[Cobrabill]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

I used to work across the street from the old Georgia Railroad Museum shop and they ran those things regularly. I've even got some VHS footage somewhere.
There is definitely something magical about standing near an operating steam locomotive. It's a feast for all of the senses....you can even taste it in the air.
Anyone who's been around one a bit will know what I'm talking about.

You're trying to say that it's alive.

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by Cobrabill

You're trying to say that it's alive.

It certainly does bring to mind some great beast...Just fascinating...and you can only get the full experience in person.

[Cobrabill]

I "did" a Dakota real good last week.Driver was within arms length from the door when we hit.He some how didn't get hit and ran off.

[cuz68]

The trains are all gone in my town sad to say, Johnson city bought the tracks from Elizabethton and are trying to make a walking trail out of the tracks.

[Alvin]

Derailment of a Car Carrier





Note the blue Holden “GTO” VE UTE SSV in the foreground - below

And here again – below


Main page link here http://www.coolpicturegallery.net/20...r-carrier.html

[sdbob]

I would have loved to stand by the tracks when a 'Big Boy'(or any of the large PRR steamers(they were gone in Latrobe by the time I got old enough) went by just for the 'good vibrations'. I was watching a program on wrecks when that tri-axle tractor with a flat bed pulled across the tracks and was hit. That guy must have been blind and deafff not to hear or see the train. The one car carrier wreck I remember was the one involving the 'new' GTO's just sitting there smashed. I wonder if any of the cars were salvaged? Thanks Bill for the updates probably doesn't feel good though wondering if anyone is hurt after the 'hit'.

[Formulabruce]

I watched the "Big BOY" that is in PA now, get towed from "Steamtown", VT. Was quite a sight seeing it rolling. Too bad its not even in a gazebo.

[Alvin]

Anyone following this thread familiar with the Selkirk NY rail yard operation?

My Grandfather used to drive Car Carriers from the Selkirk yard to all delivery points in the northeast back in the 1960’s and ‘70s. I can remember a lot of Ramblers loaded on his rig as well as all of the other “Big Three” mfg vehicles over time.

While looking for information about the Selkirk rail yard, I found this Railroad Accident Brief; that for me has a definite “Wow-Factor” regarding the overall impact of costs for damages and environmental cleanup of a non-lethal train accident. Especially the Environmental cleanup impact and costs of this accident makes you wonder about the costs of all of the accidents shown on this thread.

Costs are my BOLD highlights. To me, the indebt investigation report is an interesting read, especially the ultrasonic inspection analysis.

Derailment of CSX Transportation Train No. Q39010
Oneida, New York
March 12, 2007
NTSB/RAB-08/05
• Accident No.: DCA-07-MR-009
• Location: Oneida, New York
• Date: March 12, 2007
• Time: 6:58 a.m., eastern daylight time
• Railroad: CSX Transportation
• Property Damage: $2.07 million
• Environmental Cleanup: $4.66 million
• Injuries: None
• Fatalities: None
• Type of Accident: Derailment

Synopsis
On Monday, March 12, 2007, about 6:58 a.m., CSX Transportation (CSX) train No. Q39010, a mixed freight train, derailed near Oneida, New York. The train was en route from Buffalo, New York, to Selkirk, New York. At the time of the derailment, the train was traveling about 47 mph. The train consisted of 3 locomotives and 78 cars. Twenty-nine cars derailed. Six tank cars were breached, including four carrying liquefied petroleum gas, one carrying toluene, and one carrying ferric chloride. An explosion and fire followed that led local emergency response officials to close two elementary schools and evacuate a 1-mile area around the derailment site. Four firefighters were taken to a hospital for observation as a precaution because they had stepped in a pool of ferric chloride. There were no fatalities. Estimated damages and environmental cleanup costs were $6.73 million.









The complete report link below
http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/f...t/RAB0805.html

Here are some other links I found about the Selkirk yard
Rail Nuts
http://www.trainweb.org/railnuts/yard.html

"Selkirk Super Facts
According to Conrail's booklet
Conrail's Selkirk Yard: A Visitor's Guide
From various tables and other sources in the booklet"
http://members.localnet.com/~docsteve/railroad/se_2.htm

[Cobrabill]

The rail broke because of "impact damage"resulting from a flat spot on a wheel.Combine that with the right temp & stress on the rail and here we go!

[PonchoV8]

They weren't using Rearden Steel, I guess.

We lost our little depot in the 1970s due to a derail. A Southern train derailed across all three crossings in our little town. Walking to school wasn't a problem, but driving was tough until they opened one crossing. Then it was still backed up.

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by Cobrabill

The rail broke because of "impact damage"resulting from a flat spot on a wheel.Combine that with the right temp & stress on the rail and here we go!

