I don’t hear often of derailments today but often enough to wonder if train safety is better now per train mile run than say 40 or 50 years ago. How are trains warned about dangers ahead that official train employees may not be aware of?
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This may be more appropriate over on the Trains forums.
Derailments aren’t that uncommon, but nevertheless railroad safety has come a long way in the last 50-60 years. Many tracks have a continuity detection system, so that if there is a significant problem with the rail alignment, it will trip the block signals and stop the train.
And now, having read the article, this wasn’t a track problem. A crane that was tearing down a grain silo obstructed the tracks.
This was the same train that hit an abandoned car on the tracks two days ago.
You can’t design a completely foolproof system, because complete fools are so ingenious. Human stupidity – or at least carelessness – accounted for both of these accidents.
Foolproof: Proof, that here stands a complete and utter fool.
Railsafety has come an extremeyl long way since the days of strap iron and wood crossbeams. it may not seem like it though, because so has communication and media overhype, sadly. I have to wonder why though, or if they should have, didn’t the crane company alert BNSF to the work? Something like that, for just that reason, is why BNSF shouldv’e put a work order/track bulliten/slow order out for heavy machinery beside the tracks.
Death and injury still rides the rail all to frequent simply because the job doesn’t suffer fools or careless workers one must stay alert at all times-its the very nature of the job.
I agree the contractor should have alerted BNSF and proper precautions could have been used…
Exactly. I didn’t mean to imply that the crane crew was wholly at fault for the accident, only that it obviously wasn’t mechanical failure on the rails or the loco.
As a side note; I saw this on the news the other night & it looked like they were at a rural abandoned grain elevator. However, the news cast said this was the same train involved in hitting the truck near Reno a month or so ago… That confused me as I couldn’t think they knew what Loco, etc. were involved, until I realized that they many have meant it was the same “Named” train. A non-RR enthusiast could have easily believed something completely different.
Depends on what the danger is. But let’s try to keep this somewhat model railroad related - things that can be modeled on a layout.
If someone has a car that dies or get stuck on a crossing and cannot be moved, the somewhat intelligent response from the person getting stuck would be either to call 911 (and have 911 call the railroad’s emergency number), or look at the closest signal electrical cabinet and phone the number there:
Above: signal cabinet near RR crossing on the Montana Rail Link in the mountains west of Helena, MT
Below: closeup of signal cabinet at the Minnesota Commercial in Roseville, MN
There is also some mechanisms for checking continuity through the track and occupancy of a section of track - like by passing a current through the rail, between neighboring rails and through the wheels and axle of a railroad car occupying the track forming a complete circuit - showing a dispatcher what sections of track are occupied or where signalling is out:
Or rock slide fences - if a rock slide took out part of a fence, it would cut a signalling loop, causing an alarm at the dispatching center.
Stuff like that. But nothing can protect you against morons working too close to the track, especially if the morons have not called the railroad in advance, so the dispatcher can put out a slow order for the ar
Interesting, I learned a lot from your posts. True, you can’t protect everyone from stupid. You would think the fellows working on the grain elevator might hear a locomotive approaching. It is not like they sneak up on you.
You’re right about that. Just when you build something to be idiotproof…Mother Nature builds a better idiot.