On the CSX web site there is an announcement that CSX has installed WILDs (wheel impact load detectors) systemwide and is activating them Jan 10 th. CSX warns all customers that if the load is 20K #s overload or the load is 16K #s out of balance side to side the car will be sidelined and the customer will be financially responsible for correcting the load before it can proceed.
This development brings up several questions.
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Were they installed systemwide and all activated at once so no customer who has a out of specs load could claim discrimination vs other customers?
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Are the other RRs also installing WILDs and waiting to activate them?
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Are the WILDs tied into a RFIT receiver to automatically determine overloads since RR cars have different max gross weights?
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Anyone have possible locations of these WILDs?
Several questions for RWM and Mudchicken
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Any estimate of how much savings in track maintenance will be possible?
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Will this also cause a spike in bad order cars as defective (flat for instance) wheels are detected?
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Do flat wheels and unbalance loads cause excessive wear on switches, frogs, diamonds, other track related items, etc?
Good idea of CSX!
I can’t answer most of your questions – Mud and Pigfarmer are the trackmen here, I am more of a generalist – except to note that:
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virtually all main lines are 286K rated
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WILDs are becoming more common
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WILDs usually are datastreamed real-time to a dispatching office, and may or may not be teamed with an AEI reader, instead of just counting axles
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will not cause a huge spike in bad-orders
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do cause damage to specialty track items, not just rail
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the usual location is at the entrance to/exit from a class yard, so you have a place to deal with the inbound bad-actor and can immediately set out the outbound bad-actor.
RWM
CP (Soo Line) has WILD detectors watching the mainlines on both sides of the Twin Cities. I want to say they have been operational since 2004, they are listed in my 2005 ETT. The one on the east side of the Twin Cities sometimes catches Amtrak’s Empire Builder, which forces them to set out the offending car.
CSX has had WILD’s installed at selected location since approximately 2002…the data is sent to the Mechanical Departments operations center in Jacksonville. The WILDS are integrated with AEI scanners and the Mechanical department will communicate exact car initial and number of the car(s) affected to the appropriate responsible party.
then this is just a new application of their use and allows CSX to make shippers more careful in loading freight cars there by saving some on track maintenance.
It has always been a violation of the bill of lading to overload a car and shippers were required to lighten the load if the overload happen to be caught. On the Northwestern Ed Burkhart put in a 1,000 pound tolerance for overloads. This just sounds like a much better tool for catching the problem.