Minden, ami amerikai vasút. Társaságok, vonalak, gőzösök, dízelek, kocsik, még amerikai stílusú modellezés is, meg amit föl sem soroltam, szóval minden...
"Európa és Amerika vasútja valaha együtt indult, az első mozdonyok, mint a világ oly sok más országába, ide is Nagy-Britanniából érkeztek, emiatt az uralkodó nyomtávolság itt is a "normál" , 1435 mm." Mikor, és mennyi jármű érkezett Európából? Van ezekről fotó valahol a neten? Ezek, ha jól gondolom még hagyomány ütköző-csavarkapcsosak volt? Mikor tértek át a központi ütköző-vonókészülékre?
A Sinek topikból loptam vissza ezt a képet. Keresztezési kitérő pályaudvari vonatfogadó vágányban (Hoboken, NJ), mozgó szívdarabbal. Azt gondolom, hogy feléjük nagyobb beruházás árán is a karbantartási minimumra törekednek, és egy ilyen kitérő kisebb karbantartási igényű, mint a csattogós.
Ha már kitérő: Long Islanden, Mineolánál figyeltem két fővonal elágazását. A motor áthajtotta a csúcssineket, utána egy levegős rendszer szisszent egy jó nagyot, és néha a légtartályt újratöltő kompresszormotor is beindult. A szemem kinéztem, de nem találtam meg, mit csinált ott a levegő. Esetleg az kampózott be? Nem tudja véletlenül valaki?
>A tippem: Richmond, VA ?? Nyert a versenyző! :-))
Azon kevés helyek egyike, ahol három vasúttársaság keresztez. 1901-ben keletkezett, mikor a Chesapeake & Ohio megépítette a hídját a Seaboard Air Line hídja fölött, mely a Southern Ry West Point vonalát keresztezte. Az utolsó ilyen felállás látható a képen 1983 július 19-én, majd kezdődtek a nagy összeolvadások...
A CN 1999-ben vette meg az Illinois Centralt, a wisconsiniakat viszont valamivel később, mert egy viszonylag új térképen a WC-t még önállónak mutatják (az IC viszont már CN rajta). Pillanatnyilag az USA-ban így övék a nagyon forgalmas Chicago - New Orleans észak-déli tengely, Chicagoból kiindulva északnak Duluth-Winnipeg és keletnek Detroit-Toronto irányokon keresztül Kanadáig érnek el, és van egy vonal Iowába is, ami a nagy semmibe vezet (Sioux City).
Amúgy a CN egy nagyon kedves vállalat, tegnap kaptunk tőlük szúvenyír gyanánt egy műanyag üvegpoharat logoval, aminek ha megnyomod a talpát, akkor a szivárvány színeiben villog, és ha sokáig nézed, nem akarsz majd vacsizni, egyszer elviszem topictalira ;-) De tényleg rendesek, adtak egy komolyabb füzetecskét is, onnét néztem most ki a hálózatot.
I say yes, you have my permission. There are only a few requirements. Each one of the articles must include my name, the copyright notice and the claim "Used with Permission." The Hot Times on the High Iron name must also be used. There can be no editing of the article to eliminate anything that may not be agreed with. In other words, if you you diasagree with something I say, you cannot edit it out or sanitize it to your own opinion or belief.
I understand that somethings may not translate well or really at all and you may have to make amends there. I understand and accept that.
Let me know when you get the first one finished and send me a copy. I'd like to see it in Hungarian.
Tuch
Volna kedvetek dolgozni egy kicsit? Lefordítani a termést és közzétenni valahol?
J.D. Santucci következő gyöngyszeme; ez is hosszú lesz:
We were heading north to Chicago on train 325. As part of this day's journey we met southbound 322 at Paxton. The Engineer and Conductor were positioned on either side of the main track to give a roll-by inspection of our passing train. After we passed, Engineer Aaron McKinnon called telling me we had a tank car smoking about thirty or so behind the engines. He missed the car number but gave us the initials of the car next to it and a description of the car in question. Rich was able to use this information to locate the car on our wheel report.
I slowed the train and Rich dropped off to take a look. I pulled the train past him and up to the car in question. He found a handbrake on the car in question. We had just passed the Ludlow detector and it gave us the "no defects" message too. As it would happen, the handbrake was on a tank car loaded with Sodium Hydroxide. While at this moment there was no impending disaster, it may have become a problem down the road. By the time we got to the next detector at Del Ray some twelve miles from Paxton, the wheels would have heated up even more than they already were. It is likely the Del Ray detector would have caught the problem giving us an alarm and then the "first hot wheel" message, but here is the problem.
If the wheels had overheated enough they would have caused the brake shoes to melt leaving a build up of their material on the tread of the wheels. We would likely have had to set out the car as a result. The problem with this was two fold. There is no "hospital" track near Del Ray for us to set the car out. We would have to take the car to the north end of Gilman, some nine miles away to set out the car. We would have to proceed at a slow speed to assure the car didn't derail account of the build up which had developed on the wheels. Then a crew of Car Inspectors with a new set of wheels and any other necessary hardware would have to be dispatched to make repairs to the car. There would two significant delays; one to our train and another to the car we would have to set out.
