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Happy birthday, big guy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFbi5EH00rE
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Feb 24, 2023 19:34
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so I could say that I finally figured out what this god damned cube is doing. Get well Lowtax.
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The docket for the NTSB investigation into the September 2021 derailment of Amtrak's Empire Builder has been released here. Items 99 through 102 are transcripts of interviews with the train crew and it sounds pretty fuckin' horrifying.
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Feb 25, 2023 11:18
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GlassEye-Boy posted:it's also cheaper and faster if you do it at a large enough scale. everything can be pre-cast and assembled on site. State government here is doing a massive level crossing removal program on the suburban train network, given there were like 180 just on the suburban/commuter network in the city across various lines. They initially announced 50 removals as an election promise to win the 2015 election, currently they've removed 78 out of a now expanded 110 removals. It is mainly a road project, to remove crossings which were down for upto 40 minutes in peak hour in some areas, but it obviously has benefits for trains too allowing more trains on lines with no level crossings remaining and high capacity signalling on what will become a new cross city line. And generally just newer modern stations if they're being rebuilt and less pedestrian interactions with rail lines. https://bigbuild.vic.gov.au/projects/level-crossing-removal-project Anyway, for a section near me they decided on doing 4 level crossings and 3 station rebuilds in a 3.5km section as elevated rail which allowed the pylons to be cast in place and then topped off with pre-cast segments to happen while the existing trainline was still operational, which allowed for minimal shutdowns as the pre-cast spans were put together and then rolled into place and lowered 24/7 by gantry cranes and crawlers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGtIIDAgwi4 I have some photos of that from a few years ago now Partial demolition of the existing surface station, installation of pylons while platforms still operational. This required the removal and re-installation of the gantries with cut out corners to allow the concrete spans to be put in place.  Installing spans between the pylons behind some houses  Assembling and lifting precast segments onto the new 'skyrail' which the crawler would then pick up and move into position driving ontop of the new viaducts.  Using the new station platform as a safety deck above the surface platforms.  During the one long track closure they'd rip up the existing track and install the station internals, stairwells, escalators, lifts and lift prefab buildings into place (waiting room, bike storage, PSO/guard office and toilets)  And now we have some almost identical Battlstar Galactica lookin' stations in a couple of suburbs which are cool as hell   Anyway, these were more expensive builds and other elevated stations and segments are a bit cheaper overall with single pre-cast spans where possible, this segment had a very narrow rail corridor so no room for cranes beside the tracks to lift things. Funnily enough this wildly popular program is very good politically given people see benefits in their local communities and infrastructure spending. Of course 'skyrail' had a huge scare campaign so some areas have been trenched which overall I think is a worse outcome given that still divides suburbs and results in no new parklands or trails.  Have some local trains, photos not mine Freight train from a papermill  Regional V/line Vlocity 3 car set  Heritage diesel tour with old carriages    And because steam trains are cool here is a video from a few years ago when the elevated rail segments on that line just opened while the stations were still being completed and various works were still happening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7qdR6rtC0M
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Feb 25, 2023 12:34
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drunkill posted:State government here is doing a massive level crossing removal program on the suburban train network, given there were like 180 just on the suburban/commuter network in the city across various lines. wtf, how is it possible that a politician not only did what they promised they'd do in an election campaign, which meant spending money, on transit infrastructure, and not only that but they expanded the project and did more than they said they'd do? ???? that's not how politics works. why are they trying to actually help people?
