this is a very interesting episode describing the massive challenges faced by sd-70 emd locomotives pulling a train of 24 thousand tons, 1.6mi long and 240 hopper cars with iron ore… this run follows the train from montreal westward for 260mi… in transportation, safety is always emphasized as the #1 priority for all employees, including drivers, mechanics, inspectors, supervisors, etc… this episode is no exception, as employees each describe their role in performing their tasks relative to safety of employees, engine, rolling stock, payload and the right-of-way… most of the time…
in one sequence, a potentially flawed section of track is reported to the roadmaster. who drives a track vehicle to the area of the flaw… the flaw is discovered and the roadmaster describes aloud the process for determining whether the flaw should be repaired, which means halting the ore train, or to somehow deem the flawed section as “acceptable” and allowing the train to proceed over the flawed section…
the flaw is a separation between the two ends of rails that meet at a joint, where the ends are coupled together with special plates, nuts and bolts to join the plates and bind the ends together, insuring a tight fit and preventing the ends from separating and causing accidents…
Didn’t see the episode, but you should always take EVERYTHING seen on TV or movies with a healthy dose of skepticism. Unfortunately that also includes supposed documentaries. By increasing tension and excitement the general public finds any show more interesting, thus increasing popularity. Meanwhile those with greater understanding cringe and ignore the questionable plot. I am talking in general terms, not just rail themes. Consider it a “docudrama”.
Other documentaries have been known to promote a producer’s agenda by only mentioning one point of view, failing to even mention that there is compelling evidence that does not support it. Even history “documentaries” can often have debatable slants.
Small rail gaps will trigger the signal system, but they are safe to walk trains over at restricted speed until repairs are made. Nothing unsafe about this. It will be reported and fixed as soon as possible, but the trains can still run.
Pull-aparts are as common as can be, especially during the winter. The joint bars are usually still in place, albeit only connected on one end, and all the spikes are still in place.
While it needs to be fixed, it’s safe to carefully run a train across that.
Fixing it, however, might not be as easy as just sticking the bolts back in. If the rails have contracted the holes may not line up. Oftimes the cure is to burn a kerosene soaked rope along the sides of the rail to expand it until the holes do line up.
He may not carry one in his pocket, however, if his hi-rail truck doesn’t have some, he has not properly stocked his hi-rail vehicle. All MofW truck should have such material on hand, especially during the Fall and early Winter when large temperature changes find all the weak rail joints.
“…it is possible that the roadmaster COULD NOT legally make the repairs; union rules might prevent anyone other than a union employee from taking any action that would infringe upon the union’s right to require a duly-authorized union employee accompany the roadmaster to the site of the flawed track and make the repairs himself, personally, without assistance from the roadmaster,…”
I think you mean the collective agreement…not union rules.
Repairing a pull-apart is rarely a one man job. The boss is not a one man gang. He has people that he supervises to perform the work - part of the boss’s responsibility is to ensure that the job is done right, not to do the job himself.
One thing to remember about Union contracts - THEY WERE AGREED TO BY THE COMPANY. The company has the same responsibility to uphold the provisions of the contract as do the union members.
as for the people who are responsible for maintaining the ROW, and those who are responsible for insuring that the responsible employees are doing their jobs, DOES IT MATTER?? REALLY? >> as for how many workers it takes to do the job, etc., DOES IT MATTER? WHO CARES? >> as for whether it’s “union rules” or “collective bargaining” DOES IT MATTER?
would it matter to those who lose loved ones in an accident? those who insured the payload? the board of directors and stockholders who would see their investment drop like a load of coal out of a hopper? REALLY? >> to the board of inquiry who investigates these things? to the public which reads it in the media, do you think it matters to any of them? REALLY?
i find it VERY odd that you dont mention the risk to the public for such actions, only word games like “union rules” and “collective bargaining”… REALLY!
about “spicing up” a program to stimulate interest, shouldnt the r.r. have a say in the finished material? if r.r. practices are unduly “besmirched” by this material, why would they approve it? would it impress the public to klnow this r.r. is ignoring loose rail connections? and if the broken spot is safe 99/100 times, would you risk your life on the 100th trip? im truly shocked at the complacency shown in replies to this thread? what ever happened to “PUT SAFETY FIRST, MAKE IT LAST”? and “SAFETY IS YOUR JOB”? is this a clip you would choose to promote safety practices on YOUR r.r., in a 30-second commercial? what’s the new slogan for north american railroads, “IT’S PROBABLY O.K., THE TEAM WILL CHECK NEXT TIME THEY’RE OUT THIS WAY”? WOULD AN INSURANCE CO. CHARGE A HIGHER PREMIUM BASED ON THE “ALTERNATIVE PRACTICES” SHOWN?
CabF - its your railroad - you find a defect - you are one man and the rest of your employees are 100 miles away - the defect requires four men to ‘properly’ repair, however, the defect is SAFE for a train to move at ‘walking speed’ (4 MPH or less).
WHAT DO YOU DO?
By the way - Capitalization, sentances and paragraphs were taught in school for a reason - to make your thoughts readable and understandable.
Ah, but they aren’t ignoring such defects. The problem will be repaired as soon as a crew can get there to fix it, and traffic over the defect will take precautions in the meantime.
The railroad is not going to tolerate a “walking speed” slow order on a 60 MPH mainline for very long.
A simple pull-apart usually means that the bolts are out of one end of the joint bars. The rail is still held in position by the joint bars and the spikes or other securement devices.
Barring lateral forces, like a curve, the danger of a failure is minimal.
SOMEONE SAID-- maybe he couldnt fix it by himself… WHAT I SAID EVEN BEFORE-- why didnt he take someone who could fix it to begin with? if he couldnt fix it due to union issues, bring someone along!
SOMEONE SAID-- (some kind of a quote not worth remembering) people run off at the mouth who dont know anything… WHAT I SAY-- so, what are the qualifications for posting here, to begin with? if everybody knew about r.-r.-ing, why would there be a forum? whatever happened to mutual respect and “live-and-let-live”? maybe you would require only actual r.r. workers with a union card to post, and they could logon with their union id#?
yes, it is the QNS r.r. and im glad im too far away to ride it…
I rarely see a track inspector who isn’t alone. It’s not a union issue. That’s how they operate. The vast majority of the time there is nothing to be done but roll down the railroad looking for problems. Using two people to do so is a waste of money.
On the outside chance the inspector does find something, he calls in a crew to deal with it, and a MOW foreman handles the crew and the access to the track.
Just a hunch on my part - but it sounds to me like you have an issue with unions.
As for your “zhomygosh, how can that be?” state of mind - well, the folks who do know explained it. That’s what’s great about this forum - there are people who know the answers and/or where to find them.
The problems seem to come in when the forum encounters someone who doesn’t know, but can’t believe what they’re reading because it doesn’t square with their picture of how things should be. Hillarity generally ensues.
cabforward
WHAT I SAID EVEN BEFORE-- why didnt he take someone who could fix it to begin with? if he couldnt fix it due to union issues, bring someone along!
I rarely see a track inspector who isn’t alone. It’s not a union issue. That’s how they operate. The vast majority of the time there is nothing to be done but roll down the railroad looking for problems. Using two people to do so is a waste of money.
On the outside chance the inspector does find something, he calls in a crew to deal with it, and a MOW foreman handles the crew and the access to the track.
cabforward
maybe you would require only actual r.r. workers with a union card to post
Just a hunch on my part - but it sounds to me like you have an issue with unions.
As for your “zhomygosh, how can that be?” state of mind - well, the folks who do know explained it. That’s what’s great about this forum - there are people who know the answers and/or where to find them.