Engineer McKinnon's sharp and watchful eye prevented this. He gets a Hot Times "attaboy" for his efforts.
Whenever trains meet at a location where one of the trains is stopped, the crew members of the stopped train are required by the rules to position themselves on the ground to perform a roll-by inspection of the passing train. When conditions allow, one of these crew members is supposed to be on the opposite side of the track so as to allow a good look from both sides. In the days when we had cabooses, an employee on the caboose of a stopped train was required to position himself on the back porch to observe a passing train as well.
Some railroads were and are maniacal about this. If you failed to perform the roll-by and were caught, it meant time off without pay. It was common on the MoPac for officials to ride the trains with crews. If they were riding a train and observed a stopped train at a meeting point with nobody from the crew on the ground, there was hell to pay. You could figure on a thirty day unpaid vacation. There may very well be officials hiding in the weeds or parked on a nearby road out of sight to observe the crew in question performing the roll-by inspection.
In the dead of winter when it is really cold outside, this can be a tough chore. You have to bundle up and head out into the weather. After sitting in some siding for quite awhile, this may be difficult to say the least. There are times we get headed into a siding and told we will meet several trains before proceeding. After sitting for an extended period at three or four in the morning, it becomes difficult to remain awake. The boy's Circadian rhythms are demanding you to sleep. Thus a performance check of the eyelids for light leaks may occur. Whenever we meet a stopped train during the overnight hours and there is no sign of life, we give them a wake up call. This means a good blast of the whistle as we pass the cab of their locomotive. When we still had them on trains, we would also give the same wake up call to the caboose.
Over the years I have been stopped numerous times by the on ground observers who discovered defects in my trains. Likewise, I have observed problems in passing trains and notified them to stop. In more than one case, we were able to assist them or they have assisted us in making the problem right or in setting out the defective car.
Even when I am not working I do the check, only this time from my car. Whenever I get stopped at a crossing for a train, I always give them a good look over. The beautiful bride laughs as I always count the cars as they pass. There is a reason for this. On more than one occasion I have spotted a defect. In one case it was wheels sliding on a car. I was able to contact the railroad involved and explain the situation. I always let them know who I am, that I am a Locomotive Engineer and who I work for. There are enough kooks and weirdos out there and I am sure the railroads hear from them on a regular basis. When I have contacted the railroad involved, I also try to give them the initials and number of the car if I can. If I miss them, I try to get the initials and number on one near it. If I can catch something about the car, I will convey that information as well, such as it being a Grand Trunk box or maybe an L&N covered hopper if I can catch that much of it.. Again, this is why I count them as they pass, this way they have an idea where it is located in the train.
In my days at Wisconsin Central, they were probably one of the least concerned about such inspections. Nobody in charge seemed to be too terribly concerned about enforcing this rule. And this was interesting considering that oftentimes a company official was on board a train there too. Although in this situation it was due to the routine shortage of help and these officials were often working as part of the crew.
In one instance while heading west on train TO41, we met an eastbound at Rugby Junction, WI. It was around midnight as we passed them. The crew remained aboard their train greeting us with a flash from the Conductor's lamp. This indicated there was life. We zoomed past them and heard "flashing" from the Engineer on the radio when the FRED passed them. This was their message to indicate to us that the FRED was indeed blinking. We went about twenty miles to the next hot box detector and got an alarm from it indicating a defect. It told us of a hot box. Upon inspection the Conductor discovered the detector was correct. It was an overheated and now on fire, friction journal bearing on a tank car full of herbicide. Fortunately the detector caught this before the journal burned off and the car derailed. Now had the crew we met been on the ground as we passed, they very likely would have spotted this defect and we would have been stopped sooner.
If the detector hadn't been there, this car would have never made it up Lomira Hill. It would have certainly derailed causing a major wreck and very likely an environmental situation. So you see just how valuable the roll-by inspections can be.
We are also required to make inspections of our own trains as we round curves by looking back. While there is no possible way we are going to see all, yet alone most of these monsters we run today, we can see a fair portion of it at times. In the days of cabooses, the tail end crew was also required to observe the train when rounding curves and in other cases where conditions allowed. Probably every railroad was and continues to be big on the requirement of looking back at your train. Many railroad officials perform efficiency tests to see if you were fulfilling the requirements of this rule. Also, either the Flagman or Conductor on the caboose was required to periodically get up and look out from the back porch onto the rail and roadbed. This was to observe any indications of dragging equipment or a possible derailed car.
We have observed some problems from the engines or cabooses and brought the train to a stop to investigate the problem. There was a situation in my Chicago Central days on the one train that normally operated with a caboose, the Freeport-Hawthorne turn. The Conductor kept seeing sparks from his perch in the cupola of the caboose. He stopped the train several times but found nothing. As day broke and he could now get a better view of the train he discovered the trouble. He observed several flatcars loaded with trailers were rocking excessively. The sparks were coming from the bottom of the cars themselves rubbing the wheels as they rocked over far enough. Fortunately and amazingly enough, none of these cars derailed. They were set out of the train and the mechanical forces were dispatched to inspect and make the required repairs on them.
