Thank goodness the time off is over. One more nap and I would have had to jump off the porch (no 2nd story windows for me!)
A little train watching and a lot of items!
Think I scared a poor MOW man to death. He came close to Millie - first mistake and I leaped out of the car. He nearly fainted! I jabbered about 25 mph and flapped my arms and managed to get out of him that he was out there - alone - checking a soft spot! He was almost a puddle by the time I finally let him go back to work! He kept backing up the whole time! Hmmm…
Anyway - I never got to ask - but where we were sitting, there is a definite “dip” in the rails - once about 15 feet before they get to the crossing and the 2nd one right at the side of the crossing - two for one - and those coal cars really rocked. He only looked at it, visited with me and drove off in terror.
So question is, what ways would he have found out about the dip - would the train crew have any idea, since the engines didn’t seem to have a problem, just all those loaded coal cars! Would the general public see it and report it? Did MOW just find it on their own? I know you aren’t clairvoyant, but just trying to cover possibilities.
The one dip (2nd one) may not be fixable, since it is a rise to get onto the crossing, but that first one was a real downer!
2nd - CTC begins and CTC ends. Why do we care - actually, why do train crews care? These are new signs, so I noticed them! What action is necessary, if any?
Just FYI - saw the cutest little Green and Yellow caboose parked close to the depot! Behind a lot of other stored cars. Not doing anything, just resting.
And figured out lots of trains run on a holiday - mostly at nite, but some all day long! Pretty quiet during the snow storm, however! Especially westbound!
Mookie
mow guys usually check around crossings once in awhile.If i see a track problem i go to the track shak and let the guys know.holiday trains are longer because they are like dinner plates. little auto parts some racks a couple tofcs and containers some grain some coal hoppers some coil cars some gons for home shop for reapair. just enough to have the next yard sort it all out again.
stay safe
Joe
Track inspector might have flagged it. Most MOW crews know their track better than the back of there hand. I asked an old MOW guy how he know which ties to replace after they quit using date nails – he said, it’s simple – I remember when I replaced it the last time.
In the rulebook is an entire chapter of CTC rules, another chapter for TWC or DTC rules. The signs are just a nice way of telling the employees when a certain set of operating rules comes into play.
So…before they pass that sign, they need to have TWC to go past the sign and out of town and coming into the yard, they need Yard Limits to enter the yard? I think that is what I am reading. Maybe that is why we see them stopped both ways and have often wondered what was stopping them. The signs are new, but then a lot of the signaling is too (the dwarfs are permanently missing from that area!
I’ve decided you need to be an Einstein to remember all this! Or maybe the theory of relativity was easier!
And on the “dip” - they don’t seem to be in any big hurry to fix it. (can you tell I am impatient - I would have had it fixed that afternoon!) So how bad can a dip get before they put in on an immediate job list? The driver has said for several weeks that there was a slight dip in the coal cars (I couldn’t see it from the right side) and now it is to the point that I can see it - very clearly!)
Isn’t this hard on couplers and drawbars to have to go over two dips like that - in less than the length of a coal car? I know there is some play in them, but…
Whenever I felt something unusual in the track, I would report it to the dispatcher immediately; I surmised that if I can feel it up in the cab, surely the condition must be sufficiently problematic.
One time I reported a very slight ‘dip’ when going over a pedestrian underpass; it turned out to be a cracked support beam underneath the bridge that was severe enough to warrant closing the track until the bridge could be repaired. It was just a slight dip, just barely enough to register on my senses; the conductor did not feel anything. The B&B department told me the next day that had that not been reported, the bridge could have collapsed anytime; in fact he actually said we were lucky to have gotten over it intact.
Most T&E crews are fairly diligent in reporting any defects they encounter–they do not want a wreck any more than the railroad does. What is done with the information once it has been reported, is up to each individual in the “chain of communication”.
I seem to recall reading that the track on either side of a crossing can be a real problem, even more so with the advent of crossings that appear to include a concrete foundation (as opposed to just laying timbers atop the ties). I drive over a crossing daily that has a joint just off the crossing. It takes a beating, and the track is of a different weight than the rest of the line, so the joint is a compromise bar to boot. (A compromise bar is used to join two different sized rails).
I can appreciate the problem MOW people have in eliminating this situation.
…Wouldn’t a serious track “dip” be a condition to promote a break in the rail if it is disregarded for too long of a time frame…I’m referring to one that the track is slamming up and down as each truck passes over it and perhaps the water is splashing up from it as the action occours…
The seriousness of the dip is a function of the FRA track class and the allowable range of track disturbance before you slow order the track and drop it an FRA class. The FRA track classes are very forgiving and have a healthy factor of safety built in. You want to see the deflection under load to see what you have for a potential defect. Chances are , the roadmaster, under a tight maintenance budget, has his limited forces attacking larger problems and is watching the dip defect until his troops can get there. Tamping track by hand is labor intensive, but still done. If the rdm has a pup-tamper or a liner available to him, he still has to travel the thing to the location to fix it, being carefull not to hump it the other direction but still allow for ballast consolidation.
Also the subgrade at Hobson is going though freeze and thaw cycles right now and odd forces are in play until all the water around the crossing freezes in the dirt and becomes more stable (The mudmonster is subdued but the ballast gets harder to tamp under the ties)
Some yards require that a train get permission from the yard master before entering, so it’s not always a free-for-all in the yards. Here locally, there is a lunar signal about 1/2 mile east of the yard on either main before they cross next to the yard. Even though it is CTC territory, you will see (and hear) trains call a clear signal and then slow down and stop at the lunar, even though they can see green on the next CTC signal. The yardmaster usually tells them which track to pull into, where to put any cars that need to be set-off and which track, if any, to add to their train, or specific instructions on where and when to take the power to the ‘pit’ (service area). These radio transmissions can get very long, which makes them interesting.