A poster on one of my local forums was shooting video at Glenwood Yard in Raleigh, NC and caught this derailment of light engines working a yard job:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPzo9cm0IqU
Jamie
Thanks for a really interesting video. I don’t know much about rail operations, but it seems to me that the engineer responded quickly and got his train stopped in a very timely fashion.
Tom
Wasn’t anything to do with the engineer stopping his train. When the wheels hit the ground the train stops it’s self. I’ve been in and out of that yard a great many times. Some of the worst track I’ve seen.
10 mph restriction?
Was that horrible sound of metal dragging on metal we hear on the video the sound of the locomotive pilot’s bottom edge dragging on the rail?
Awsome what are you talking about 10 mph restriction…
That was incredible. Makes me appreciate the constant dangers that locomotive crews face on the job.
Anyone have info as to the specific cause? Open or broken switch? Rail spread? When was the most recent track inspection?
that is exactly how fast things can go from a good day to a bad day for crews on the railroad… blink of an eye and your on the ground and now you will spend the next X number of hours giveing out writen and verbal statements of EVERYTHING you seen…heard…felt… and did up until you hit the ground… get asked the same questions over and over agin by every boss within 100 miles it seems… and the whole time your second guessing yourself wondering if you did something wrong that might have caused it… derailments are a fact of life in this line of work…but you always hope they happen to someone else and not you…
csx engineer
I know what these guys did the rest of the day !
I hate it when this happens…
It’s yardlimits so it’s restricted speed. 15mph or less
[emphasis added]
Fair enough - the video and the event depicted, recorded, and preserved confirms that. And this is on the railroad that almost practically always takes the annual Harriman Gold Safety Award - kind of makes you wonder how they accomplish that ?
More to the point, I’m strongly tempted to e-mail it to the appropriate NS officials - I own some stock, so I can do that legitimately - and ask how those track conditions are consistent with safe and efficient operation, FRA track safety standards and required inspection frequency, and their commitments to a safe workplace, etc., and when (not “if”) they plan to do something to correct it. But that might just lead to a reactionary backlash and grief for the local railfans such as they guy who shot this video, and the local officials who may have seen or tolerated him doing it, and I don’t want that to happen. In other words, “punish the messenger of bad news / whistleblower” instead of addressing the underlying problem - I have no reason to believe that wouldn’t happen.
But I’ll leave it to others who are closer to the scene to do that. Specifically, if the track is that bad - why haven’t the local unions raised the problem - it’s their members who are most directly exposed to the hazards, and are the most knowledgable about them and the organizational dynamics ? Don’t they know someone at a higher corporate level whom they could call up and say - or “whisper into his ear” - that "You ought to look into the track conditions at XYZ Yard - they’re really bad, there seems to be a breakdown in the company’s inspecting&nbs
When I look really close, it almost seems like that engine rose up slightly just before it dropped down onto the ties. I suppose that might be the effect of the wheel flange climbing onto the top of the rail as might have happened if they picked a switch or climbed the rail at a low joint.
I watched this video 4 times. Each time I said to myself “finally theres one on video” or something like that. Then I started thinking, how come there wasnt any comment from the person that was taping it. Not even a “holy frick” or"hope this thing is on", no jiggling of the camera to make sure that its running. Everything looks suspiscious and i may be wrong but why would a person tape a light engine move from that far away, perfectly centered with the scanner chatter on a yard channel (assuming its the yard channel). No zooming in closer, nothing. no close-up shot from another spot. No comments. Everything has a “too good to be true” look to it. That’s my conspriacy side to it. Hope I am wrong
If you read what the wrote in the youtube thingy, he wrote that “I had to go”. Most likely thing is that the engines “picked the switch”. Lucky person to catch it.
NS doesn’t care about track conditions unless it’s busy mainline. Track conditions and derailments have nothing to do with the Harriman. It’s all injury based. Besides, unless you hold tens of thousands of shares they’ll laugh your email into the delete folder.
Soo, I do believe you are wrong on your conspiracy theory. This person is a highly respected member of a forum on railroading in the Carolinas where this incident was discussed thoroughly. A few members over there discussed the cleanup scene later in the day. But then again, we could all just be in The Matrix. Jamie
I just wanted to be “that guy” just once. Wasn’t really pointing fingers, just decided to throw that conspiracy out there. Now back to my FEMA trains…lol
Paul
Well, you’ve probably got better info than me on NS’ attitude towards track.
I already knew the Harriman is injury-based - or more accurately, the lack thereof - not on a derailment count, frequency, or damage, etc.
[EDIT - Added this:] But even though yard derailments aren’t quite as spectacular as mainline wrecks or collisions, they can cause a lot of injuries. What if someone had been riding the steps, preparing to dismount and throw a switch ? What if it had been a shove move instead, again with a crew member riding the leading car ? What if the leading car’s trucks got snagged on the turnout or an adjoining track, and turned over ? About 30 years ago I was part of an investigation of a low-speed derailment on an industrial lead into a quarry, where the shove in derailed on frozen mud at an in- plant crossing - the gondola turned over, and the brakeman was killed. Officials, track supervisors, and train crews who ignore yard track conditions do so at their peril - literally - they can lead to more injuries and deaths than the mainline. Plus, from the purely economic perspective, nothing good comes from the damage to the track, the repair costs, any damage to the locomotive, or the tying-up the yard and disrupting the operations there and related operations for how many hours that day ? How is any of that helping NS, or anyone else ? Short-sighted, in my opinion.
As to your last point - yeah, I know. So maybe I’d be more successful “dropping a dime” on this video with the FRA’s track safety people at: