I sell lumber to house builders. On days like today (or weeks like this week), my business comes to a standstill. It’s about -15 below zero right now, and the wind is going to pick up and put the wind chill in the -25 below zero range-again. My customers stay home today, but the trains still run by.
What things happenon a railroad in the cold and snowy conditions that normally wouldn’t happen on a sunny day, or in a warmer climate?
Pull-aparts in the rails.
Locomotives freezing.
Train crews freezing in poorly-sealed cabs.
Air lines freezing.
Triple-valves freezing open or closed.
Switches frozen.
Grab-irons and steps get ice-covered.
Air horns get packed with snow and freeze (older units with the horn mounted in front).
Snow packed into knuckles preventing coupling.
Trainmen required to walk long distances over uneven ballast covered by two feet of snow and/or ice.
Cab windows frosting over (older units).
Very poor braking due to snow buildup in brake rigging (and brake shoes being less effective in cold temps).
Knuckles and drawbars become more brittle.
Snow getting into traction motors causing flashovers (older units).
Crew fatigue due to stresses caused by difficult working conditions, an abundance of cloudy days, and lack of sunlight due to shorter daylight hours.
Rails are more slippery and offer less traction (also due to locomotive wheels being cold as well).
Well, Norris, you can have pull-aparts of the rails, due to thermal contraction.
Derailments caused by snow and ice buildup in the flangeways, especially if seldom-used tracks get plowed across at grade crossings.
Switches frozen due to snow buildup–the main reason railroad brooms have two working ends!
Locomotive horns sounding a little strange when one or more of their bells are clogged with snow.
Trains operate more slowly. The magic number for lots and lots of freight trains is 40.
Air tests are even more agonizing than usual.
Fast-moving extra boards and senior employees who are grateful for floating single-day vacations.
And for fans, trains move through the countryside more quietly, due to the snow muffling sounds–be careful out there!
Can’t forget road crossing flangeways getting filled with ice.
Defect detectors don’t work as well (CSX slows everyone down passing detectors).
On passenger trains, service water freezes up.
Well,Norris! You might say; all anyone can do that Has to be out side with several inches of snow (snirt(?) on the ground . Is to just lumber around complaining about the cold, and waiting for warmer temps.[:-^]
[}:)]
40 mph. That leads me to believe that railroads have some sort of contingency plans for cold and snowy weater, or is it jaust played by ear?
What does a fast-moving extra board mean?
“Frost heaves” buckling the track up to create out-of-cross-level, poor surface, and unsupported tie conditions.
Thawing switches with “snow melting oil”, torches and fusees/ flares.
Carrying and using freely, often, and lots of: jumper cables*, spare batteries, ether, gas/ diesel line/ tank anti-freeze or water absorbent, air line anti-freeze, lock anti-freeze, windshield wash, salt, etc. (*Don’t forget the 3rd short jumper to link the batteries together in series if it’s a 24 volt starter like on Caterpillar equipment, and more if the voltage is higher, etc.)
Heating engine blocks so the starters have a prayer of turning them over.
Adding kerosene to the diesel so it won’t gel.
Carrying lots of fuel filters for when it does . . .
“Plugging in” any equipment that can’t be left idling - and even some that is !
Road salt and water runoff lowers the shunt values in the track circuits so that the flashers go on, the gates come down, and the track signals think there’s a train in the block when there isn’t.
Carrying extra boots and dry socks - wool or better, too - for when boots and feet get wet.
Briefing and watching co-workers for signs of frostbite and hypothermia.
Warming hands over exhaust stacks of small equipment.
“Fire barrels” from empty metal spike kegs, fueled by old scrap wood and ties, etc.
Others alluded to, but did not mention specifically - greater leakage from the air lines, and much longer to build up line pressures due to greater leakage from the contracted and stiffer seals and couplings, etc.
Maybe a little of both. There are speed limits shown in the Special Instructions for Level 1 and Level 2 cold weather restrictions, saying that you’ll be notified by bulletin when these are in effect–but nowhere does it give the temperature criteria for these!
It means you’ll probably get another call as soon as you’re rested, because a lot of people on the board are either missing calls or marking off to avoid working in the weather.
Larry, do your passenger cars still have steam heat? If so, I am sure that you leave the steam valve at the rear cracked open a little to be sure that condensate in the line does not freeze up.
No - HEP (generators on several of the cars).
We do have problems during our only winter event - Polar Express. Since we don’t have any “shore power” capable of powering the entire train we have to leave the generators running overnight so the waterworks don’t freeze up.
Even if it’s above freezing, it takes a while to warm the train up.
Once you get the train up and rolling, does it handle differently in the cold?
Crew van won’t start, gets stuck in snow, gets to/from train/hotel slower…
Brakes take much longer to become effective after setting, as it takes a while to melt off the ice and snow buildup before the wheels and brakeshoes can even begin to warm.
Brakes take longer to release.
Knuckles are more brittle, necessitating a much gentler touch on the throttle.
Rail is more slippery, meaning more wheelslip resulting in less tractive effort available.