A Conductor I worked with on the Wisconsin Central told me of an episode involving him during in his days with the Milwaukee Road. Being the good Conductor he was, he got up to look out from the back porch of his moving caboose. He told of observing what appeared to be fresh cut marks in the ties behind his train and immediately headed back in to call the Engineer on the radio. It was good plan but just a moment too late. He said he grabbed the radio and began to call the Engineer to have him bring the train to a stop. The train went into emergency from the condition he observed, which just happened to be a derailed car. The caboose wound up also derailing as part of this mess, turning over on its side knocking him out cold.
Other Conductors I have known over the years have recounted stories of discovering some sort of impropriety within their trains from the caboose. Dragging equipment, cars smoking and other problems were discovered in between detectors from crew members on the tail end. Their attentiveness and alertness prevent derailments and other problems.
Back in the days of cabooses, whenever we stopped anywhere that was more than a momentary pause, members of the crew were required to perform a walking inspection of their stopped train to check for defects or other problems as well. The Conductor or Flagman on the caboose would begin to head towards the engines and the head Brakeman might begin to walk back towards the caboose. If we were stopped somewhere and were told our stay would be for a while, there was no excuse not to perform the walking inspection. Again, sometimes the weed watchers were out there to observe the application of this rule. And over the years, defects have been discovered before they caused a problem or derailment.
Maintenance of Way employees working on the track or structures along the right of way are supposed to stop working and observe passing trains as well. As with train crews, when practicable they are required to have at least one of them positioned on the opposite side of the track. Once the passing train clears, they may resume their work. Signal Maintainers will also observe passing trains.
A couple of years ago as we headed south through Chicago near 47th Street, we passed Signal Maintainer Ken Bentley. Ken noticed a large piece of banding dragging from a flatcar and called alerting us of the problem. I brought the train to a stop; he came up to the engines, picked up the Conductor and drove him back to the problem. The banding that was dragging was a very large, thick gauged piece, the kind that could easily cut somebody standing too close to the tracks in half. Together the two of the removed the offending banding and we proceeded.
About a mile down the tracks we encountered a Track Welder and his helper working. They were working on track one and we were operating on track two. The Welder's truck was parked east of track two on the road just east of the tracks. Had Maintainer Bentley not spotted this piece of banding, it would have likely caught on the Welder's truck and done some damage to it before it was torn free from the flatcar. Again, a job well done that prevented a serious episode.
Back in the days when there were open towers and train order offices all up and down the right of way, the Operators who staffed those facilities were also supposed to come outside to observe passing trains as well. That is, if their duties allowed. It would have been unrealistic for them to announce to the Dispatcher in the middle of issuing train orders to their office, "Wait a minute, I must go outside to observe this southbound."
As in the past, there are very important reasons for this roll-by inspection requirement. We are observing the passing trains for defects. Even though there are equipment defect detectors every twenty to twenty-five miles on most railroads, they are not infallible, they may miss something. Some sort of defect may develop in between detectors as well. Also, these detectors are not designed to catch every type of defect there is. While they may check for hot bearings and wheels, wheels that have become loose or have excessive flat spots, dragging equipment and excessive height or width, there are some defects they simply are not designed to detect.
We scan the passing trains for some of the same defects the detectors do; handbrakes, sticking brakes, dragging equipment and excessive height or width in locations where such dimensions are a factor. Some defects we watch for the detectors cannot see. This includes shifted or loose lading, loose or swinging doors, excessive lateral motion and leaking cars. Over the years, I have spotted all sorts of defects no detector could ever see.
We cannot take cars higher than seventeen feet tall north of Kensington on the Chicago Sub. And even then, we can only take cars in excess of seventeen feet on track four under the MoPac overhead just south of Kensington. These cars can only operate as far north as the connection to Norfolk Southern at 95th Street. Absolutely nothing higher than seventeen feet can operate north of 95th Street on any track. The overhead bridges and the McCormick Place tunnel will not accommodate cars higher than seventeen feet. On occasion it has been attempted just the same though. To assist us in preventing this from occurring, there are high car detectors on tracks one and two at Homewood which scan the trains for excessive height cars.
We were heading north on train 337 earlier this year and rolled our train past this very high car detector. This detector uses a signal for the indicator. Two white lights in a vertical position mean no high cars. Two white horizontal lights indicate an excessive height car has been detected. We observed the indicator and it gave us two vertical white lights meaning no high cars.
We passed a road switcher crew working at Harvey. After the tail end of our train cleared them their Engineer, Steve Hoyt called and informed us that he and Conductor Fred Huntzinger had observed what appeared to be a car too high to go north. I brought the train to a stop and Conductor Billy Haynes check out the situation. We learned our train contained a flatcar designed to piggyback damaged freight cars. The trucks and wheels are removed from such a car and it is set on the specially designed flatcar. This car carried a damaged Wisconsin Central boxcar. The boxcar piggybacked on the flatcar was well in excess of seventeen feet. Our paperwork did not reflect this information. The total height of the car was a couple of feet too high to fit under the MoPac (former C&WI) overhead. We set the car out at Wildwood and continued our trip. The alert eyes of the crew we passed prevented a sure mishap.
