M7 on Fire in Babylon - 7/29

the 4:04 from Penn caught fire upon arrival into Babylon at 5:05PM today... I didn't catch the car #'s involved, but it was an M7. Coverage was on the news around 5:30 - 6PM.. lots of helicopters flying around.

It was car 7291 on the rear of the train. My scoot 2775 was held at Patchogue "due to a fire at Babylon." After we crawled from Brightwaters to Babylon, arriving 6:15, the M-7 train was on Track 2. A fire truck left, but a Suffolk police officer kept me from walking west on the platform. About 6:40, they pulled towards the yard, and I got a look at a dropped window and fire damage, apparently between the cab (on the west end) and the door, north side. The smell of burning rubber or plastic was around that end of the platform. It really tied up service through Babylon. They sent express 135 (scheduled at 6:06) out about 6:25 and annulled local 137, due out at 609. An eastbound set of M-1, M-3, arrived on Track 1 at 6:32. A crew was waiting for instructions, the loudspeaker could not be heard, and we (my 6:39 local, train 139) left about 6:49, crowded with a mixture of dressed-for-singles-bar young lovelies, tired workers (the reverse commuters), and Long Islanders going places with luggage. Traffic on Friday nights is not all eastbound!
By the way, I got to see orders hooped up to Train 2798 at PD, but there was no "Cannonball" sign on it. And, of course, my camera closed due to low battery!

*poof*

SeldenJrFireman wrote:*poof*

* double poof*

Aslong as nobdy was hurt, thaats all that matters. M7s can be replaced ( at our expense ) but lives cannot.
Anybody know the cause?

I really didn't hear anything about this, and I was in Babylon yard yesterday and didn't notice anything unusual with the equipment parked there. The fire could have very will been caused by stuck parking brakes. A few weeks ago, our west car (M-7) began to smoke from the trucks. By the time we left Lindenhurst, the engineer had received a brake applied light on the screen. I walked through the train, and when I walked into the last car, the car had a strong smell of burning rubber. It turns out that an air hose which connects to the parking brake broke and placed the parking brakes on the F end of the car on. We tried releasing the parking brake both with the parking brake handle and the manual wheel, but the brakes stayed on. We were instructed to proceed to Babylon at MAS, but the trucks started to smoke wildly again, so we stopped and then proceeded east to babylon station at restricted speed. When I got off to inspect the truck, the disc brakes aswell as the wheels themselves were cherry red with the brake pads smoldering. Flash showed up at the station and released the parking brakes so that we were able to take the train into the yard. Had we gone further with the stuck brakes, the entire F end of the car would have gone up in flames. I overheard some guys say that it has been happening a little frequently lately to some M-7's, so this might have been the case as well.

Another quality product from Bombardier

Well, I'm not the biggest M-7 fan , but these Bombardier cars are working out a lot better for LIRR than the Alstom-built Comet 5's on New Jersey Transit.

Took a peek at this one today...it was in Hillside Yard.
The flooring material, first three seater behind the electric locker on the observer side, and the wall panels, window, and ceiling panel and light diffusers got cooked. There is a hole burned through one of the 3 seater cushions, and the plastic light diffusers above that 5 seater area melted, so it was going pretty good for at least a few minutes.

There are rumors circulating as to what caused it. We have been told by the site owners not to post rumors, and in any event, it is being investigated by proper authorities.

Anyway, the damage certainly looks repairable.
The cab and electric lockers, as well as the car structure, do not appear to be damaged. I don't think we need to have our first scrapped M-7 yet.

Tom

N340SG wrote:Anyway, the damage certainly looks repairable.
The cab and electric lockers, as well as the car structure, do not appear to be damaged. I don't think we need to have our first scrapped M-7 yet.

Tom

That's good to hear.

It was not caused by equipment trouble. Lets leave it at that

I was in Babylon yard when they brought the train to the yard. I was on the burnt car with the investigators. I will not say too much but to my brothers and sisters keep your fusees fresh and to the LIRR store Fusees securely on every pair of cars.....This could have cost the life of a brother trainmen

I got a chance to see the pair at WSY today. It's parked at the west end of track 27. We were on 25 and while I was giving the break test, I noticed that there were black soot stains on the top of L1 door (first door left hand side). The window between the door and the cab looked a little warped. I got off my train and tried to key on to it, but it looks like they locked it down. Anyways, as the stories fly around the property, I will quote what was said above and alert a few folks to be a little more carefull with the fusees!!! Otherwise, the damage is not world ending and will be repaired eventually.

It's in WSY to EIC (clean) it. After that, it can be more easily seen what needs to be replaced and repaired.