This is a picture of a derail. I won’t say where it is, but I can tell you for sure that it is supposed to be stopping locos/trains from moving from the bottom of the pic to the top. It seems to me that being installed on the left-hand rail like it is, it would not be entirely effective. I’m not an expert but it seems to me that the flange of the wheel would just ride up and over the derail in it’s current position. I think it should be mounted on the right-hand rail so that the derail catches the flange and directs the wheel off the rail. Can anyone confirm beyond a shadow of a doubt that this derail is installed improperly if it’s mission is to stop trains moving from the bottom of the pic to the top of the pic?
Ed, are you sure it’s a derailer? Now 2 people are saying it’s a rerailer. It is DEFINATELY being used as a derailer, and it’s important that it’s installed properly, although I doubt whoever installed it knew what they were doing, because it likely was NOT installed by railroad personell. In fact, now that I think about it, it was recently moved from another location (by non-railroad personell), and I’m 99% sure it was on the right-hand rail in it’s previous location. If you, or anyone, could confrim for me that it’s being used improperly (or it’s not even the correct device), that would be great.
It is exactly like the RERAIL used in the yard here. It is used to put the wheel back on the track and it is correct. If they have it on a siding to keep cars from rolling on the main it is just used for that, much like an old tie or other debris to keep a car from rolling away. Since it is not locked down it can’t be very important
It’s definitely a rerailer. Take a look as to where the notch for the wheel flange is in relation to the inside gauge of the rail. This one looks old but I have seen the same sort hanging from engines.
Railroads dont have re-railers, not permanently affixed and locked to the track.
They have a portable re-railing frog that some switchers carry, and the MOW guys keep one in the back of the truck.
Note this one is bolted to the track, and locked in place.
Why would you need a fixed re-rail device?
Is this the only place cars de-rail on the railroad?
What if a car got the right hand wheel on the ground, on the outside of the track?
What would this device do then?
De-rails are to protect a main line from roll outs, or to protect men working on and under cars ahead of the derail.
De-rails are also used to protect the entrance to industry track, to prevent a railroad from entering the plant until the plant personnel want them to.
The idea is to put a car on the ground at slow speed to prevent a bigger accident.
There are not, as far as I know, any fixed re-rail devices outside of the model railroading world.
Go to http://www.wch.com/ Catalogue>Bumping Posts>Rerailers and Replacers. Page 20-2 Car rerailers. The original “Butterfly-Type”. As I said before. Nobody in their right mind would place a derailer that would derail a car over a switch.
It is rerailing frog, some clown put a lock on it thinking it was a derail. The chain on it is to keep from losing the wedge. 30 years MOW 10 as Roadmaster on BNSF. Bill
I will second (or third or fourth) that that rascal is a rerailing frog (old style Nolan steel fabricated). It is anything but standard on anyone’s railroad. It is a tool and not a permanent track appliance. (Ed is correct that rerailing frogs are not stock items found out there in the yards and backtracks)
I would be asking about what is behind the photographer that is throwing cars on the ground. FRA would take a dim view of this semi-permanent arangement and/or what caused the “optimist” to leave that appliance in place. (something is getting thrown on the ground with disturbing regularity and they are dragging the car up over this to rerail it with another rerailing frog or wedges on the opposite rail before it tears up a switch) [B)][B)][B)]
What is causing the cars to go on the ground could be operating practices or a track defect. Neither is acceptable and allowing the practice to repeat is rather callous. [ something needs to change and that temporary track appliance/ tool needs to go)
I think if it was on b472121 or I found this out there, that track would be out-of-service __PRONTO! …__and we would be a roadmaster on the warpath until we sorted this out. If someone was using this as a temporary derail to protect something further down the track, somebody does not know what he is doing and is playing with fire (blue flag rule). Someone in the mechanical or track department of the track owner needs a stern lecture and wake-up call if this is being used as track protection [V]
Perhaps I need to explain the circumstances behind this piece of equipment better. This is a photograph on an industrial track at a nuclear plant. Again, I won’t say which one. A Norfolk Southern Mainline runs past the plant and this industrial spur runs from the mainline, onto the property of the Nuke plant, and directly into the plant itself. It was used during plant construction, and back in the day for shipments that were too big for trucks. It hasn’t been used for a decade or more to my knowledge because trucks are getting bigger now and can handle the shipments the plant needs. But, per the NRC, the plant needs to protect against the terrorist-hijacked, or runaway, train being rammed right into the plant. They are required by the NRC to have this derailer. The switch you see in the photo divides the track into three spurs, one of which goes into a particularly sensitive area of the plant. The derailer used to be attached to the right-hand rail of that particular spur. During upgrades of the defensive barriers, they needed to move the derailer and it was moved by plant personell, who know nothing about railroads, to the point you see here. The thought was that it would just protect all three spurs now. Obviously, when it was moved, it was placed on the left-hand rail.
There is another derailer of the same design being used closer to the mainline, but I believe it is in place to protect the mailine from wayward cars and not intended to protect the plant, but I could be wrong about that. Both are locked to the track, and only the security department of the plant have the keys to them. The name NOLAN was on the side of this device. I can try to get more pictures of it in relation to it’s surroundings, and some of the other derailer, if that would help. As I said, it’s important for this device to be positioned correctly, for obvious reasons. And if it turns out it’s not even the correct device f
From your expanded explanation, it’s now obvious how the thing got there. (Placed & designed by a non-railroader… Homer Simpson works here too?)
It’s not gonna stop a damn thing. They call flopover derails a hop-toad for a reason. (they only derail cars at low speed) - This won’t derail a thing atany speed. It will not crowd the wheel or flanges, the wheel tread will just run over the top of it as it’s designed to do during the rerailing process.
Maybe the AEC/NRC needs to talk to the FRA (Talk to deBerg or the other Atlanta FRA office folks). If a licensed engineer designed this and signed-off on this, maybe he ought to turn in his license and find a new career. (Being that it’s an atomic plant, the statute of limitations has probably already been exceeded, It’s been a while since they built one of those rascals…)
ps - The most effective derail for this type of operation IMHO would be a split point derail with a diagonal guardrail set on the other side of the track centerline (to keep the car on top of the ties and to avoid car rollover). I will absolutely throw the car on the ground.
Mudchicken, could you list your experience/qualifications for me so that if I show this thread to my superiors, they’ll know this opinion comes from someone qualified to speak on the issue? If you could put them in Laymen’s terms so that non-railroaders will know what you’re talking about, that’d be great. I appreciate your time. And I don’t know who decided to install it and use it as a derailer, it’s likely been here as long as the plant has.
If it was on the right hand rail it would derail a train, imagine what would happen if a wheel with it’s flange to the left of the rail would do as it passed over it…