i was watching a train go by my house today and it had a stuck wheel how long would it last at about 10 MPH until it would have been a real problem
oh and i tried calling the WSOR to stop the train but of course no one was there what would you have done?
The likely-hood of someone actually have one on them is very very slim, but… You get ahead of the locomotive and put a torpedo down on the rail. That should make the engineer stop, if they even know what the “BANG” from the torp means…
Or instead of having the engineer beat you up for giving them a heart atack, why not flag them down or something to that effect. Or call the dispatcher. Or their emergency line.
…Perhaps an emergency number would be available at the nearest RR crossing on a pole or other RR item…If so call that.
Last resort, call local police.
A detector would catch it sooner or later , most likely it is a set handbrake .
doing that and not being a railroad employee is going to get your butt into some major hot water… first off they arent toys…they are explosives… and second…they are a warning device that are to be set up by railroad personel ONLY…not civilians… and the same thing goes with setting up a fusee along the ROW if your not a railroader… just use the proper lines of communication…not railroad flagging tools to try and get the crews attention!!!
csx engineer
Probably not. Most detectors are not set up for such things. They won’t even pick up a hot wheel that a light hand brake has caused to heat up.
Any object waved (violently) by anyone alongside the track is a signal to stop . Anyone can stop a train. Get ahead of the train and give them the big washout .
Yikes, I agree with CSX engineer; a non-railroader putting something on the track seems highly inappropriate. Most grade crossings have a sign with an emergency number to call. Failing that a call to local police would be the best course.
Ross
Since we can’t necessarily assume that you (or anyone else) would be able to get ahead of the train to flag it down, instead be prepared better for the next time (which hopefully won’t ever occur):
Find the WSOR emergency phone number on a nearby grade crossing, write it down on a card and keep in in your wallet or save it on your cell phone, etc. If that’s the number you called wiht no answer, then call the main number sometime and find out who to call instead. Be sure to tell them that, too, and give details - date & time.
Finally, I presume you noted the car’s reporting marks, car number, and about where it was in the train - maybe even which axle ? All of that would be useful to know.
Quick real-life story: About a year ago I saw a covered hopper go by a grade crossing on the NS Lehigh Line. The rear-most bottom outlet cover - about 6" diameter - was hanging down on its chain, swinging back and forth, banging on the rail underneath, and occasionally hitting against the nearest wheel. My concern was that if that cover had broken off and gone under that wheel, that might have been enough to derail the wheel. I called the NS 800-number, which I found out was the NS Police department, calmly and clearly gave my naem, expalined what I’d seen, gave them the car info (it was an FPAX = Formosa Plastics, I think), location - just the street name for the grade crossing on the Lehigh Line as I don’t know the nearest milepost (MP) or control point (CP) or anything else like that, direction of the train, and time. The guy who took the call was very courteous and professional, thanked me, and said they’d notify the train crew ASAP. Good deed for the day - done !
I now carry the numbers for the 6 major class I’s - BNSF, UP, CSX, NS, CN, and CP, as well as Amtrak and SEPTA (local transit agency) in my wallet.
call your local or state police department and tell them what you saw and why they should contact the railroad.
WSOR is one railroad. Others, like NS, have 800 numbers listed in local phone books for their police departments. Yard masters, stations, trainmaster’s offices, etc., are also good number to check out.
Most local police/fire dispatch centers probably have the railroad(s) on speed dial. If you don’t have the appropriate RR number available, 9-1-1 is the way to go.
In days of cabeese you could let the back end crew know by pinching your nose and pointing. That was the universal sign for a hot box. I once saw the same thing at South Bend on CR and went to the South Shore station across the tracks. The woman behind the ticket counter called CR and took quite a bit of garbage when she told them she was reporting a hot box!
to be honest with you i didnt know what to do when i had seen it because i have never ben in a situation like that
but i did make an effort to call the emergency number on my cell phone and notify them but i couldnt get through to anyone so i hope that they would have found it and it was also in the back of the train so i couldnt tell them to stop the train although i wish that i could of.
But on the other hand the last time i thought that i would be nice and help them out with the broken joint bar i got reamed a new one from that. But i probably get into trouble for turning that in to. So maybe i wont turn in anymore problems.
But thats just me.
…And in addition, trying to inform a crew of a consist problem: Rubbing one’s head {indicating problem up front}…rubbing one’s stomach: {indicating problem in mid train}, and patting one’s butt, {problem in the rear of consist}.
I also called NS’s 800 number on teh crossings a couple months ago tor eport a similar problem. I was also surprised that it was their police line. I had simply got the number off a crossing we usually have constantly active in the winter due to plow trucks tripping the signal. Rather than letting it flash all weekend, I figure I can start notifying them since it’d take them a while to find out on their own out in this town. As for that incident, it was rough trying to tell them teh information with a dry throat, which that summer heat causes plenty of, but I spat it all out eventually. I heard that the dispatcher soon called the train, which had gone a ways off, notifying them of the problem. Buy did that smell nasty, though. I still can’t forget that stench.
However, don’t expect much comprehension of what you are trying to describe from these agencies. They will attempt to relay the info to the proper railroad, but what info the railroad will get is anybodies guess.
Where are you going to get a torpedo. Likelihood of a person having a torpedo is slim, likelihood of a railroader having a torpedo is slim, since the railroads discontinued the use of torpedoes in the U. S. four or five years ago and there’s no mention of them in current operating books on the two major eastern carriers, anyway.
Where are you going to get a torpedo. Likelihood of a person having a torpedo is slim, likelihood of a railroader having a torpedo is slim, since the railroads discontinued the use of torpedoes in the U. S. four or five years ago and there’s no mention of them in current operating books on the two major eastern carriers, anyway.
The idea of storing the railroads’ toll-free numbers on your cell phone is a good one. Yes, it will get you to the railroad police (UP also has a more specific grade-crossing number), but they can handle it.
As for the original question, a sliding wheel will cause problems further down the road, as soon as it’s slid far enough to create a false flange on the outside of the rail. Next switch you encounter…
The good news is that the heat should throw up enough friction to cause smoke, which any responsible crew member looking over his train should see. (Also, if it happens to be due to an un-released brake, the other wheelset on the truck should also somehow be affected, and–even if it isn’t sliding–should put out a bit of smoke of its own. Brake-shoe smoke seems to be easier to spot.)