Today’s New York Times reports a new business opportunity arising out of hurricane Sandy: Repairing and reselling flooded cars. Right now a large number of these cars sit on a rented airline runway in Bordentown, NJ. Their titles will be “branded,” marked that the cars are flood damaged, and they they will be auctioned off. Some will be sold for scrap. Others will have their titles scrubbed by being re-registered in states that don’t require disclosure of storm damage, repaired and resold. According to the article the problem is that these cars will probably still be unsafe because of the corrosive effects of salt water.
What does this have to do with railroads? Well, New Jersey Transit has locomotives and cars which were flooded by salt water. These locomotives and cars are being repaired and will be reused by NJT. Of course this is not exactly the same an a flood damaged automobile sold to a person who does not know it was flood damaged. NJT knows the history of each piece of equipment and is able to monitor it to the extent required. But will this be done competently? We are in the electronic age and the integrity of wiring is important. How much integrity can salt water soaked wiring have? Not to mention other mechanical parts with fine tolerances.
I hope NJT’s efforts to repair salt water damage equipment succeed. But I wonder if they can.
Of course the work is going to be done competently. The contract is going to demand it and be for that purpose. These cars and locomotives belong to NJT or bondholders-mortgage holders-leasing companies, whatever, and the work and investment is for long term use of the equipment. This is not a shyster used car dealer trying to pull one off but a service organization reinvesting in itself. No reason to think anything less except if one knows something about those contracting to do the work.
The danger will be hidden damage which may not become obvious for a while. Unless they’re going to essentially remanufacture the cars, there’s likely to be stuff they won’t recognize as a problem.
There is apparently some question as to why the equipment wasn’t moved to higher ground. I guess NJT is just as susceptible to “it can’t happen to us” as anyone.
I am sure the car rebuilding experts as well as FRA, NJT, STB, et al’s experts understand the problems being faced with the salt and whatever that has damaged these cars…our second guessing their ability, skill, and job is less flattering to us than helpful to them.
NJT is working from the position of returning capital investment to being productive - not from the Used Car dealers viewpoint of flipping a car for the minimum expenditure to make it ‘saleable’ to some unsuspecting schmuck.
Professionals do professional work - that is why they remain in business.
I’m not so sure. After all, repairing a salt water soaked car or locomotive does not happen every day. Even experts have to learn new things. NJT really had been expert in this area we would have the salt water soaked equipment in the first place.
Flood damage can be minimized by coating with grease or oil if for a minimal time. A locomotive frame and body are not comparable to a unibody frameless car where structural integrity could be easily compromised by corrosion.
I haven’t seen any suggestion that rail equipment stored in places that flooded had been coated with grease or oil. What I have seen is NJT management’s decision to ignore the weather reports.
But yes, there is a difference between railroad rolling stock and an automobile. Railroad rolling stock is far more robust and less subject to damage by salt water. Still, soaking the stuff in salt water is not really a good thing.
Rueter’s news wire carried an investigative reporting team’s find that modeling software attempting to predict storm surges/flooding was given information that Sandy would course Northeastward and not make the hard left.
Had the NJ’s, Rueters said, put the right predicted storm behavior into the application and run it, the flooding would hav been only a little less than what happened.
F’r instance, the software predicted 8 feet surge at Battery Park; it was a little over 9 feet.
The report ran Jan 11; it said that they were trying to fill the gaps about who misused the software, which they indicated was supplied by “the government.”
NJT did not mis use any software. It just didn’t use software at all. NJT management decided to ignore weather reports and rely on their own judgement.
I am much less certain of that than you are. In post after post you have pointed out to us the incompetence NJT management demonstrated in planning for this emergency as well as their deplorable public information attempt after it occurred. Yet somehow we are to have faith that they will do an effective job of supervising the rebuilding process. I don’t share that faith – or I don’t understand why we should expect a major change in NJT’s abilities.
It would be a matter of local concern if it were not for the federal dollars involved. Without any specific knowledge of the situation, I believe it is probable that federal funds purchased a good share of the equipment to begin with and will be required to rebuild it now…
No…we are not dealing with used car dealers, mortgage lenders, etc. If the decision is made to refurbish the cars then the work will be done professionally and completely so that the cars will be viable and useful for a given frame of time. Work sill be done competently and professionally. And it doesn’t matter whose money bought the equipment. What matters is that it will be cheaper and quicker to refurbish for the most part than purchase new. Yes, NJT management made some apparently stupid and costly mistakes and the media is finally coming around to calling them out for it. But a decision to repair and refurbish will be done correctly. Any thinking otherwise doesn’t make sense.
I have no doubt that the refurbishing of the cars will be done in a thorough and professional manner. At least we can hope so.
My point is that you have equipment that was at least partially submerged in water - and possibly salt water at that.
Essentially what needs to be done is a complete stripping, to the frame/bare metal of the car of any and all components and the installation either of all new components, or of thoroughly rebuilt components.
Anything less is an invitation for electrical problems, mold, later corrosion, and a host of other possible problems.
Given the poor judgement exhibited in leaving the equipment were it could get flooded in the first place, it’s entirely possible that “good enough” will be good enough, leading to possible problems down the road.
Since we are all experts here, why discuss it? Do we know more than those who do the work, refurbish the cars, build them in the first place? Yeah, that Chevy you bought off the used car lot that went through Sandy but you’re not told about that, you’ve got a problem But here we have a completely different situation not like the Chevy in a flood or some quick buck artist trying to screw you.