That 4904 is not much help. The wheel slip system is obviously not working. Did CN put PTC on those units in place of the GM controls?
The only GTW units I’ve ever been on are the 5900 series SD40-2’s, so I can’t say for sure.
I have seen a variety of units acting in this manner, though not nearly as badly as in that video.
I suspect that in addition to problems with the wheel slip control - there is probably a lack of sand on that 2nd unit.
Y’all got it wrong–that unit is the new enroute rail grinder.
Wheel Slip.
Back in the early Eighties GP38-2s replaced the older First/Second Gen power on the Wayfreights on the Windermere Sub. this being cascaded down S/G Torpedo Geeps, GP35s and MLW C424s. The various spurs and the Wyes were not yet capable of handling C-C power, so B-B had to do.
The GP38s were almost new, and liked , as the GP7/9s still high nose and were going in for their rebuilds, the other power worn out, and not designed for Wayfreight Service when new.
The Two GP30s appeared from time to time.
Anyway, this one day there was a MoW Track Block for a tie program and they had to hold the S Wyft for ’ A few minutes ’
Well, the Engineer, who was a Piglet and thought his output did not stink, threw a FIT, and let EVERYBODY know on Channel 1.
To compound the issue, a Heavy Track Unit broke an Axle and derailed athwart the main, taking hours to get squared away.
They had to jack the machine up, rotate same 90 degrees and build a ’ Set Off ’ right there, digging out the bank with track shovels.
The Window had long expired and now Revenue trains and call figures were being affected.
The Wyft. Conductor walked up and was on the head end.
The Wyft was released and covered 30 minutes in about 20 approaching Mach 1.
The Conductor dropped off at speed where we were and almost fell on his face.
In this instance the GP38-2 had all wheels spinning as in the Video, b
Poor Mr. Bear, just trying to be friendly. [:-^]
By the way, is bear meat good to eat? Don’t tell me it tastes like chicken. [dinner]
It’s very greasy. Very strong, slimy pork would be a better description. But I’ve only had the opportunity to try it twice and did not care for it either time, so I may not be the best source. Bears are also full of parasites from eating anything they find on the ground, and that put me off even before I tried the (thoroughly cooked) meat.
But I think that pretty much any meat will taste good if you grind it up and make it into garlic sausage.
A old frontier book of mine contains a story about a greenhorn who was tricked into eating coyote meat by one of the old heads.
The same book contained a tale from a different old trapper who claimed that lynx meat is a delicacy, as long as you cook it properly.
Bear Facts.
I have never eaten Bear. As mentioned could be full of parasites. Trichinosis.
Have seen them shot, as Vermin, and trucked away. Helped skin out one for it’s pelt for a rug, on a Come Along in a shed.
Bears can be an issue, especially around food and Garbage dumps.
There was one around the local land fill named Mr. Three Paw, as one of his front paws was missing. One of the largest black bears I ever saw, and Glossy! Lots of Goodies in the Garbage. The dump on the former RoW of a logging road where we found loco brake shoes w groove on flange to centre same on wheel tread on rough track on trucked locomotive as a Shay or Climax, and a well shot up spark arrester stack.
One night I was Inspecting a Coal Train, M630 Power and a bear came out of the ditch, dashed in front of the Unit and disappeared underneath about fifteen feet away. I was afraid he might still be alive and furious, so I vacated the area ASAP.
M630. Pre Ditch Lights.
http://www.mountainrailway.com/Roster%20Archive/CP%204500A/CP%204552-1.jpg
By Day he was dead, 'tween the rails and we pulled him away with a 4x4.
Another day I walked out and there were three bears munching berries across the track. No sweat, and they left.
A South Drag radioed in that they hit a bear North along the Kootenay and he might still be alive.
Back on wheelslip - we have a real problem with slick rails, especially in the fall with leaves on the track and the grades we deal with. You might as well grease the top of the rails.
It’s always a good idea to run with your window open - generally you can hear an axle take off. Most of the time the wheel slip detection will work, but not always. If an axle runs away, you can do significant damage to a traction motor.
Liberal sand, and sometimes a 10 pound set on the independent…
And if, perchance, a unit ‘runs away’ while the train is stopped -
There’s a spot like that on Big Moose Hill, albeit not as deep. More like a rumble strip. The hill, five miles of 1.1 percent, was always a challenge to the railroad.
Funny photo, but the rail in BaltACD’s photo looks like CWR, so it would have been a real pain to cut out a section and use 2 welds to reweld each side. Unless they just used bolted joints . . .
- PDN.
If the defects were discovered at 0 dark 30 in the middle of a 4 day holiday, MofW ‘may’ bolt in a replacement segment of rail and issue a slow order. The PERMANENT repair is to replace and weld in the new segment of rail.
With there being that number of defects and the total length from the first to the last, I doubt that any temporary repair would be attempted - where do you get 50-70 feet of rail from and get it on site - both MofW and Operations will be involved in the logistics of getting the rail and getting it in place.
My only experience with a bear was on a trip on the BC Rail’s Caribou enroute to Prince George. I was permitted to ride shotgun in the RDC’s “firemans” seat on the stretch north of Quesnel BC. The engineer was the senior man on the board and he recieved the train over an hour late. He knew his route and did not believe there would be any testers lurking in the weeds. We were doing significantly above the speed limit for passenger trains in the ETT but who was I to ask him? Also, we entered one curve with speed boards that were marked F-30, P-40. He slowed to about 55mph. Car felt like some one had a large sledge hamer and was hitting the side of the truck. We exited the curve faster than we entered. We came upon a black bear loping along the ROW. And we were quickly gaining on him. I did not say anything but wondered whether he was big enough to initiate a derailment but then thought nah, it would just be messy. Just before we got to it, it cleared the track and dove to the left. Engineer never changed speed. He made up almost forty minutes on his division.