Hey Bubba, you knock all the brakes off? I know my job, sumbich!

[Loco Vette]

http://youtu.be/UMdf_LMPXqk

Expensive mistake, even if they didn't derail down the road. Old video I ran across this morning.

[Sea Six]

Nice!

[jaxgator]

Bad day on the train crew - YouTube

Damn!

[99 pewtercoupe]

Every time I am sitting at a crossing when a train goes by and I hear the sound of wheels being slid flat because someone left a hand brake on...I think "that is the sound of money"
One of our products is new railcar & loco wheels

[Doug28450]

Originally Posted by 99 pewtercoupe

Every time I am sitting at a crossing when a train goes by and I hear the sound of wheels being slid flat because someone left a hand brake on...I think "that is the sound of money"
One of our products is new railcar & loco wheels

I'm guessing that when a train is stopped at a grade crossing you get out of the car and lock down some hand brakes.

[99 pewtercoupe]

That would be a negative Doug
I am not dumb enough to approach a stopped train. You never know when that thing will start moving again. I have spent enough time in yards to know how easy it is to get hurt or killed messing with them

[mrvette]

My favorite RR Loco of all time is the GG1 built by GE in the Baldwin Loco works....and so they used to run off overhead catenary wires, wheel configuration 4-6-6-4 with one traction motor on each axle ....

Back in '53 there was a train that ran from Boston, I think, down the lines through most cities, and maybe ended? the run in Wash DC......well ONE of them Congressional runs ended in DC for sure......at about 90mph about 3-4 miles outta Union station in DC....the brakes failed, the engineer radioed ahead so they could set up the derailers near the station, he slams the loco in full reverse, spinning the wheels down the track for some 2+ miles.....the GG1 hits the derailers and never phased it, but they did take the passenger cars off the rails, and scattered like toothpicks all over the track....the GG1 hits the end of the line, and takes off through the main concourse of the station, collapsed the marble floor into the mail room underneath


I can just imagine the sparks from that mess.....they cut the loco into 50 million pieces to get it outta the station, and the marble floor still has the pattern of the damage, due to mismatched stone.....AND the loco went back to Baldwin? and put back on the road.....

As a little kid I had a GG1 Lionel loco, and so have an affinity for them,

do a google on them, interesting history.....

[DAB]

is that a train version of resistance training, like pulling a weighted sled or pulling against a small parachute?

oops.

[jaxgator]

Originally Posted by Gilligan

do a google on them, interesting history.....

I did and found this...

Sixty Years After Barreling Through Union Station, GG-1 Locomotive Rusts Away in Baltimore: DCist

And here's that train as it sits now.

[Loco Vette]

Originally Posted by jaxgator

I did and found this...

Sixty Years After Barreling Through Union Station, GG-1 Locomotive Rusts Away in Baltimore: DCist

And here's that train as it sits now.

Guess no one else wanted to go for that ride again

[mrvette]

Originally Posted by Loco Vette

Guess no one else wanted to go for that ride again

I remember seeing that in the yard way back when the kids were almost new....it was cool....~30 years ago, and looked nice too, I think we were allowed to climb into the cab then.....maybe it was another RR museum....been a while.....you know the EPA shut them down, nothing else could, all ball bearing construction they run forever and a day.....EPA in their infinate wisdumb didn't like the 20 hz track side coal plants that ran them, and so to convert the fleet to 60 hz was not financially possible....

Anyone familiar with RR's know that the modern what we call Diesel locos are in fact Diesel/Electric because of control and durability and of course a little weight just for traction....the chassis of the GG1 was filled with concrete to add weight......look at the LENGTH of that SOB.....meant for hauling anything......even Congressional asses.....




I remember driving down New York Ave, NE Wash DC, and looking to my left and seeing the GG1s just after the news about them being forced off the rails......and wishing I had my camera for a few shots, must have been 5 of them parked there......'-(

[Jobaka]

Originally Posted by jaxgator

I did and found this...

Sixty Years After Barreling Through Union Station, GG-1 Locomotive Rusts Away in Baltimore: DCist

Good read.

Improbably, only 10 months after taking an unplanned detour through the concourse floor at Union Station, GG-1 No. 4876 was given a new coat of Tuscan red paint and placed back on the tracks.

That must have one hell of a sight to see.

[JRD77VET]

Originally Posted by Loco Vette

Bad day on the train crew - YouTube

Expensive mistake, even if they didn't derail down the road. Old video I ran across this morning.

OK, what would have been the proper way to proceed? ( I know the brakes are supposed to be released )

The brakes were locked for "X" amount of time and produced flat spots. Should the train have stopped on the tracks where they figured it out ( and it would have blocked the tracks until it was fixed ) or would it be proper to get it to a side rail ?

[Loco Vette]

Originally Posted by JRD77VET

OK, what would have been the proper way to proceed? ( I know the brakes are supposed to be released )

The brakes were locked for "X" amount of time and produced flat spots. Should the train have stopped on the tracks where they figured it out ( and it would have blocked the tracks until it was fixed ) or would it be proper to get it to a side rail ?

They should have stopped and seen how bad the flat spots were (I am guessing those would have been over the allowable 2") If bigger, stay put until work r unit can come by. Rolling wheels with big flat spots do bad rail damage.

[JRD77VET]

Originally Posted by Loco Vette

They should have stopped and seen how bad the flat spots were (I am guessing those would have been over the allowable 2") If bigger, stay put until work r unit can come by. Rolling wheels with big flat spots do bad rail damage.

So basically they would weld and grind the flat spots to get it back to the shop for a correct repair?

I can imagine the damage having a sharp edge "whacking" the rails on every single revolution

[vtelvr]

Damn...lots of money wasted for sure.




Loco, can you tell me why when they stack engines in the front or rear, why do they not orient them the same direction? Some you see nose to ass, some are nose to nose, etc. Just curious why they don't just like them all up the same direction. The only conclusion I can reach is the fact that there isn't a "rail yard U-turn" to turn one facing opposite around....

[Loco Vette]

Originally Posted by JRD77VET

So basically they would weld and grind the flat spots to get it back to the shop for a correct repair?

I can imagine the damage having a sharp edge "whacking" the rails on every single revolution

Fastest on-the-road fix is a crane putting an "idler" axle in in place of the flatspotted one to get the whole kit and caboodle back to the shop for a full fix. I bet that axle is effed. I think I have a pic of the "after" of a similar incident on my work desktop - I'll look tomorrow.

Originally Posted by vtelvr

Damn...lots of money wasted for sure.




Loco, can you tell me why when they stack engines in the front or rear, why do they not orient them the same direction? Some you see nose to ass, some are nose to nose, etc. Just curious why they don't just like them all up the same direction. The only conclusion I can reach is the fact that there isn't a "rail yard U-turn" to turn one facing opposite around....

Usually they will arrange them willy-nilly within a group of locomotives (they work equally well in either direction) but the end units will have the "short hood" end facing out to improve visibility - The end units will have the cab part facing the head and the tail of the group so the engineer can see without looking past the whole carbody no matter which way the whole group is moving.

[JRD77VET]

Originally Posted by Loco Vette

Fastest on-the-road fix is a crane putting an "idler" axle in in place of the flatspotted one to get the whole kit and caboodle back to the shop for a full fix. I bet that axle is effed. I think I have a pic of the "after" of a similar incident on my work desktop - I'll look tomorrow.
.............

That makes sense and would be a faster fix.

Thanks

[Dave]

I thought that was a rail-polishing car making them smooth for the next train.

[Loco Vette]

These are the pictures I was thinking of. This happened either the same way it did in the video or because someone was doing everything they could to stop a train.