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Work screw ups...

Greg

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Location
Grand Junction, CO
jeeper

jeeper

I live my life 1 dumpster at a time
Location
So Jo, Ut
Greg said:
Oh, the BNSF knows exactly who to blame and they know what the cause was already... if it wasn't train handling, it was a track defect or a car issue.
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Forgive my dumb.. but how does train handling cause this? I wouldn't think it was possible to 'drive' off the tracks.
 
Greg

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Location
Grand Junction, CO
jeeper said:
Forgive my dumb.. but how does train handling cause this? I wouldn't think it was possible to 'drive' off the tracks.
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Too much braking, too much throttle... in mountain territory with lots of tight curves, it's very possible to 'string line' a train and yank the cars right off the track. Think about a train climbing a grade, going around a tight curve. The engineer lays on the throttle to make the climb and all the weight towards the back is pulling the cars downhill, it has the potential to create a situation where the cars in the tightest part of the curve get yanked right off the track. It's really common when you have unloaded cars (light) in the middle of a train with loaded cars behind them.
 
Kevin B.

Kevin B.

Not often wrong. Never quite right.
Moderator
Location
Stinkwater
Greg said:
Too much braking, too much throttle... in mountain territory with lots of tight curves, it's very possible to 'string line' a train and yank the cars right off the track. Think about a train climbing a grade, going around a tight curve. The engineer lays on the throttle to make the climb and all the weight towards the back is pulling the cars downhill, it has the potential to create a situation where the cars in the tightest part of the curve get yanked right off the track. It's really common when you have unloaded cars (light) in the middle of a train with loaded cars behind them.
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Ok so maybe-dumb question number two, why isn't that automated? Is train driving too much art for an autopilot, or are there too many variables to reliably input, or have the companies just not invested in that tech yet?
 
Greg

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Location
Grand Junction, CO
Kevin B. said:
Ok so maybe-dumb question number two, why isn't that automated? Is train driving too much art for an autopilot, or are there too many variables to reliably input, or have the companies just not invested in that tech yet?
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Computers can't (yet) account for all the variables... the big class 1 RR's are using PTC (positive train control) but it's job is more to keep trains from running in to each other. And even then, PTC itself can cause derailments. 😳

You'd be surprised to see the difference between a good Engineer and a bad one.
 
S

STAG

Well-Known Member
I would say it’s slightly ironic that Grady posted this video right after this accident but the truth is deaths happen every day to accidents so as unfortunate as this accident is, it’s a statistical risk that we all take every day by just doing our daily routines.

 
Greg

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Location
Grand Junction, CO
glockman

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
STAG said:
I would say it’s slightly ironic that Grady posted this video right after this accident but the truth is deaths happen every day to accidents so as unfortunate as this accident is, it’s a statistical risk that we all take every day by just doing our daily routines.

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I read this stat yesterday but have not confirmed it. From 1937 to 1945 (WW2) between conflict and the industrial ramp up to feed the war, 1k people per hour were kill. PER HOUR! That scale is just unimaginable to us. Deaths from crime and accidents are so low now compared to even 40 or 50 years ago it's hard for use to imagine.

My dad worked at Geneva Steel for 10 years ending in the early 80's. I know of 5 people that I met, that he worked with, who died there in that 10 years. I'm 45 and have never known anyone personally who was killed on the job. I say this all the time, we are the most spoiled human beings to ever live.
If anyone is interested, Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker is an awesome book about how much the human condition has improved over the centuries.
 
jeeper

jeeper

I live my life 1 dumpster at a time
Location
So Jo, Ut
glockman said:
My dad worked at Geneva Steel for 10 years ending in the early 80's. I know of 5 people that I met, that he worked with, who died there in that 10 years. I'm 45 and have never known anyone personally who was killed on the job.
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You also work in a VERY different climate than your father. The number of appraisers that have died on the job is significantly less than, like, fire sprinkler pipe fitters.. or so I've been told.


Fun video.
 
Greg

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Location
Grand Junction, CO
STAG said:
My cousin sent me these. Said this driver was a leaser, hauling for him all day, and after he dumped the last load of the day he never put his bed down.

Mona, UT

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Our work trucks have boom stow alarms. I know a guy that disabled his and eventually did something similar, in Phoenix on one of the main freeways during rush hour. Boom detached, laying in the middle of the freeway.
 
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