Had this car not been detected, it would have assuredly rammed the MoPac overhead. It is very likely the car being carried on the flatcar would have been knocked off and caused a derailment. Such a derailment would have blocked not only the CNIC tracks, but may very well have blocked the adjacent Metra Electric University Park District too. This could have really been a huge mess. Once again, adherence to the rules prevented a disaster.
On another note, the vote has been counted. The Engineers represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers ratified the proposed new contract on the CNIC. This agreement may very well change the way contracts are negotiated in the future for all railroads. We are abandoning the mileage based standard for compensation in exchange for an hourly wage. This agreement will take effect on the former IC and CCP beginning August 1st. I intend to do a piece explaining this new contract in the near future.
Az amerikai vasutak egyik különlegessége, hogy arra megy a vágány, amerre a legcélszerűbb (legolcsóbb). Sok helyen épült töltés vízbe, átszelte keresztben a tavat, sőt, van egy hely, ahol a tó közepén két vonal keresztezi egymást. Ez épp a Columbia folyóba épült töltés Washington államban.
Nem tudom, jól látszik-e, a mozdonyegyüttes különlegesség.
Találtam egy érdekes képet egy 2'B, American gőzös gyártási folyamatáról. Ez volt a maga korában a tipikus amerikai mozdony, a híres vonatos üldözésben (Generális c. film) mindkét mozdony ilyen volt. Elég impozáns a gyártás időzítése... :-))
>Más kérdés, hogy ez egy másik vasút volt, a CN, pontosabban annak leányvállalata, az IC. Az IC (ugye az Illinois Centralra gondolsz?) a CN leányvállalata lett?? Na, ezt sem tudtam...
Azért érdekes, mert az IC azon a területen működik, ahol a CSX privatizálta a Conrail egyik felét, és jó nagy társasággá nőtt, de úgy tudom, a UP (Union Pacific) elsőségét nem veszélyezteti.
OFF: >vadászrepülő is lehet (F-16 stb.). MINDEZT HÉTVÉGI TANFOLYAMON!!!!? Gondolom pilótavizsgája már volt, ott nem nehéz ilyet találni. Akkor meg csak típusátképzés :-))
(Bár egy F-16-os úgy megy a Cessnához, mint a Gigant az én H0-s mozdonyomhoz...) ON
Srác nemsokára megkapja az építőmérnöki Master fokozatát. Jelentkezett a Nemzeti Gárdához, és ha bekerül a legeslegszerencsésebbek (vagy inkább jobbak) közé, akkor vadászrepülő is lehet (F-16 stb.). MINDEZT HÉTVÉGI TANFOLYAMON!!!!? Heti öt napon lehet hétköznapi emberként dolgozni, hétvégén oktatás, gyakorlás, repülés. Adott esetben berendelnek egy évre iraki szolgálatra. A munkáltatód pedig büszke rád, és segít, amiben csak tud (tudomásulveszi, ha árvízi mentésre kell menned stb.)
Ez eddig a legőrültebb (és mindamellett a legszebb) dolog, amit Amerikáról hallottam!
De a nap eseménye akkor is a mozgó könyöksínes váltó volt!
Rugós váltót láttam már, de ki látott már rugós keresztezéses váltót (?!)
Egyenes irányban fix folyamatos alátámasztás van, kitérő irányban pedig a nyomkarimával lehet odébbtaszigálni a könyöksínt, ami rugós megfogású, és kb. 3 m-s a mozgó része. Ha könnyű vagy, és felfutsz rá, akkor a túloldalon a vezetősín fog meg. Persze ez csak ipvg. kitérő, de jól fest a fővágányban.
Sajna fényképet csak a jövő hét elejére remélek róla.
Sikerült hosszabban beszélgetnem egy vasutassal, aki 28 éve dolgozik náluk a cégnél (építőmérnök végzettségű, tehát pályás, de ellentétben sokakkal itt, minden területen kérdezhettem tőle, tudta a válaszokat). Elég sok mindent megváltoztatott az, amit mondott:
2001-ben hivatalosan semmiféle szigorítás nem történt a szabályokkal kapcsolatban. A rendőrség tartott nekik egy tájékoztatót, hogy hogyan szűrjék ki a gyanús dolgokat, de vasúti szinten nem történt semmi. Fényképezés ügyben az mondta, hogy szabadon lehet, de csak közterületről ("public"), a vasúti tulajdonú területről tilos (azt is csak azért, mert oda elvileg tilos belépni). Példának hozta fel, hogy közúti felüljáróról bármennyit fotózhatsz, viszont két diák tavaly egy vasúti hídon próbálkozott, és úgy ott termett egy rendőrautó, hogy csak na... Annyit mondtak csak, hogy a fényképezésnek vége, tűnés.
Védőfelszerelésről annyit, hogy látogatók ("visitor") számára (legyek én mondjuk ebben a státuszban) nem kötelező az acélbetétes bakancs (püff neki, minek vettem, de addigra már úgy megszerettem őket, mert kényelmesek és sokkal olcsóbbak, mint otthon :-). Elhaladó vonat mellett 4 láb (csak 4!) a kötelező védőtávolság. Ez már azért sokkal barátságosabb...
