Found this video on youtube. Its of a Russian Electric locomotive…engulfed in flames being pushed by a diesel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE2XsZkaJto&feature=related
Would something like this be permited in the USA?
No, I don’t think this kine of action would be permitted here and it would have tied up the rails for hours on end, but in super practical Russia they simply push the damn thing out of the way and keep the trains running.
It looks like they’re pushing it to a location that can be accessed by a fire brigade. I’d say that took some pretty swift and creative thinking on somebody’s part and probably saved the second motor from burning up and more extensive damage to the catenary.
Mark
Well I wouldn’t want to be the crew in that diesel. The Russians may still be using PCBs in transformers or some other nasty stuff. Breathing that smoke would definitely be hazardous to your health regardless. Don’t forget the Russians had their military helicopter pilots dropping hundreds of tons of sand on the Chernobyl nuclear site telling them they were safe. Most are now pushing daisys.
There was a TRAINS column by Don Philips a month or two ago describing how the crew on an Amtrak train had a fire underneath the dining car (I think it was the diner?) and they kept the train moving to a spot where the local fire department could put it out. I think that’s what’s happening in the video.