Another "I've Been Working On The Railroad" Thread

[syscom3]

A friend of mine just sent me these pictures of a "truck" problem on a hopper car.

Can you imagine the noise that was made?

text is:
"These photos were sent to me of a hopper car somewhere between Liberal and Pratt, Ks that had lost both side frames, springs, everything and still did not derail. The UP train set it out to await repairs. In the second photo, you can see where the wheel rubbed through the floor plate. I don't have a date but I think it was within the last 3 or 4 months."

 

[Lucky13]

Holy sh*t! I can't believe that it didn't derail...!

 

[ccheese]

Somebody "up there" likes the railroad. That could have been messy.....
to say the least...

Charles

 

[Screaming Eagle]

all I can say is damn!

 

[Wildcat]

Damn that's lucky! I'd like to know what exactly happened here. Have you anymore info Sys. I'm interested because part of my job is ensuring this type of thing doesn't happen.

 

[syscom3]

Damn that's lucky! I'd like to know what exactly happened here. Have you anymore info Sys. I'm interested because part of my job is ensuring this type of thing doesn't happen.

Sorry Wildcat, I dont have any more info.

I also didn!t know you're a railroader!

 

[Wildcat]

Yep, I'm a shunter and train examiner with Pacific National, Intermodal division.

 

[Heinz]

woah. Thats bloody amazing! How the hell it didn't derail astounds me.

 

[Clave]

I always wondered why trains squeaked so much....

 

[syscom3]

Finally after decades of tearing up track..... the RR's are looking at expansion!

New Era Dawns for Rail Building - WSJ.com

New Era Dawns for Rail Building
Lines Add Tracks,
Upgrade Tunnels
To Take On Trucks
By DANIEL MACHALABA
February 13, 2008; Page A1

MERIDIAN, Miss. -- America is back to working on the railroads.

For decades, stretches of track west of this town were so rough that trains couldn't run faster than 25 miles an hour. Lanie Keith, a locomotive engineer for Kansas City Southern, recalls waiting for hours when trains stalled on a steep curve on a stretch of single track between Meridian and Shreveport, La.

But over the past two years, at a cost of $300 million, track crews have transformed the 320-mile route. Installing 960,000 crossties and 80 miles of new rail, they've turned a railroad backwater into a key link in a resurging national transport network. Mr. Keith now skims parts of the improved track, called the Meridian Speedway, at nearly 60 miles an hour. "You went from moving like a turtle to a jack rabbit," he says.

The upgrade is part of a railroad renaissance under way across much of the U.S. For the first time in nearly a century, railroads are making large investments in their networks -- adding sets of tracks, straightening curves that force engines to slow and expanding tunnels for bigger trains. Their campaign is altering the corridors of American commerce, more so than any other development since interstate highways spread to the interior.

For decades, railroads spent little on expansion, even tore up surplus track and shrank routes. But since 2000 they've spent $10 billion to expand tracks, build freight yards and buy locomotives, and they have $12 billion more in upgrades planned.

The buildout comes as the industry transitions away from its chief role in recent decades of hauling coal, timber and other raw materials in manufacturing regions. Now, increasingly, railroads are moving finished consumer goods, often made in Asia, from ports to major cities. Their new higher-volume routes, called corridors, often serve the South, where the rail system is less developed and the population is rising.

Railroad operators are pressing for advantage over their main competitor, long-haul trucking, which has struggled with rising fuel prices, driver shortages and highway congestion. Railroads say a load can be moved by rail using about a third as much fuel as it takes to haul it by truck. And rail transport is becoming more efficient still, they say, as operators speed their lines and logistics companies build huge warehouse areas along routes.......

(read link for the rest of the story)

 

[Konigstiger205]

Thats one lucky train....

 

[DOUGRD]

Holy Niagara, Berkshire and 4-8-8-4!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[syscom3]

Good luck to this repair crew!

 

[Wildcat]

Easy, give it a new bogie, side bearers and wheel set and your good to go!

 

[syscom3]

Easy, give it a new bogie, side bearers and wheel set and your good to go!

Dont forget a heavy lift crane! And hope the car isnt located in a hard to get to location on a track!

 

[Screaming Eagle]

****! where did the other half go?

 

[wilbur1]

I told you not to drive with the e brake on !