Más kérdés, hogy ez egy másik vasút volt, a CN, pontosabban annak leányvállalata, az IC. Jópofa különben, hogy azért nem olvasztották be (a WC-vel együtt), mert akkor megszűntek volna a szakszervezeti szerződések. Így most a CN leányvállalatokat birtokol az USA-ban, de a mozdonyokat és minden logót már saját színére festi, a régi vállalatok csak szervezeti keretnek maradtak meg.
>Azt is sokan mondták valóban, hogy nem mindig súrlódásmentes a kapcsolat a vasútbarátok és a vasutasok között, ... Ez szeptember 11-e óta lehet. Előtte fantasztikus dolgokat tapasztaltam. Látták a fotómasinát, mondta egy vasutas: oda hátra menjen fényképezni, ott a GG1! Aztán amikor látta a húzódozásom (európai szokás szerint nem mertem...), akkor nyakon fogott, és elvitt, jó messze... De olvasom a TRAINS-ben, hogy most, ha fényképészt látnak, rádión szólnak a menetirányítójuknak.
>Amikor kb. a váltókörzetben mértünk, minden egyes vonat érkezésekor 30 láb távolságra kellett volna hátrálnunk a pályától; ... Tán azért ilyen szigorúak, mert ha a legkisebb baj ér, a bíróság vagyonokat vesz le a vasúttársaságtól. Imád a nagy cég ellen dönteni a polgár érdekében. Persze érdekes kérdés, hogy ha 29 lábra mondjuk szakadék van :-)))
>... az európai vasutakhoz képest roppant szigorúan betartatják a munkavédelmi előírásaikat. Európában (meg főleg Magyarországon) azt tart(at)ják be, ami a dolgozónak kellemes :-))
(Valahol az USÁban embernemlakta mező közepén éjszaka távolról jött az expressz, az épp ott lévő fenntartó dolgozó egy forgalmi kitérő váltóját át- meg vissza akarta állítani, hogy biztosan jó állásban legyen, kitérő irányba működött, vissza nem. Úgy is maradt, a mellékvágány felé, és a dolgozó nem tudott semmit sem csinálni. Sokan meg is haltak. A vasút szabályai szerint jó szándékú tett volt, ki is derült a váltó műszaki hibája, azt vizsgálták, hogy nem azért tette-e, mert egy főnöke is a vonaton volt, de úgy tudom, különösebb baja nem lett a dolgozónak.)
izé, azért hétezervalahányszáz km hosszú vonatot nem hiszek el...:) hamár angol, tizedespont kell, mint ahogy az eredeti oldalon is van: The longest train ever was 7.353 km (4.568 miles) long,
Egyfelől nyilván igaz, másfelől az amerikai vasutak hót paranoiásak: pont tegnap kellett költenem egy halom pénzt acélbetétes bakancsra, mert ha nem viselem, síneknek még a közelébe sem engednek (pedig nyíltvonalon kellene mérni, nem állomáson). Amikor kb. a váltókörzetben mértünk, minden egyes vonat érkezésekor 30 láb távolságra kellett volna hátrálnunk a pályától; még szerencse, hogy megelégedtek kb. 5 méterrel is. És persze kobak meg színes mellény viselete + vasúti alkalmazott, aki jelen van, és figyel ránk. Persze én sem akarom, hogy tarkón nyomjon egy EMD, de az európai vasutakhoz képest roppant szigorúan betartatják a munkavédelmi előírásaikat.
Azt is sokan mondták valóban, hogy nem mindig súrlódásmentes a kapcsolat a vasútbarátok és a vasutasok között, mert utóbbiak szerint néha az előbbiek túlságosan rámenősek (voltak). 2001 óta még fényképezni sem nagyon szeretik látni az embert a pálya mentén. A mozdonyok homlok- és oldalüvegezése pedig pisztolygolyó felfogására is alkalmas, habár inkább a vonatdobálók ellen van rá szükség.
A leveleket Joseph D. Santucci írogatta, az összes copyright az övé :)
Hosszú lesz:
All too frequently people take the dangers of being around railroad tracks and moving trains for granted. Other times they are just totally oblivious to these very dangers. These folks must have that "nothing bad can happen to me" attitude when around the tracks. I say this with confidence as I have observed first hand and have been told first hand accounts of such civilians performing incredible feats of stupidity on railroad property.
While working at the Indiana Harbor Belt, I was driving into work late one morning. En route, I was caught by a Grand Trunk Western eastbound as it passed through Griffith, IN. I was sitting patiently waiting as he rolled through town at a reduced speed. From my position about three or four cars behind the gates I was keeping the ever watchful eye. This is a habit from work as I am looking for defects. Over the years, I have spotted problems on passing trains while waiting at crossings and contacted the railroad involved. I reported the problem to them making sure they know I am a railroader. This way they understand I'm not just some crackpot with nothing better to do with his life.
But I digress.
