What happens when a train does a burnout

[CIGARBUM]

No sand.

cb

[Jay481985]

That's some wild track damage! It looks like the loco that did it was a six-axle unit, and the traction control on one truck wasn't operating properly, so those three axles were able to spin up, while the three axles on the other truck did not.

I'm guessing the locomotive, or set of locomotives, was trying to get a very heavy train moving. It's possible that the loco with the spinning wheels was the second or third one back, so the engineer and brakeman may not have been aware what was happening.

In any case, that section of track is out of service until it's fixed. I'd expect there would be a track gang onsite within a day, so the traffic could move through there again.

The backstory

This Train (with several engines) was stopped on the tracks and the
other engines behind it did not get the signal to stop...and so they
proceeded to burn thru the track!

[Islander]

The backstory

This Train (with several engines) was stopped on the tracks and the other engines behind it did not get the signal to stop...and so they proceeded to burn thru the track!

Thanks for that. When a set (or consist, in railroad terms) of locomotives is coupled together, all the throttles are controlled from the lead unit, except for the units that possibly are being ferried to another shop and are not pulling. Back in the '80s, the rule was that no more than 24 axles could be pulling, meaning six 4-axle locos, four 6-axle locos, or any combination thereof. The reason is that they have so much pulling power, if too many axles are working, they can actually pull the track out from under the train. Most of our freight units at the time had 3000 hp each, but many current Canadian freight locomotives have 4000 hp.

The consists likely use radio control between the units now, but when I was there, 1-1/2" thick cables, about 4' long, with 27 conductors inside, carried the throttle, reverser and other signals between the locomotives. Some of the cables would be in poor condition after being left around on the ground and possibly getting run over by the passing forklift trucks and the like, so a cable could have some shorts that would cause the locomotives to act unpredictably, like throttling up and driving away as soon as the cable was connected, for example.

When this happened to a workmate of mine on the coupling gang, he had to scramble to get aboard the locomotive and regain control before the whole consist of three or four units (with no train attached) picked up speed and drove into the shop at full throttle, in spite of the brakes still being applied.

Radio control should be safer and more reliable, but something can always go wrong, as shown by those pictures. At least no-one got hurt, by the sound of it.

[Cal Blacksmith]

I can't say if it was a fake or not but I CAN say that steel is a fairly poor conductor of heat. I can be working a bar of steel and hold it with a bare hand only a few inches or a foot possibly from where it is 2000F, yes, it will eventually get hot where I am holding it and will need to be cooled but people are always amazed that I can hold it so close to red hot steel. Now if it were COPPER, there is NO WAY I could do the same thing! I can see how friction could spot heat the steel rails without transfering enough heat to the wood. In my metal working world, I can see how this could be possible.

A real photo or a fake..... I can't say but it is a neet photo anyway!

[boom3]

Was with the Railroad for 34 years and never saw anything like that,

My Dad retired from the railroad after 40 years, Public Belt railroad in New Orleans. When I was a kid sometimes my Mother would take me up to meet him at work and he would take me for a ride on the train or to visit the round house which was what they called it, where they could turn the trains around and preform maintenance. It was amazing to see an engine with the body off, unbelievably heavy duty construction.

We were walking one day and a restored engine was passing, these tracks are right on the river next to the French Quarter.

I know where that's at...

I think your dad chose a good time to retire from the Public Belt RR []

I recently saw a picture of a (much younger) Boom3 standing in front of that huge loco they brought for the world's fair in 84. If I find it again I'll scan it & send it to you Dtel. My dad was a train buff and had an HO layout in his last years.

[pite]

Inverted Bumps!

Have never heard or seen such a thing!

[pite]

Islander, That's intersting but Super Scary!

[T2K]

Those are not burned spots, they are actually called 'alerters'. They are much like the divots ground out of the asphalt/concrete on the lane edges of interstate highways. These alerters are placed about every 5 miles as a last resort to wake up the younger crew members that work on the nations railroads today. Many can't seem to stay awake and those that can are texting on their cell phones, in violation of FRA rules.

[Daddy Dee]

seriously, alerters?

I'm not a railroader in any way, but running over those things would look like a recipe for derailment.

OK keith, you're yanking my chain. [bs]

[Cal Blacksmith]

Those are not burned spots, they are actually called 'alerters'. They are much like the divots ground out of the asphalt/concrete on the lane edges of interstate highways. These alerters are placed about every 5 miles as a last resort to wake up the younger crew members that work on the nations railroads today. Many can't seem to stay awake and those that can are texting on their cell phones, in violation of FRA rules.

[] [] [] []

[JL Sargent]

When you think of the weight of the locomotive over those wheels, There would be some serious friction present and in a hurry.

[JJkizak]

I'm 50-50 on this one---Photoshop or real? Too many laws of physics here to contemplate.

JJK

[Islander]

I was a locomotive mechanic and it looks plausible to me.

[jacksonbart]

I live on Pluto and this seems quite possible.

[Gilbert]

I'm 50-50 on this one---Photoshop or real? Too many laws of physics here to contemplate.

JJK

Not really, Mike (aka dr who) nailed it square on the head on his very first try.

But I did enjoy and get a good chuckle on the "Alerter" claim.... that was a good one.

[Islander]

There are alerters, but they're inside the locomotive cab and require the engineer to press a button or some such every twenty or thirty seconds to indicate that he's alive and conscious. They replaced the old 'deadman pedals', because the engineers would just block the pedal with a little trackside flag and then maybe fall asleep or have a heart attack anyway.

[DizRotus]

When I was growing up in Cincinnati the B&O ran close by. They would attach small "bombs" to the track that would explode when hit by the train to signal the train. It's hard to believe explosives were attached to the tracks where kids could remove them.

Of course, road construction sites were marked at night by small oil lamps with open flames. Who ever thought those were good ideas?

[Islander]

I remember those little "track charges". They came with wire clips to attach them to the track, and sometimes a track gang would place them some distance up the track from where they were working to alert any oncoming trains, so they didn't drive into the repair scene and cause an accident. The charges would fire off when the wheels hit them and hopefully get the engineer's attention.

[JL Sargent]

Apparently its pretty well know phenomenon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locomotive_wheelslip

[JL Sargent]

Notice that once again the ground doesn't even look like it got hot.