Interesting, but in those last 40 seconds I was waiting to see a locomotive going like a bat out of hell chasing it. Nothing. What a let-down.
A Keystone Kops or Laurel and Hardy moment gone to waste.
Anyone know the story?
Poorly cropped video… starts with the car in the middle of the scene and it is gone in just a second or two. The rest of the video is useless and wasted my time. Should have had at least some those useless seconds from the end moved to the begining so we could see more of the approach of the car.
Someone explained in a YouTube comment that the camera was a Trainorders.com webcam, which was triggered by movement and stays on for a predetermined period. Whoever posted it didn’t edit. Happened in 2005…
Edit: my point was rendered moot.
I was expecting to see a milk carton.
To be perfectly honest - that happened on my territory.
I don’t recall hearing about it, of course I was working nights at the time and the video obviously happen during daylight hours.
OK, here is another one on NYSW in which it shows the car crashed. This one was set free by a local brat kid. The political talk is rather entertaining.
The tender was sent out for repairs and is back. I haven’t been down to Utica for a while to see how the cosmetic restoration is going.
The youngster was never charged, though I believe NYS&W now uses more robust means of securing cars there. And the lead to the station has been severed.
I am actually surprised they did not have that steam locomotive display protected by a derail further up the track given that if it was ever hit it could damage the depot as it did. Seems to me someone should have spotted that or possibly even remove a section of track prior to the display?
As I recall, there was a derail in the path of the runaway covered hopper, but it was not set in the derail position.
It’s a good distance from the last regularly used track in the SuzyQ yard and the display location of the steamer. Taking a closer look - the station track was a safety valve for the switch to the mainiline, so probably was routinely thrown along with the mainline switch. I don’t know as I’ve never worked that side.
What’s amazing is that the hopper ran across numerous crossings (including one four lane that’s pretty busy) and did six or seven blocks of street running (passing the FX Matt Brewery) and only clipped one automobile.
The car also managed to fine a clear track through the yard…
As far as the railroad was concerned, it was probably a “whodathunk” moment - everything lined up (Swiss cheese anyone?).
A single car won’t activate crossing signals, right? What about block signals?
I temember that a short Amtrak train was required to pull extra, unneeded, cars, in order to trip something.
A single car MIGHT activate track circuits, signals and crossing protecti; then again it might not.
The B&O and subsequently CSX place a 30 MPH speed limit on single units operating by themselves. Signal Maintainers explained to me that with the relay supported signals sysems in operation through most of the 20th Century a single piece of equipment operating at speeds over 30 MPH could ‘activate and then release’ circuits faster than the relays could show the activation to the rest of the signal system so it could actually activate.
While I am not a signal engineer or maintainer, it does take multiple relays operating in the proper sequence to implement the proper action - be that changing a signal aspect or activating crossing protection.
I believe CN & UP are the ones currently requiring Amtrak to operate with 7 cars. While there may be some delays in the detection and operation of their signal systems. In my OPINION it is more about those companies fighting against Amtrak than it is about any technical failings of those companies signal systems. If their signals systems requrie approximately 600 feet of train to operate their circuits reliably they must not be using electrically activated relays - more likely agitated hamsters.
I heard that there was a derail set in the derailing position, but the tie it was attached to had rotted and the car just pushed it aside.
After the incident, the siding from which the car began its journey was severed from the main on the downhill side.
Senator Dick Durban (D-IL) is already onto that sham and promised to have it investigated because in his view if they are having that issue with passenger trains those railroads cannot be operating safely. Saw him say it on C-SPAN at an Amtrak hearing. That was about 3-4 months ago.
What exactly are CN and UP hoping to accomplish with this seven-car thing?
From what I’ve read about signals, this is why speeders and hi-rail vehicles have insulated wheels - if it doesn’t reliably activate the track circuit then make sure is doesn’t do it at all.
From what I’ve read about track circuits is that light cars don’t reliably shunt the rails, especially when there is a bit of rust on the rail surface. BART had that problem when the service started up, the signal system didn’t work reliably until after the first train of the morning passed over the section of track.
Probably the biggest PITA with track circuits is that the ties and roadbed contribute to current leaking between the rails and the track circuits which mimic the effects of wheelsets shunting the rails. What makes this problem even worse is that the leakage current varies, so that adjust
Piss off Amtrak in the hopes that they will terminate service because of the excessive costs.
Isn’t there also the Amtrak profile of the wheeels are different than freight cars ? That profile has been stated wlsewhere that is causes less of an electricla path ?