Anyway, as I watched this train pass, I noticed a boxcar with its doors open and observed two people inside the car. They appeared to be rather young; certainly not the run of the mill hobos. And one of them was a female. I reached for the phone and immediately called Blue Island Tower. The number was listed in the IHB timetable so I had it close by. The Operator there would be able to contact the GTW Dispatcher on the wire and report this find. The Dispatcher would then contact the train via radio and it goes from there. I told Blue Island who I was, where I was located and what I saw. In turn, the Operator reported my discovery to TD-4, the GTW Dispatcher. The train was contacted and stopped with the police summoned.
I later learned these kids were about fourteen years old and runaways. I was told they had virtually no money, no spare clothing or any supplies. Perhaps I saved their lives.
While at the Wisconsin Central I had several episodes involving cars parked too close to the tracks. The first event took place in Franklin Park, IL in 1988. We were approaching Schiller Park en route from Clearing Yard to Fond du Lac. As we approached Tower B-12 where the Soo Line and Metra crossed our line we had to pass a US Postal Service sorting center. There were always stragglers showing up at the last minute for work there. They would park their cars and make a mad dash for the facility. Oftentimes they parked on a strip of property that belonged to the railroad instead of the postal employee parking lot as the railroad property was much closer to the facility.
This particular evening had a postal employee parking on railroad property. Only in his rush to get to work on time he parked a little too close to the tracks. We came along and clipped the front of his car. When the police arrived the cop laughed and told me the guy who owned this car was really in for a treat. His car would be towed for illegal parking. He would then have to pay a fine up front to get the car along with the towing charge and a storage fee. And then when he gets the car he'll find the front end damaged. The cop also told me this was not the first time a vehicle had been struck here. Several cars and small trucks parked too close had also been hit. One would think these folks just might have learned from the first few episodes involving their fellow employees. They cannot figure out how to park and then they go and sort our mail. I guess this explains a great deal on how our mail gets lost.
The next episode occurred one Saturday afternoon a couple years later. We were going to make a run from Fond du Lac to Schiller Park, swap trains there and head back to Fond du Lac. We had just departed Shops Yard in North Fond du Lac and were proceeding through downtown Fond du Lac. As the train rounded a curve we came upon a car parked close to the tracks. I realized the car didn't clear and immediately put the train into emergency. As I closed in on it, I noticed somebody sitting in the car. We sideswiped the car as we came along side it. I contacted the Yardmaster telling him of our plight and to contact the emergency response people.
The Conductor headed back and reported no injuries to the person sitting in the car, a young boy. The kid was laughing thinking this was like a movie. The owner of the car came out from the motorcycle shop across the tracks from where the car was parked. He was also laughing as he assumed (and you all know what happens when you assume) that because we clobbered his car, the railroad would automatically buy him a new one. However, his assumptions were slightly askew of reality.
A police officer investigating the collision boarded the engine to get my statement. I asked this officer if he was issuing a ticket for illegal parking to the motorist. He questioned me as to why I thought this guy was illegally parked. I explained "I hit him didn't I?" Again he asked why I thought this guy was illegally parked and again I answered, "I hit him didn't I?" Then I invited this officer over to my side of the cab. I showed him the absence of a steering wheel or foot pedals like a Caterpillar tractor for turning. I had him look out the window at the rails in front of me and explained how I operate on a fixed guideway and cannot steer or swerve to avoid collisions. To see the look on his face as I explained this, one would think I was speaking Greek or something.
Once again I asked about the ticket and he asked me if I was telling him how to do his job. I responded "Yeah, I guess I am 'cuz you don't seem to be doing it too well." I'm sure I made lots of point with that remark. When all was said and done, not only did the guy not a get a new car out of the deal, the railroad sent a bill to his insurance company for the damages to the engine.
Construction people can also be out to lunch when it comes to common sense around railroad right of ways. On more than one occasion there have been mishaps involving construction crews and trains. While at the MoPac I heard an episode reported on the radio. A northbound came around the curve in Crete, IL and encountered a backhoe working near the tracks. Apparently it was a little too near as the engine hit the machine knocking it to the side. The operator saw the train at the last moment and jumped. I heard later the contractor only planned on being near the right of way for a short period and figured he could get by without a flagman from the railroad and its cost. He was wrong.
In 1999 the CNIC had a tie gang replacing ties on the Chicago Sub. A private contractor was hired to remove the old ties. This contractor was working just north of North Rantoul gathering up, sorting and banding the discarded ties. They were using a machine called a Bobcat to assist them. A Bobcat is a small, rubber tired front end loader that can easily and quickly be converted to a forklift or dozer. The machine operator was not paying close attention to what he was doing and backed into the path of the rapidly approaching Amtrak train 58, the City of New Orleans. The train struck the Bobcat flipping it over and causing some damage to the locomotive. The train had to be backed up to Rantoul and into the siding there and receive some repairs before the train could proceed. Fortunately for the operator, he only received minor injuries.
