So how long does it usually take to burn out one of those fires, as I know someone that is supposed to come on that train soon? Thanks,
Brad
Thanks, It looks like it is still Burning, even behind the walls. I hope that doesn’t put the route out for months, but i guess that would give the time to fix the rest of the Tunnels up there that they are planning on doing.
Can someone brief us on the above fire being mentioned in the Cascades Tunnel…
Are we talking about the 8 mile tunnel…
If so, is that tunnel lined with anything such as brick or stone or concrete…
A little more info please.
No; the article said tunnel #7 - 3164 feet long.
There were severe thunderstorm warnings in the area that day; I wonder if lightning could have started the fire?
If there were thunderstorms in the area, lightning could have started it, but I’m not an expert. I do think that if lightning can start a forest fire, it could set a tunnel on fire.
…Ok, I jumped over to “news wire” and read the story on it…Sounds like it will be down for some time. Can’t understand what would start such a fire in such hidden cracks and corners.
Well, as M.Hemphill said ,BUS.
There is knowing how long this fire will burn.
One of the only ways that I know how to put it out;is to
seal both ends of the tunnel,and pour CO/2 into it.
I don’t know if this can be daylighted or not.
No matter, GOOD LUCK!
…One would think a tunnel over 3000’ long probably can’t be daylighted.
Okay,thank you;but I’m not at all familiar with area,that would be a major
problem,wouldn’t it?
…And I am not familar with the area either…And yes, a major problem. From what they said in that "rail news"article…I’d think they might be looking at weeks and maybe months.
How about a link to it, if possible?
Great info on the tunnel situation Mark…Thanks. I can relate to underground fires somewhat…[not personally], but being from the area of soft coal deep mines in Pennsylvania. A mine fire can rage for a long time…even a year or so…and even with trying to seal it up. It can still burn and does. Of course not as many deep mines are operational as in the past and hence, not as many mine fires now, etc…
Thank you Mark. But nowhere in this thread can I find a link to anything about the fire.
The News Wire Link that you say,does not show up on my computer,And can not find
it.
Okay Mark, I did find it;Thank you.
I guess I wasn’t looking in the right place.[:I]
To top it all off, the most scenic area of the Coast Starlight’s route is in the Williamette Pass area where this tunnel is located… It won’t be long before we hear that the ridership on the Coast Starlight dropped significantly last year and the route should be eliminated by the anti-Amtrak people…
Most of the tourists ride the Coast Starlight to see this area…southern Oregon and northern California… There is no sense in riding the train to Seattle from Los Angeles is it doesn’t go the full distance…
I just did an online search for any updates to this story and found none. Appearantly the Trains.com Newswire has scooped this story. Nice work.
I assume there will be updates later today, but if the situation is as bad as it could be the UP is screwed, and anything that Amtrak could cobble together for the Coast Starlight would make the Sunset Limited look like a star.
So anyway, I was wondering about the option of a building new tunnel on a somewhat different alignment using a tunnel boring machine. I have no idea if a new alighnment is even possible at that location, but on the plus side, TBM’s can be relatively fast, they can handle both solid rock and unconsolidated material, and and the process of lining the tunnel right behind the machine eliminates the need to deal with weak or fallen roof using wood cribbage. MAJOR bucks? You bet!! But how long could UP run a dozen or so trains via Salt Lake City?
Jay
For more info and a brief history of the tunnel, I invite you to check out this story on Railroadforums.com
http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5167#post5167
I wonder if it really was the GE that started the fire. Maybe that is why they are called “toasters”.
Thanks for all the replies, I was wondering, can’t they send Amtrak through the Deschutes river Canyon, and then Through the Gorge? I know that I had heard that they were going to do work on the cascades for a while, and that is what they said they were going to do. Why can’t they do that now, instead of annuling the train. It is beautiful up there, I lived in Eugene, so I have been up that mountain many times. Thanks again for the info.
Brad
Zardoz…A great additional amount of tunnel fire info…Good Job.
…Just reading the current info on that line and especially that tunnel…it seems UP has a real serious threat to that route…That must be a beast in winter too. With all the tunnels and reported grades one would wonder why an improvement hasn’t been undertaken some years past…