Deraiilment in North Bergen NJ - 1/25

Another CSXT derailment. Sounds like they have issues.

There are many derailments system wide daily, just not advertised.

Probably. But I've been in the business 10 years, and on my route for eight...I have never seen so many mainline derailments at speed in such a short period of time. Most are switching moves or relatively minor instances.

Happenstance? Increased awareness? That's part of it...but...

conrail_engineer wrote:Probably. But I've been in the business 10 years, and on my route for eight...I have never seen so many mainline derailments at speed in such a short period of time. Most are switching moves or relatively minor instances.

Happenstance? Increased awareness? That's part of it...but...

no offense, and I'm not defending CSX but a lot of vets like to jump on the bandwagon and blame everything on "Jacksonville".......yea, there is a lot of bs that we all put up with, but if you have been doing this for 10 years, and anything about the riverline, you know our climate has been very cold in the recent week or two, and you should understand that broken rails happen. That's not just our rail, they're all made from the same material.......

Sometimes, I just get sick of hearing the old timers bitchin and moaning about CSX, its like, go get another job, its not greener pasture on the other side of the fence. Try the trades, go flip burgers.......

Controlled Speed wrote: no offense, and I'm not defending CSX but a lot of vets like to jump on the bandwagon and blame everything on "Jacksonville".......yea, there is a lot of bs that we all put up with, but if you have been doing this for 10 years, and anything about the riverline, you know our climate has been very cold in the recent week or two, and you should understand that broken rails happen. That's not just our rail, they're all made from the same material.......

Sometimes, I just get sick of hearing the old timers bitchin and moaning about CSX, its like, go get another job, its not greener pasture on the other side of the fence. Try the trades, go flip burgers.......

Had about twenty jobs before I came to the railroad. Some I got tired of and some got tired of me. I have perspective.

Yes, broken rail happens. I tested rail in the Sierra Nevadas in early winter. I have been through eight winters on the rail in the Great Lakes/Buffalo area.

Broken rail happens all the time. Train wrecks, because of broken rail, have not always happened - not like they are now.

My perspective is somewhat limited, I agree. When I arrived on Conrail, the deal to bust it up was done but it had not yet happened.

The track was immaculate. The old-timers of that time were full of stories of the Penn Central and early Conrail, of scraping the pilot on the rail in some sinkholes.

And I'm well aware of the big pile-up that happened in Ravenna in the late 1970s.

Were we just lucky for ten years? I don't believe so...because of my experience with Sperry. When I was testing on Cajon Pass, the (new, then) BNSF had a 40-man changeout crew following our test rig.

We found a bad order rail, the crew was ripping it out as soon as we were off it. We found two bad rails in a day, we'd get shut down for the day...because the BNSF wasn't going to have slow-orders on the track overnight.

That's a big difference from today's CSX, where dozens of slow boards follow the Sperry car, and stay there for MONTHS.

I'm ready to accept that I'm exaggerating the changes. But there are changes, not for the better.

so, and I'm not being sarcastic as I know sometimes message boards can appear that way without tone of voice or inflection, but what do you think they need to do in your perspective. I respect your time you have in on the railroad, it is more than I got right now, so I am just seeing what you think.

It must again be CSX'x year for accidents. No cause mentioned.... anyone know? It looks like it happened over a switch.....

Derailments do happen, not just on CSX. Winter is a tougher time due to rails pulling apart due to contraction in addition to other things such as picked switches, out of guage, etc. NS has derailments and BNSF, UP, KCS-----all roads.

Controlled Speed wrote:so, and I'm not being sarcastic as I know sometimes message boards can appear that way without tone of voice or inflection, but what do you think they need to do in your perspective. I respect your time you have in on the railroad, it is more than I got right now, so I am just seeing what you think.

Good question. What CSX has, it looks to me, is systemic ROT.

There are apparently no railroaders in higher-up decision-making positions. And communication in this company is one-way, from the top down...more so than most.

They need to get someone with an understanding of what is important in the industry and what is not.

Maintaining track is important. New yard offices, though they look nice on company calendars, are secondary.

Maintaining locomotives...again, priorities. Putting a fresh, new-design paint scheme on there is silly when the critical systems are falling apart.

This company's run by its Legal Department and has the outlook of second-rate lawyers. While track is rolling over in yards, Terminal Superintendents are threatening to tow employees' cars for not being parked in the approved manner, BACKED IN. (yup, that's right).

They need to get a grip of their financial people...deferring maintenance is like borrowing money off your Visa card. The savings or gain is very temporary and will cost dearly very soon.

The company is fixated on quarterly profit reports...admittedly, most American industries are that way anymore, and there's a reason for it...but I believe the corners cut on CSX are impacting public safety.

In short...I don't believe anything short of a complete management replacement will correct things. And I don't think we're going to get that...because the brightest minds in Business Administration aren't likely to opt to work in a heavily-regulated, minimal-growth industry.

Conrail had, probably, as good a team as could be expected. There was some residual excitement from having pulled their operation back from the brink; that made them learn to be resourceful and prioritize.

CSX never had that fight for survival and their approach to the business reflects that...just keep on keepin' on, fiddling while Rome burns....

AMEN! Can I get a AMEN!

*Stands Up* Amen! CSX has been having a rough time, but, who knows, it might be another Class 1 soon, it comes and goes, not to just CSX.

think maybe we'll get bought by someone else? And if so, who would purchase us to save us from ourselves? Who has that kinda cash flow? I would love to have a company that gives a shit about what is important... I like not having to search for information on my own because when I call a manager, they don't have the answers.....

No no no..... I mean anoither Class 1 railroad will have a flow of derailments Mr. Speed. CSX ain't top my knowledge getting sold... and to who would purchase it?

Engineer James wrote:CSX ain't top my knowledge getting sold... and to who would purchase it?

LOL! NObody's gonna purchase CSX. I say that with confidence...

...why should they BUY what they can get PAID TO TAKE out of Bankruptcy Court?

I think the Western roads are playing a waiting game. It can't be a secret that CSX has issues, from its "deferred" maintenance and "creative" bookkeeping. Eventually that will catch up with them...Bailiff, call the next case!

If they're right, the FRA will probably arrange a takeover of the physical plant "for tax credits" to offset the costs of rehabilitating the property. And if they're wrong and CSX gets turned around...they can buy it as a going concern, instead of a troubled business.