Saw a rocking boxcar about mid consit on the way home last night. The defect detector did not report any defects when the train passed through with 466 axle count. The 800 number on the crossings is the only number I could think of to call. Any suggestions ? What causes the cars to rock back and fourth ?
We were starting to compile a list of the right 1-800 numbers for relevant offices in various railroads a few weeks ago, and were going to put that information in a ‘sticky’. Someone at Trains could do this better than a random forum poster – and could very likely get the appropriate names or extension numbers of people to contact to avoid the typical ‘dealing with the public’ layers, redirects to call centers, etc. of “customer service.”
Railroads do respond, and sometimes very quickly, when someone phones in a legitimate problem and knows ‘the language’ to express what they saw and why it is important. I was able to phone in what I believed was a broken-wheel report on NS a couple of months ago. They had the train stopped within about 5 minutes, and went to check based on where in the train I indicated I had heard the noise coming from.
A variety of potential reasons – of course, none good. For a boxcar it’s comparatively unlikely you have cyclically or rhythmically shifting cargo (this can be common with tank-car slosh particularly with viscous liquids). So what you have might be a broken spring or springs, or a problem with one or more of the side bearings. Less likely would be a sideframe problem or warped/twisted center sill. I am not sure how much of a problem modern railroads have with harmonic rock (where cross-level problems in the track happen to match the lateral roll characteristics of the car in a way that supports or reinforces lateral or roll oscillation – that used to be a major issue from what I’ve heard – if the springs and bearers are good that shouldn’t be a problem for just one isolated car, but harmonic ‘forcing’ would certainly show up any relatively slight weakness in, say, snubbing effectiveness…
Use the number that is provided at road crossings. It is answered by a ‘command center’ that can pin point your location (use the FRA crossing number that is displayed on the sign that contains the 800 telephone number) and expedite communications to the affected territory and train.
Will do that next time.
Thanks for your reply, good info.
It will be very helpful if you also can provide the reporting marks of the suspect car, i.e. railroad initials and number. A problem very visible when moving may be quite hard to spot when stopped. By knowing which car on which to focus a detailed inspection there is a better chance of identifying the cause. While the train crew may not be able to find the reason, carmen at the next major terminal will have the extra knowledge. But they need to know exactly which car.
John
Thank You.