?

[ChooChooMan74]

Oh yes, that is possible. Older locomotives don't have the computer systems that the new locomotives have to detect wheelslip. Not sure what specifically happened here, but someone didn't notice the shower of sparks behind them. And, this is about as worst as it gets. I have never seen any this bad in real life.

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[billt01]

Train speed bumps..

Originally Posted by Weezer

Found this on igmur. It's captioned: train burnout. Is such a thing even possible?

[SKnight]

Wow, that must have been a show and woe to the next train to roll through.

[OldCoot]

Old and new train engines have sanders that could be activated that shoots sand in front or back of the wheels to prevent this.

This had to have been done intentionally, probably by a po'd employee.

[ChooChooMan74]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

Old and new train engines have sanders that could be activated that shoots sand in front or back of the wheels to prevent this.

This had to have been done intentionally, probably by a po'd employee.

I agree with OC on the intentional part. The worst rail burns that I see, you can still go over at a reduced speed until new rail is spliced in.

Yards with Remote Control operations see the worst rail burn because no one is on the locomotive to see that the wheels are spinning and nearly all the remote control engines are older units.

The worst rail burns that I personally seen were done by a female commuter train engineer in the fall at a station on a hill. The oil in the crushed up leaves makes the track slick, and the commuter locomotives are lighter than freight locomotives, so they don't have as much rail adhesion.

[Weezer]

Originally Posted by SKnight

Wow, that must have been a show and woe to the next train to roll through.

Holy smokes! The close up looks even worse. It looks like so much heat was generated it melted the metal.

ChooChooMan, what are the odds this goes undetected and the next train derails because of it? *Can* that cause a derail?

[jeeplj8]

story used to go around the UP that a DD40AX (8 wheel trucks) was sitting outside Cheyenne during a extreme rainstorm. The rail bed got soft and a a few tie spikes gave way the rails parted leaving the front end stuck in the mud. No worries, grab another DD40 and drag it out. Hostler was easing the throttle when one of the prime movers began to bog down, so he opened it up. Huge spark show. 16 dimples and a still stuck DD40.

[ChooChooMan74]

For one, the engine that did that was sitting there for a long time. But, say for instance, that was a remote control helper locomotive that malfunctioned at the rear of the train (kept a good amount of power on, even though the train stopped), and the train left that behind, the next train wouldn't know about it until it was too late. And that for sure could cause a nice pileup. I have never seen any in person worst than maybe 1/2 or so deep. Supposedly, a friend made some good ones where the rail had to be replaced right away. He said they were well over an inch. They told him, keep trying to pull up the hill. He had an old engine and that thing just spun the wheels, and he couldn't see it because of the curve.

[OldCoot]

Never seen a human engineer/fireman just sit spinning the wheels without using the sanders. That would be grounds for immediate discharge.

[ChooChooMan74]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

Never seen a human engineer/fireman just sit spinning the wheels without using the sanders. That would be grounds for immediate discharge.

Sanders only work if they are filled!! And, if they are maintained. (ie not wet from a leak, not plugged up, proper operating valves, air not cut out....)

[Ida Ratherbe Camping]

The worst wheel spin I saw lately was a pusher engine set up reversed to the leader. One pulling, one pushing. I had to put a couple of knuckles in that one before it left the yard. The guys that set it up in remote had some explaining to do that day! But the one in the pic is the worst ever. Must have been close to hunting season.

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by ChooChooMan74

Sanders only work if they are filled!! And, if they are maintained. (ie not wet from a leak, not plugged up, proper operating valves, air not cut out....)

All the engineers/firemen I worked with checked all that when we got on the engine at the start of the run or when we picked up the engine(s). That's why we had to show up 1 hr prior to leaving.

[B47]

Not a RR guy,but that damage has to obliviously place that section of track on the Out Of Service list until further notice I would assume.

[ChooChooMan74]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

All the engineers/firemen I worked with checked all that when we got on the engine at the start of the run or when we picked up the engine(s). That's why we had to show up 1 hr prior to leaving.

I work for a company that, well, doesn't care all the time. We can report stuff, it doesn't mean it will be fixed. Gets frustrating.

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[ChooChooMan74]

Originally Posted by B47

Not a RR guy,but that damage has to obliviously place that section of track on the Out Of Service list until further notice I would assume.

Oh yah, I wouldn't drive a shopping cart over that.

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[SKnight]

Originally Posted by ChooChooMan74

I work for a company that, well, doesn't care all the time. We can report stuff, it doesn't mean it will be fixed. Gets frustrating.

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Southern RR learned the hard way. 20 years ago I had a customer that came by the shop I worked in a few times a week, would drop a couple of grand, didn't care what overnight cost just get it the next day, etc. His arm was simply mangled and barely worked, his left as I recall.

He worked for the RR, reported a safety hazard several times, was told in front of witnesses to get back to work or he would be fired. Well, his arm got mostly ripped off by this violation whatever it was. His settlement was reportedly $5mil, all medical bills for his arm paid for life and a recurring payment for lost wages.

Haven't thought about him in years. I'll have to see if I can look him up.