Since last fall. the trains going by near my office have been putt-putting along at maybe 10 mph. Those have always been long trains traversing what I figure is a slow ordered section of track to the north. On my way home tonight I saw a train of about 10 tank cars and 2 locomotives. Being a gorgeous day out, I took a gravel road home and paced the train. It moved right along, and then slowed way down to tippy-toe past a spot. After that it tool off like someone was late for dinner. Could a slow order be put on a very specific spot only?
The length of the slow order can be of any length, although some rules may require it be at least a tenth of a mile. It will apply until the entire train has passed over the trouble spot. Obviously a short train will be completely clear and resuming speed sooner than a 200 car land barge.
One time it will be a specific spot is if the problem is with the crossing warning system. Then as soon as the crosssing is occupied the train can start accelerating.
Can’t speak to your particular carrier or location.
NORMALLY, with CSX the minimum slow order distance is 1/10 of a mile. That being the case, with a 10000 foot train, braking has to start so the the head end of the train is at the slow order speed at the specified start MP of the slow order. Then the ENTIRE TRAIN must get past the spcified ending MP before the train can be accelerated back to track speed. The bigger the train, the more the delay account of the slow order.
In another thread I mentioned a head of train only slow order, these are normally in the TTSI accout of local towns believing their citizens aren’t sufficiently competent to be clear of a train approaching at track speed.
Are there mile markers on the road marked out in 1/10 miles so you can tell when you’re at mile 98.6?
I believe, only whole mileposts are staked into the ground.
In days gone by, the telephone/telegraph poles (at least on the B&O) were marked with a form of mile post location. Additionally intermediate signals that have a number board have the milepost designation stated in that number borad.
Part of the qualification procedure for Engineers in particular as well as to a lesser extent for Conductors is that they be intimately qualified on the territory they operate. Secondarily, on todays locomotive there are distance counters that can be activated by the engineer to detirmine the exact distance from a point of the engineers designation.
The UP tracks I’m familiar with are marked in quarter-miles. In addition, there will be a red board at the beginning of the slow order, and a yellow-red board two miles ahead of that.
While it is not the preferred method - slow orders can be issued WITHOUT boards being in place. (Track Inspectors making their routine inspections MAY discover more defective locations than they have temporary boards for - they will have the Dispatcher issue the slow order with the notation that boards ARE NOT displayed. When possible they will obtain boards and come back and install them and they will then notifiy the Dispatcher that the boards are in place and the notation can be changed.)
On CN in Canada they will be very specific about the mile point. The slow could be at mile 14.5. Just that single spot.
When flags are up, a yellow flag marks two miles to the start of the slow and the slow has green flags on either end of it - only a single flag if the slow is a single point like at 14.5 for example. Often flags don’t ever get put up so our GBO for the slow will tell us that.
They mark most bridges around here. So even though there are only milepost signs, underpasses and overpasses usually are marked. On amtrak, they have many of the cat poles marked. That’s nice.
Our RR doesn’t use board for slow orders. NORAC roads do, though.
But many of our miles aren’t 5280’. There are places with 2000’ miles, and others with 7000’ miles.
There are many locations where miles aren’t 5280 feet - this happens mostly with minor line relocations over the years - a washout here, a land slide there, a public works project over there. On CSX such anomilies get listed in the employee timetable.
Whether we see signs or not is often a matter of how long the slow order will be in place. If it’s just going to be a day or so until MOW can deal with the issue, it usually just gets a mention in Form D’s.
If we do post signs, a sign a mile out will indicate the required speed, followed by yellow, then green at the end. And, it’ll get mention in a bulletin order.
Temporary slow orders are often from full mile to full mile, since we don’t have intermediate references.
Our permanent slow orders (a couple of bridges) have no signs. They are listed in the ETT.
Must be metric. [^o)]
When first constructed RR’s took the easiest and least expensive routes because of the construction tools available, to get done quickly and to make the money go as far as possibe. Later there were many line changes to achieve -higher speed- less grade- avoid high water situations and even later because government wanted to build dams or other projects. The milepost located just before the line change was used to establish new MP’s along the relocated alinement. Then at the end of the line change an equation was established to thus continue using the old MP’s beyond the line change. This resulted in there being either a 'long or short mile" at the end of the line change.
OK. there is a line relocation for whatever reason. Is the chnage first issued to crews in a Track Bulletin, General Order or crew breifing prior to departure from their initial terminal ?
How are milepost miles altered when there is a major line change, like the Lucin Cut-off of some of the Rocky Mountain passes?
It is normally announced on whatever kind of bulletin system the carrier uses. For the most part, crews are aware that the changes will be coming since many of them will have worked on Work Train under the authority of the MofW Department on the new ‘dead’ track. These kind of changes do not happen overnight, they are generally several months in construction. When the track is ready for use, a Bulletin will be issued putting it in service and specifying any restrictions that may be necessary - slow orders, close clearances, debris along right of way etc.
Different roads have different ways of noting changes in the ETT. SP would have the old and new distances at points where changes had been made. SFe and BN would show the new distances between stations–yet keep the mileposts in the same locations. Some roads, such as ACL and D&RGW (e.g., it is shown that it is 0.7 miles between MP 393 and 395), would have notes indicating the new distance between two certain mileposts in the ETT.
As to the Lucin cutoff, the miles from San Francisco continued; I have not seen any ETT which showed both the route over Promontory Summit and through Promontory Point (which is right on the lake).
Or Imperial.
Carl’s thinking of a Form B with the red and yellow-red boards. The speed restrictions get a yellow board two miles (If a shorter distance, must be in writing on the bulletin.) in advance and a green board at the end. Or sometimes no boards displayed and that fact will be listed in the bulletins. Once in a while a slow is listed with no flags displayed and then they do put out flags. You come across it without being told about the change and what you have is an unannounced yellow board situation.
Miliage changes appear in the time table, for example MP 211.06 = MP 214. I did notice today that the example equation I used now has a sign in the field for it. Those miliage equations usually are reserved for major line changes where you lose a few miles. Minor ones result in long or short miles. Even where there haven’t been changes made, most miles aren’t exact 5280 feet. Most have a give or take of up to a couple hundred feet.
Jeff
As do Mileposts that exist on the Interstate Highways. Sometimes I will use my stop watch to time my speeds between MP. With cruise control holding steady, time variances highlight the long and short miles.