How often is a railroad required to inspect its locomotives for safety, etc.?
How often are the cars inspected?
I saw some really old cars on a BNSF train today. That’s what prompts the questions.
How often is a railroad required to inspect its locomotives for safety, etc.?
How often are the cars inspected?
I saw some really old cars on a BNSF train today. That’s what prompts the questions.
Locomotives are inspected every calendar day. More indepth mechanical inspections of items, like the air brake system or cab signals, are done at Government specified intervals.
Freight cars are inspected every time a initial terminal air test is done. Again, more indepth mechanical inspections of systems or components is done at specified intervals.
As you may infer, the daily inspections are observations of basic items. It can be done by mechanical department or train, engine and yard service employees. For certain extended haul trains, a initial terminal test inspection has to be done by mechanical department people. I imagine the mechanical employees probably have a better eye for some things.
Of course those with the best eyes for defects are FRA inspectors.
Jeff
Our engineers go through a 40-ish item checklist for the locomotive inspection. We also record when things like fuel, lube oil, and water are added. If we have a discrepancy that doesn’t prevent us from rolling, we note it there for future reference by the mechanical department.
The important part is signing off the separate daily inspection form in the cab. The checklists are held for a year. When the FRA shows up, the daily inspection form is one of the first things they’ll look at.
Every locomotive has a “blue card.” All FRA mandated tests and inspections are recorded there by the mechanical department.
The passenger cars get a once-over at the start of each day as part of the Class 1.
If this sounds remarkably close to what Jeff wrote, it is, even for little tourist lines.
Through trains are given 1000 mile inspections by the Car Dept. at designated locations on the route of the train. These inspections are primarly visual and are centered on the braking system of the train, with many brake shoes being replaced during these inspections. Defects that are noted that need immediate repair will have the cars set out of the trains.
Inspections are serious business for all railroaders as failures of what is being inspected can have catastrophic results
There’s also rollby’s done by crew members, and sometimes trainmasters if no else is available to help inspect passing trains. I don’t know if MoW crews are required to do so when a train passes through their work limits. Many years back when I was up in Port Huron doing air brake test on Amtrak’s Blue Water(this was a contract position). While in the cab it was not a requirement, but I would do a rollby for CN trains coming, and going to Canada as a courtesy. Seen a few things where I had to get on the radio with CN Police, Customs, or the TM of Port Huron Yard at the time.
Im doing an annual 368 day locomotive inspection right now, I’d be delighted to show you how to check the underframe, lube the gear cases, check for water in the support caps tighten bolts etc…
Man, get one of those ‘GoPro’ cameras, and start a you-tube channel. I’m sure that many of us here would be regular followers!! I’m 100% sincere about this.
Anybody that considers themselves a ‘RAILROADER’ will perform a rolling inspection of trains as the pass and then, if necessary, report any observations that portend danger to a proper location; be that the Emergency Response number posted on the crossbuck stantion or some other number that is known to the RAILROADER.
When I was a operator and attending college at Vincennes University I passed a train as I was driving to school and saw a car in a train that had its ‘plug door’ rolling back and forth - when I got to a location I could place a call (days before cell phones) and called the Dispatchers Office so the Car Dept. at Shops could take the necessary actions.
Yeah - one of the first things I learned was that shiny is bad.
You would be surprised at how many railroaders don’t understand the significance of an open plug door. I once told another train that he had an open plug door. The response after a few moments was that it was an empty car.
I’ve had to educate more than a few about why plug doors need to be closed for movement.
Jeff
What is a plug door?
I’ve closed a few plug doors myself over the years, but always made sure to push on the end of the door, not while standing in front of it.
Years before I hired on a door fell off a boxcar and landed on a brakeman. The rest of the crew (all big burly men) ran over and pried it up enough for him to get out. I don’t think he ever fully recovered from his injuries though, and one of the rescuers threw out his back while lifting the door.
I’ve also watched customers attempt to close bent doors that they may or may not have damaged (why admit fault when you can blame the previous customer?). One memorable example had two forklifts pushing on the door, but it wouldn’t pop in and they almost pushed the car over. Eventually they gave up and we gently moved the car over to the RIP track, where that door ended up having to be replaced.
A plug door retracts in to be flush with the side of the carbody when closed, so as to seal better. All the ones I’ve seen also have rubber weather stripping around the door (unless it falls off). Plug doors have some extra arms, latches and handles to make the door move in and out and lock it in place.
Here is a car with both plug and sliding doors, the plug door is on the left:
http://vanderheide.ca/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/S3600232.jpg
Thanks!
I assume the reason for using the plug doors is to provide a better seal than sliding doors. If so, what have they accomplished if the sliding door next to it is a “leaky” sliding door? I’m also guessing that the sliding door is easier to use and is there for convenience, but doesn’t it defeat the purpose of the plug door?
Canadian’s - go figure.
Americans had/have cobination doors, too. There were even 40ft box cars with the combination doors.
The only thing I can think of is that the plug door can give a better seal. Only use the sliding door for most loads, but the times you need the width of a double door you have it. One “leaky” door is better than two “leaky” doors.
Jeff
I would opine that the way a plug door sets into the car (as opposed to hanging on the outside) may contribute to the structural stability of the car.
After my last post I was thinking that maybe if you need a sealed car, you could seal the sliding door opening from the inside (a piece of plywood?) and load the car through the plug door. Does that make sense? Then Jeff mentioned that with both doors open you’d have a double-wide opening. Is there no post between them? Then Larry mentioned the plug door contributing to the structural rigidity of the car, so maybe there is no post between them, and the purpose of the plug door is not to seal the opening but to provide the double-wide opening yet contribute to the strength of the car. Maybe I’m thinking about this too much.
Railbox ABOX series cars are like that.