In 2000 I had an episode with a paving contractor. We were approaching Dralle Road which is the next road crossing south of Steunkel Road on the Chicago Sub. As we were closing in I noticed an asphalt paving machine with a semi-dump truck adjoining it. They were laying asphalt and rolled right onto the crossing I was approaching. I put the train into emergency and stopped less than a quarter mile from the crossing. While I never want to collide with anything, I really don't want to collide with a dump truck loaded with hot asphalt. They didn't seem the least bit phased by what could have just happened and kept on paving. The Chicago South Dispatcher was contacted and we told her of the situation. She told of having no information or authority allowing for this contractor to be there. As soon as this equipment was clear of the crossing, I began to move north again. There was a laborer at the crossing waving a flag at me indicating he wanted me to stop. Fat chance buddy boy, you are on my turf.
They waited as we crossed and the operator of the paver waved at me as we passed. I gave him the single finger salute in return. His expression changed and he began to scream at me but needless to say, I could not hear him. Nor did I really care what he had to say. The CN police were dispatched to the scene. Word was this was not the first time this contractor had encroached upon this crossing while performing their work without a railroad flagman to protect them. Good way to get your people or railroad employees hurt or killed.
Contractors are not the only professionals that fail to use good judgment. Public servants can also fall into this category. Back in 1980 I was dating a girl whose brother was a Fireman for what was then Park Forest South. Today this town is known as University Park. Anyway, this guy asks me about who would be responsible if a train ran over their hoses. I explained to him it depended upon the situation. If the fire department notified the railroad of needing to block the tracks with their hoses and requesting they stop train traffic, it could be the railroad's responsibility. If they neglected to contact the railroad, the fire department would then be responsible for their own hoses.
I questioned him as to what this was all about. He went on to tell me of a large brush fire near the Illinois Central Gulf tracks in Park Forest South. The PFS Fire Department responded. They had to stretch their hoses across the tracks in order to reach the fire as the trucks could not get close to the location of the fire from the road. Nobody from his fire department contacted the railroad of the situation as somebody suggested the trains would "just stop" when they saw the fire trucks and flashing lights. Once again, it was a serious error in judgment. Soon after the hoses went across the tracks a train came along running them all over. Like so many other objects, the hoses were no match and wound up getting destroyed by the train. D'oh!
Over the years I have witnessed numerous pedestrians who fail to realize the magnitude of their actions could likely get them killed or maimed for life. One Sunday afternoon I was heading south on a loaded grain train. As we rolled through Kankakee, some moron decides to play chicken with me at a crossing. Only he doesn't just stand there like most idiots, he breaks into jumping jacks. So there he is performing some calisthenics on the crossing as I approached him with my 13,000-plus ton train. I just lay on the horn as he attempted to whip himself into good physical shape. Now with just one slip he will become the healthiest dead guy around.
I continued to sound the horn as we rapidly closed in on him. Even though we were only going 30 MPH, that distance still closes up rather quickly. I was in full dynamic braking to hold my train speed at 30 (the speed limit for freight trains through this area) as we rolled down the hill and into downtown Kankakee. In the manner in which I was using it, the dynamic was keeping us at a steady speed but not slowing us down. At the very last moment this yahoo jumped aside. The Conductor stuck his head out the window and shouted at him making references to his mother.
Numerous times I have observed a mother or father out walking with their children and approaching a crossing as we are. Instead of teaching their children well, these folks whom their children look up to and depend upon make the mad dash to get across the tracks before we get there. I have witnessed mothers literally pick up a child by one arm and sort of flip them across as they follow. In one situation, a young mother was pushing a stroller and dragging along a toddler. In this case the stroller hung up on the rail and flipped over with the little one inside falling out but landing clear of the tracks and crossing. In the meantime, she yanked the other one by his arm and pulled him across and then pulled the stroller clear. As we passed she simply put the little one back in the stroller and proceeded as if nothing happened.
I'm sure this really made a long lasting wrong impression on the toddler. The little one in the stroller very likely had no idea as to what had just happened. People like this should be prohibited from procreating. The offspring they have created should be forcibly removed from these people's care immediately. The genes of these so-called parents and adults need to be removed from the pool.
Probably one of the strangest episodes occurred while I worked at the MoPac. A Trainmaster riding with us one evening in 1982 told us the following story. A few weeks prior to this night, a northbound Louisville & Nashville coal train was operating on the Chicago & Western Indiana tracks and passing through Roseland, a community in Chicago. For those of you not familiar with the C&WI, it was a jointly owned operation with MoPac and L&N as two of the five owners. The train struck a woman who ran up to the tracks and lay down on the rails in front of them. The Engineer put the train into emergency and notified all the necessary people. This event was being investigated by the police and this very Trainmaster from Yard Center who had been summoned to the scene.
In the meantime a couple of guys in another part of Roseland decided they needed some cash rather quickly. They determined the best way to reap a financial reward in the quickest manner possible with the least amount of effort put forth was to knock over a liquor store. So they initiated their plan. Unfortunately for them, they didn't plan on the Chicago Police being right there. Ill-gotten gain in hand, these two characters took off in their car. The cops gave chase with it quickly becoming one of those high speed affairs like in the movies and on TV. These two cats had no intention of getting caught.
