OK, not really. A tank car got away and rolled 14 miles in Washington state.
Runaway railcar sends authorities on desperate chase in Walla Walla County | KEPR (keprtv.com)
Jeff
…
Actually it was Oil Can Harry trying to evade the cops. Put out a call for Mighty Mouse!
Was it backhauling animal hides?
Sailboat fuel.
Noticed the leading end had a red flag in the knuckle.
Cost saving measure, no need to pay a railroader. This car flags its own crossings.[:-^]
more like the rear car of a movement that became detached from the movement for whatever the reason.
There will likely be time on the street for someone(s) involved with the move.
I read somewhere that they were trying to couple into the car. The coupling didn’t make and the car took off. If it was a single car left on the main, I could see that happening. I’ve seen a car coupled into with enough force that the shock caused the handbrake mechanism to release the brake. And sometimes you can tighten the chain but a bind somewhere fails to properly tighten the brake.
Many years ago, when I was a trainman playing with the remote control switchers, my partner and I went out to switch a few industries. One was a scrap yard. They had a newly refurbished gondola we were going to deliver to them, or maybe we pulled. I don’t remember now. We had to shove it first out to the end of an industrial lead.
We had to pull an empty car from a lumber yard. (Not as good as Murphy’s lumber yard, I’m sure. But probably good enough for Iowa.) My partner was going to spot the gon clear of the switch. While he was doing that, I opened the gate and removed the derail. While I was walking towards the car we were going to pull, I happened to look over at our engine. My partner hads spotted the car and secured it and was moving the engine down toward the switch. I noticed the car started to move, following him. I told him as much over the radio, “Greg, you’re being followed.” He said he saw it. Once coupled back up, we ended up holding onto it. We discovered the hand brake was disconnected.
I don’t remember why we couldn’t have spotted the gon first, or really anything else of that afternoon’s job. Just, “Greg, you’re being followed.”
Jeff
We have to do a securement test when we leave the train (between trips, done for the day, runarounds). This is especially true at our Thendara yard, which is on a grade. Sometimes a handbrake will simply need one more pull to hold the car.
I’ve seen cars with the hand brake set and holding start to move when bumped.
It can make a difference who sets the brake. Some folks pull until it’s tight, some people keep pulling until they can’t.
Gravity acts on grades that eyes can’t detect.
And someone could casually mention how PSR antics have eliminated many, many, many car inspectors and repairmen.
I’ve seen cars where the the handbrake chain or rigging gets hung up or caught on something under the car, so you can tighten the chain without actually creating any braking force. We even got a bulletin last year about a certain series of centrebeams that are apparently prone to this.
Our carmen are slowly being replaced by those new inspection portals. Not sure how they plan to fix the problems that the portals find.
Anything with long chain travel and rods is a pain. Coil cars and flats are notoriously bad, from my experiences.
Always check your handbrakes, kids.