Have we heard of any reports of RR problems with all the flooding around Houston ? Did the the major RRs get caught un prepared for the flooding ? If they did not get all their rolling stock out of flooding the water may shut down a good number of locos. As well the freight cars roller bearing may need servicing ?
Amtrak #1 Sunset must have just got out of Houston last night before the flooding ?
Ed Blysard has gone on to conduct God’s railway operations so our man on the scene is no longer there.
Here is UP service advisory. Note that it also shows the critical water level line for RR cars.
https://www.up.com/customers/announcements/customernews/generalannouncements/CN2019-63.html
It is reported to arrive in San Antonio just four minutes late. It departed Houston on time.
From what I’ve read, it’s not as bad in Houston as during Hurricane Harvey. The rest of East Texas is a different story.
Can confirm the “piney woods” got hammered. Unconfirmed report that the BNSF ex SP line east of Beaumont (Lafayette Sub/Silsbee Sub Connection) is in a world of hurt with several bridges threatened.
My boss had 2 trucks in Beaumont TX when this sucker hit. We are having to tow them home after getting their wheel seals replaced. Why water seeped into the crankcases and got into the electrical systems. The hope is that we can repair them as the water did not reach the ECM’s of the engines and the BCP of the rest of the trucks. The ABS computer of the trailers was already replaced we sent 2 replacements down with our tow rigs to bring back the damaged trucks. The drivers went to sleep and woke up to water up to the level of the fuel caps of the tanks.
See now, if it were snow, up to the fuel caps would only be an issue because it would be hard to drive through that much snow.
On the other hand, using the 1 inch of snow for every tenth of an inch of rain rule of thumb means they’d probably be trapped in their sleepers until someone dug them out…
How many rigs does your company operate?
220 on the van and peunamatic tank side plus 20 tanks hauling hazmat. Then throw in about 20 owner operators in the mix.
Thanks!