In their efforts to avoid capture and its potential of making them guests of the Governor, these characters drove like maniacs. Unfortunately these two were unaware of the suicide situation in their community. And likewise, the fact this stopped coal train had many of the crossings blocked including any intended getaway route they might consider using. Their continuing efforts to flee the cops had them taking a turn down a road which was blocked by the stopped coal train. In their haste to evade law enforcement, this pair apparently failed to make note of the flashing red lights and the reflection of the Scotchlite striping on the gate lowered across the road in front of them. And it is pretty certain they did not observe the stopped train stretched out on the crossing in front of them.
"A stopped train is a safe train." This is a tongue and cheek phrase commonly heard on the railroad. However, like everything else in life there are exceptions to prove every rule.
The police told the MoPac Trainmaster the car was traveling in excess of 100 MPH when it crashed through the lowered gate and plowed into the side of the stopped coal train. I would guess these two perpetrators quickly learned the following lesson; a two-thousand pound automobile is absolutely no match for a 130 ton load of coal. Unfortunately for them though, it was a lesson learned far too late. Their new found knowledge was also lost to short attention span syndrome as both of them were decapitated in the collision with the railcar. Can you say, "Justice was served?" Or should it just be considered "poetic justice?" In any event, their final act of defiance saved the system money and time and also reduced the overload in the criminal court system.
Neofrix! Te graffitized a mozdonyokat?? :-)) Nem tom', mégis azt gondolom, hogy egy ilyen logó azt sugallja, hogy ez a topic a mozdonyokról szól, míg én szeretném, hogy lenne benne pálya, meg még hómaró is. Épp gyűjtöm a képeket...
>Normally its length is as much as 3 kilometres. Azt hiszem, ez a vonat az, amelyiken egy bírósági itélet után a mozdonyvezető olvashat is. Ha meglátja a bajt, úgysem tud mit csinálni, azt meg, hogy gázolt vagy ütközött, megérzi a rázkódásból meg hallja a hangot.
Bocsi a kérdésért: angoltudással hogy áll a topic java (része)?
Van a talonban néhány hosszabb levél egy amerkai diesel mozdonyos levelezőlistáról. Lefordítani hosszú lenne őket, de ha van néhány topictag, akit érdekel, akkor bemásolom. A teljesség igénye nélkül néhány témakör:
- Meals on wheels, avagy hogyan és mit főz a mozdonyvezető;
- ... how we say it, avagy a zsargonról;
- roll into the meet market, avagy vonattalálkozás lebonyolítása egyvágányú pályán
- playing with dynamite, bár itt nem robbanóanyagról van szó...
A vasutvonal, a Tumbler Ridge, a BCR tulajdona. A felsővezeték feszültsége: 50 KV
Vonalhossz: 129Km. Rendelkezik egy 5,9Km hosszú alaguttal. Ez volt az egyik ok, amiért villamosították a vonalat, és az SD-40-es gépek helyett a GF6C mozdonyokat
helyezték üzembe. A mozdonyok teljesítménye: 6000h.p. (4,4MW).
A vasútvonal legnagyobb emelkedése 13 ezrelék. A tehervonatok 106 kocsiból állnak
teljes tömegük szénnel megpakolva 13200 tonna. A vonatokat 2+2, csúszós pályán
3+3 mozdony továbbítja. A mozdonyok a szerelvény két végén vannak.
A mozdony magassága leeresztett áramszedővel 5029mm. (...)
Több helyen is utánanéztem, majdnem mindenhol a mauritániai vasércvonatot írták (vastagítás tőlem):
The train carrying iron from Zouerate to the coast at Nouadhibou, is probably the world's longest train. Normally its length is as much as 3 kilometres. The whole journey takes around 12 hours, where almost 700 kilometres are covered.
The longest train ever was 7,353 km (4,568 miles) long, and consisted of 682 ore cars pushed by 8 powerful diesel-electric locomotives.Assembled by BHP Iron Ore, the train travelled 275 km (171 miles) from the company's Newman and Yandi mines to Port Hedland, Western Australia, on June 21st, 2001.
Szerintem is csak tolatásról van szó. Érdemes azért azt is figyelembe venni, hogy nem vasútbarátok, hanem a mozdonyvezetők szakszervezete illinois-i választmányának honlapjára vezet a link. Ők pedig érthetően nem lelkesednek azért, hogy helyettük a tolatásvezetők ("conductor"?) kezelik a gépet. Más források pl. azt állítják, hogy a tv. és az vezérlés közötti kommunikáció kisebb hibaaránya miatt még kevesebb is lett a baleset (Déli pu.!). A fényképek alapján egyébként nekem úgy tűnt, hogy a balesetek többsége oldalról történő veszélyeztetés miatt következett be. Ti hogyan látjátok?
Tegnap otthon utánanéztem a könnyen hozzáférhető irodalomban a British Columbia villanyos vonatának, sajnos nem sokat találtam. A vonal Tumbler Ridge-től megy akárhova, 80 mérföld hosszú, 1983 novemberében nyitották meg, és a 98 kocsis szenesvonatokat 3 db mozdony húzza. Ennyi...
