Doesn’t a yard master/train master know what clearences are on a line? What would a car like this be doing on this line if the clearences are this low. Obviously it has not been a problem before.
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The train crew, especially the conductor, would probably be on the hook in this situation since they should know the clearances and restrictions on the line and the conductor’s car list should indicate any cars that exceed certain clearance plates.
The train crew would only know it was too tall if it was maked as a dimensional car on their train list. Train crews often never see their whole train.
Likewise the yard master doesn’t see all the cars his (her) crews handle.They don’t know if cars are high or wide unless the computer tells them.
There’s enough blame to go around here. Everyone involved should know–from clearances indicated in the timetables, and from experience–that a given line can’t handle auto racks. This looks like a standard trilevel, so it’s safe to say that the same fate would have befallen any auto rack that was shipped over this line. A conductor should have seen an auto rack in his consist and reported it to someone before departure, and a yardmaster should have seen it before allowing it to depart the yard involved.
Even if this were one of the taller auto racks, and a more normal rack would have fit under the bridge, UP’s Special Instructions denote which cars have this height restriction (not that hard to figure out–specific series on certain railroads, one reporting mark on TTX cars, and only two different equipment types on any UP document concerning the cars).
The train could not have been going very fast if it was able to stop so quickly. It appears that the autorack was near the front of the train. If it had been further back, I wonder if the crew would have even been aware of the incident. Except, I suppose, that they would have felt the whole train decelerate at a time when they weren’t expecting it to.
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The timetable lists clearance restrictions such as this. Also, at least in my railroad’s case…any car over 17 feet high is flagged and carries a set of clearance instructions on the train profile.
This why you have to be qualified on the territory you operate on. Why you’re suppose to check every car on your profile. And why you inspect every train you pass.
Nick
Thanks for the responses. So it is possible that a number of people got in trouble. Would this be grounds for termination?
I would think that there would also be a HIGH-LOAD/CAR detector to warn the crew about a mile or more from the low bridge. That might explain why they were going slow(er). If there isn’t, I’ll bet there will be one soon, maybe just outside of the yard. Either way the last guy (department official) to arrive on-site will get the blame.[B)]
I thought this was an autorack for new convertibles. [:D]
A high-load detector is probably not a necessity on a line on which the movement of such cars is unlikely–in this case, somebody just forgot, and nobody caught it. Plrenty of blame to go around, as I said before.
If your train is caught by the high-load detector, just “slowing down” is not an option. You stop and inspect your train, as provided for in the timetable or special instructions (usually a designated stopping area that doesn’t foul grade crossings). We (CNW) used to have a high-load detector for trains headed into the city, until clearances were raised for the double-stack cars.
Ever hear of a bad day at the office? Don’t have to be in an office to have a bad day …
Similar problem happened on the CP (Soo) a little over a year ago at Milwaukee, there is an overpass located next to the Milwaukee Amtrak Station. It is possible for Autoracks and Doublestacks to clear on two of the tracks. Well on this night a late Amtrak had one track tied up, and another freight was waiting on #2MT for Amtrak to make his station stop and leave, so the DS sent the train through the Station on track Depot 4, the train crew made no objection, and the train was not one that regularly handles autoracks but had a couple of empties this day. Predictably the two cars were peeled open. The new ETT now says that all freight trains must be routed through the Station on either #1MT or #2MT unless special permission is received from the dispatcher and the consist is checked. Milwaukee is chock full of restrictions for operating both high and wide cars, and it behooves any train crew to review the restrictions before moving any train containing these cars.
They do it with double decker buses here, most passengers know how to duck. 
It’s possible that the track was resurfaced and inadvertently raised a couple of inches. A number of years ago, I saw a Conrail train kicking up sparks off the roofs as a series of auto racks passed under a flyover on the north side of Pittsburgh. As they regularly travelled that line and the concrete probably didn’t move, I had to presume that they lost a little clearance during some track work and it was enough to make the trilevels not quite fit through without rubbing.
I tried to call the railroad when I got to work, but couldn’t find a working phone number on a Saturday morning.