P090-10

John_Perkowski wrote:Without the HEP, the fans don't run, and there is no air circulation at all.

In the summertime, that is an invitation to a heat injury (although being stuck in the hole in a hot train is an equal invitation). One heat injury = one lawsuit for gross negligence. Regrettably, we Americans are that litigious.

John

When I took the Texas Eagle in May, from LA (Sunset) to Chicago (with a bus from San Antonio to Dallas to catch up with our missed connection on the Eagle), the train suffered a HEP failure due to a blown connection between the transition sleeper and the dining car. Within five minutes, the lounge started getting uncomfortable.

The entire train was miserably hot for a couple of hours, and they offered extended station stops at Alton, IL, and Springfield, IL. After Springfield, they switched the first three cars to the rear, and the power was restored.

Besides, those emergency/backup batteries don't last forever.

Does CSX train identification protocol refer to the date of origin anywhere or date of origin on CSX?

Case in point #2(11) "in Amtrakese" refers to the EB Sunset Limited that departed LA on the 11th day of the month. This train would be interchanged to CSX at New Orleans on the 13th. (or so sayeth the timetable).

So the question is while on CSX rails, is it P00211 or P00213?. A corollary question is what would be protocol if the interchange did not occur until after 1201A on the 14th (here I assume no train on CSX departs or arrives at "midnight").

Enquiring minds want to know.

Been the middle of winter here , i didnt think of heat .
i was on a train here once when the airconditioniong failed in one full carriage , the conductor simply stood in the vestibule , held the outside door and the inside door open , and treated us to a blast of outside air . not in any rule books im sure , but it did the job , and kept the train moving .

Robert Paniagua wrote:Oh, I though freight engines DID have HEP, Mr. Solar .

Maybe other freight model engines may have HEP, I'm not too sure though.

no, they dont

no freight engines have HEP...

so even if they COULD have gotten an engine there, it would not have had HEP

and would have been useless

for the record

Amtrak only keeps spare equipment in 2 places in florida

1. sanford, fl
2. hialeah, fl (miami)

the only engine with HEP they have in jacksonville with HEP is their BW40-8 which they use as a switcher, they dont typically send it out on trains

Amtrak assumes all liability when things like this happen

to prevent this they should have more than one unit on a train...

if they dont, they reap the consequences when things like this happen...

The days when the New York Central had a protect locomotive with a crew on duty under pay, roundly every 50 miles along the Water Level Route are long gone.

To my knowledge, Amtrak no longer has the protect engine sitting at Baltimore to rescue anything deciding to "give up the ghost" in the tunnel there.

However, I believe they still do at New York.

no, they dont

no freight engines have HEP...

so even if they COULD have gotten an engine there, it would not have had HEP

and would have been useless

Ok, now I understand with the rest of the gang. And yeah, I guess it would be absolutely useless to bring other engines from their Hialeah facilities.

Lets hope that Amtrak doesn't go through this grief again for a long time, IMHO.

in order to get a engine from hialeah (MIAMI) csx would have to

1. have a rested crew to call on duty (if they didnt, they could not)
2. have an engine available and fueled
3. have jacksonville schedule a time which an engine could be dispatched from hialeah (south of miami) to west palm during the commuter rush
4. pull the train (without air conditioning or power) to lakeland so the Amtrak relief crew could carry on
5. get their crew back to miami somehow...

Uhhh............yeah, then I don't think CSX or Amtrak would want to do that, Nip, you're right, its WAY TOO time consuming, my friend, and yes as you stated, it would be "not worth it" for a "rescue train" like that to get to the scene of the beleaguered P090 on that day.

Hialeah is a crew base so I would assume that they have an extra list for
engineers and trainmen at that location. I would also assume that most
people on extra lists today would likely have a cell phone so that they
could be reached if necessary. Assuming an hour and a half to two hours
to get someone called and onto the property. There should have been a
slot where a light emergency relief engine could have been slipped into
any northbound commuter line-up to get up to West Palm. Maybe another
2 or 2 and 1/2 hours running time to Hialeah and another 20 minutes or
so to get coupled up to the train.
I would also have to assume that they have mechanical people at Hialeah
as well and some one or two could probably been sent up to West Palm to
help out as well.
I still think six hours is much too long.
Noel Weaver