Heat restrictions

These heat restrictions imposed on Amtrak trains are a pain in the butt. There have been no accidents involving Amtrak trains linked to heat kinks as far as i know on any railroad. Why dont they just quit it with this crap?


Jon

Here in West Virginia, it has been so hot here during the day that CSX and Norfolk Southern have implicated a 10mph speed limit at night. This is due to temperatures during the day of 90+ and the nightly temps in the 70s. I saw buckled rail while taking an afternoon walk today that was bent from a level surface to a downward and flat level, then back up to normal level.

capltd29 wrote:These heat restrictions imposed on Amtrak trains are a pain in the butt. There have been no accidents involving Amtrak trains linked to heat kinks as far as i know on any railroad. Why dont they just quit it with this crap?


Jon

um, auto train near crescent city 2002...

they are real

Also 4 months later in July, 2002 Capital Limited derailment in maryland. This derailment was very similar to the crescent city derailment. both involved high temperatures, after recent trackwork.

TheChessieCatLives wrote:Here in West Virginia, it has been so hot here during the day that CSX and Norfolk Southern have implicated a 10mph speed limit at night.

Are you sure you don't mean 10mph less than the normal timetable speed, but no less than 30MPH. That's the heat restriction we get in the NorthEast.

These heat restrictions are killing Amtrak so I am not for it.

AmtrakFan wrote:These heat restrictions are killing Amtrak so I am not for it.

They are just looking to prevent any accidents which could possibly kill Amtrak passengers/crews.

If CSX could properly mantain their track we wouldn't need heat restrictions.
in both of the derailments related to high temps, csx had just completed trackwork in that area, which combined with the heat, caused the track to buckle. Although now, i beleve that track maintance has gotten better. It just took 2 derailments and 4 deaths to get there.

natethegreat wrote:If CSX could properly mantain their track we wouldn't need heat restrictions.
in both of the derailments related to high temps, csx had just completed trackwork in that area, which combined with the heat, caused the track to buckle. Although now, i beleve that track maintance has gotten better. It just took 2 derailments and 4 deaths to get there.

That's right.

I do agree that there is not enough preventive maintenance on the property.

natethegreat wrote:If CSX could properly mantain their track we wouldn't need heat restrictions.
in both of the derailments related to high temps, csx had just completed trackwork in that area, which combined with the heat, caused the track to buckle. Although now, i beleve that track maintance has gotten better. It just took 2 derailments and 4 deaths to get there.

dont give me this crap, all the railroads do this sort of stuff when the temperatures are high...

To be honest, I am glad CSX is erring on the side of caution. I would rather see the train doing 50 mph instead of 80 if the crew sees a heat kink ahead. No guarnatee it could still stop in time, but even so, the damage and casualty count would be minimal if a derailment did occur. Speed restrictions are there for a reason and will not do much more damage to Amtrak than what has already been done because Amtrak has been hurting for eons as it is. Plus I'm sure NS has the same resrictions for Amtrak on their lines, and BNSF, UP, etc. Who gets sued when the Amtrak trains go flying into the weeds, the carrier hosting the lines. I watched a documentary on A&E a couple days ago called "Danger on the Rails". It was pretty good. They talked about the heat kink disasters of a few years ago, and CSX was sued. They are now covering their hineys and I applaud them for it. If I had loved ones on the trains, I would rather them arrive home late, but SAFELY. Keep that in mind.

Well on the BNSF line by my house we have had 24 90+ Degree days in Chicago and there are no speed restricitons.

Track maintenance wouldn't matter because at nite, when the rails cool, they become like peanut brittle.

This is a quote from the NTSB's report on the Auto train derailment


The Board's report stated that at the time of the accident CSXT did not provide adequate requirements for ensuring effective rail anchoring and monumenting. Monumenting consists of establishing known reference points against which any subsequent movement of the track can be measured. The report also noted that CSXT failed to ensure that its track maintenance workers routinely fulfilled the requirements of its existing track standards. Therefore, the Safety Board concluded that CSXT did not provide adequate oversight to ensure that its track maintenance activities were carried out in accordance with its own standards.

The Kensington, MD accident was purely CSX's fault, they lifted that 25 mph speed restriction in the maintanance zone, before the work was complete.

Just some thoughts