After reading the following accident description,
I wondered what on-board safety equipment is standard to protect the Engineer and other crew from toxic & hazardous materials spills?
• Such as Gas Masks
• Heat shields eyes, face and body
• Hand and foot protection
• Post accident eye wash and inhalation recovery First Aid kits

The Accident
…Near control point 266, about 6:58 a.m., while the train was traveling at 47 mph and the locomotives were pulling the train in throttle position No. 2, 2 both crewmembers heard a loud “pop” from under the locomotive. Immediately, the engineer looked in the rearview mirror and could see sparks at the spot in the track where the crew had heard the noise, then the brakes applied with an emergency application. The event recorder indicated that the engineer had kept the locomotive brakes released in response to the emergency application. 3

The engineer said that he saw a fire near the middle of the train. The crew contacted the train dispatcher and reported that the train was on fire. After coming to a stop, they exited the locomotive and walked ahead of the train. The conductor made contact with the arriving emergency responders and gave them the written consist of the train…

The report of “…emergency brakes were applied …the event recorder indicated the engineer had kept the brakes released in response to the emergency application.”

Is this the standard procedure, due to the emergency brakes override of any manual application of the brakes, by the engineer during an emergency stop?

Interesting information for sure. Keep safe all of you Engineers and Crew.

Getting there without incident safe and sound, doesn’t make the reports or headlines, but keeps our economy moving.

[Cobrabill]

Originally Posted by Alvin

After reading the following accident description,
I wondered what on-board safety equipment is standard to protect the Engineer and other crew from toxic & hazardous materials spills?
• Such as Gas Masks
• Heat shields eyes, face and body
• Hand and foot protection
• Post accident eye wash and inhalation recovery First Aid kits

None of the above.

[Cobrabill]

....

(Susan Artes/AP)
A young couple hopping railroad cars across the country was found dead under a mound of coal at a Florida power plant.

Christopher Artes, 25, and Medeana Hendershot, 22, shared a passion for illegally hopping freight trains and traveling the country without a set plan. They had spent the past several months traveling across the country, including stops in Georgia, Illinois and Tennessee. They were hoping to stop for the winter in Florida to enjoy the warm weather.

"We were always worried about him. He always made so many bad decisions," Christopher's mother, Susan Artes, told the AP. "If he got an idea and something looked good to him, he would do it. He was always jumping into situations. This particular train was one of them. I'm sure they thought the train would go from one yard to another."

Sometime over the weekend the couple were killed when their train stopped at a local Florida power plant. When the railcars arrive, they open from the bottom, releasing their cargo several stories below into a waiting truck.

As the AP reports, officials at the plant are not sure if the couple was sitting on top of the coal when another load dropped, or if they were in a railcar that was dropping its payload. But they do know that Artes died from asphyxiation--meaning that he was likely buried alive. Hendershot died from blunt force trauma to the mid-section, meaning that she likely died from falling or by having coal fall on her.

"I don't recommend it and I encourage people not to do it," said Kevin Rice, who writes about his childhood train hopping on his website. "It was a great deal of fun and adventure but we could have gotten killed," said Rice.


The practice of stealing a free ride on a railcar, or freighthopping, has declined substantially over the past several decades. Though several websites, and even this article from Mother Jones last year, discuss alleged detailed primers on how to get away with the illegal practice.

During their trip, Artes and Hendershot took advantage of some modern conveniences, even as they were embracing a form of travel romanticized since the 1930s. For example, Artes would use his cell phone to call his mother three times a week, asking for directions to local truck stops, grocery stores and other points of interest.

"If he had to die so young, at least he died at a moment where he was on top of the world," Susan Artes said.

[Cobrabill]

West Sixth Street through part of downtown is closed after a bicyle rider was hit by a train this afternoon, authorities said.

A man in his 40s or 50s was riding his bike near West Sixth Street and North Stone Avenue when he was struck, said Capt. Trish Tracy, a Tucson Fire Department spokeswoman.

The man, who has not been identified, was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, Tracy said.Sixth Street betwen Stone and 9th Avenue will be closed for at least three hours in both directions, she said.

[Cobrabill]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU9Jl...layer_embedded

[Half-Inch Stud]

Bring the Freight Railroad back.

Re-manage or Close the unprofitable Public Transportation passenger-rail systems.

[drailed]

Originally Posted by Half-Inch Stud

Bring the Freight Railroad back.

Re-manage or Close the unprofitable Public Transportation passenger-rail systems.

Remanage the freight rail systems while your at it. Fire the yes men or kids I should say and put the men with the actual experience in the field back in control and then you would have something.

[Cobrabill]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCbOUgr_r-E

[Ron Landis]

I actually witnessed a derailment at a rural crossing...no collision...just saw cars going straight up into the air. Two guys from the caboose got out and started counting cars from the last derailed car to the caboose. When we asked why...they stated that this was how they guaged the severity...how many cars from the caboose it got to. This one...oddly enough...was thirteen. Any truth to that? Ron

[David Jones]

Originally Posted by Cobrabill

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCbOUgr_r-E

What's the pucker factor when you notice that the switch isn't where it's supposed to be?