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Feb 25, 2023 22:03
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Australia is upside down in so many ways
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Feb 25, 2023 22:18
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Raluek posted:wtf, how is it possible that a politician not only did what they promised they'd do in an election campaign, which meant spending money, on transit infrastructure, and not only that but they expanded the project and did more than they said they'd do? ???? that's not how politics works. why are they trying to actually help people? The Premier (leftie) doesn't give a poo poo about what the predominantly right wing media says about his projects, and shock horror, more people voted for him the past two elections. Praise be Dandrews
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Feb 26, 2023 00:18
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drunkill posted:State government here is doing a massive level crossing removal program on the suburban train network, given there were like 180 just on the suburban/commuter network in the city across various lines. It still absolutely amazes me that we have a street level train track in downtown San Diego. Every once in a while a train has to stop across from the convention center, and when a big cargo train does it blocks a dozen intersections for tens of minutes. Every single time there's been a stopped train when I've been down there it's managed to block an ambulance, who either turns around on a one way, or shuts off it's sirens and joins the traffic if it can't. I've never even thought about what kinds of wonderful chemicals the tanker cars could be holding. Edit: Oh and without fail some pedestrians will go under the train. Bondematt fucked around with this message at 08:33 on Feb 27, 2023 |
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Feb 27, 2023 04:54
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oakland still has UP heavy rail running down the middle of the street downtown. it's terrifying and awesome, in a bad way
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Feb 27, 2023 13:11
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Noosphere posted:Hardly ever. It's a sysephean task and is only cleaned if it impacts safety or operational capability. On this picture, you can see that the areas of the wagon that bear important text or pictograms are clean, and the rest is left to the graffiti artists. Thank you, really interesting!
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Feb 28, 2023 13:09
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distortion park posted:Thank you, really interesting! You're welcome ! Today I got certified to move about on foot unaccompanied in the rail right-of-way  Next step is to get certified to ride along in the cab.A couple more videos. The first is a somewhat dry overview of what the SBB firefighting and rescue trains can do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtOvAcnECtg The second is a look at what a local freight run looks like from the shunting yard to the customer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHmFMCwnsm8 Noosphere fucked around with this message at 21:52 on Feb 28, 2023 |
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Feb 28, 2023 21:25
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Raluek posted:wtf, how is it possible that a politician not only did what they promised they'd do in an election campaign, which meant spending money, on transit infrastructure, and not only that but they expanded the project and did more than they said they'd do? ???? that's not how politics works. why are they trying to actually help people? We have the same thing going on over the other side of the country. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metronet_(Western_Australia)
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Mar 1, 2023 13:14
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There was a major head on collision in Greece last night between a passenger train and a freight train. The death toll currently stands at 40+ with dozens of people still missing  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/01/greece-train-crash-deaths-injuries-larissa-collision-derailment
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Mar 1, 2023 19:57
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More Norfolk Southern. Is the cause more likely on the cars or track? https://i.imgur.com/q7xlOsB.mp4
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Mar 7, 2023 03:53
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Saukkis posted:More Norfolk Southern. Is the cause more likely on the cars or track? This video is a little bit clearer, action at 1:08 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqOLoFkV5js My take is the 1st of three white coil cars past the blue boxcar was already on the ground before the road crossing. Looking just ahead of the crossing, you can see daylight between the rail and the undercarriage of each car until those ones come into frame. The first derailed set of trucks obliterate the asphalt pavement and chuck it around, the 2nd and 3rd set of trucks launch into the air, and then all hell breaks loose down the line as the derailed cars tear up the track.
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Mar 7, 2023 04:47
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If you let your eye follow the line of the hood tops, it becomes apparent that the trailing end of the second car and leading end of the third car are lower. I'd wager slack run in. There's a lot of guessing here, but I think those coil cars are empties. Lot of inertia behind them in a train that long.
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Mar 7, 2023 15:46
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So, more interesting news on NS derailments: apparently there have been some defective, loose wheelsets found. "AAR's advisory says to "inspect and remove from service" the wheelsets mounted by National Steel Car between August 2022 and March 2023." https://abcnews.go.com/US/defective-loose-wheels-risk-derailment-discovered-norfolk-southern/story?id=97761704
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Mar 11, 2023 01:53
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What's the inspection interval for freight wagons in the US ?
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Mar 11, 2023 12:33
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Noosphere posted:What's the inspection interval for freight wagons in the US ? LOL to LMAO, probably. There's a bunch of news coming out about how reasonably senior people have been pencil-whipping inspections to get more loads moved with less budget. The recent spate of accidents should provide some news articles about when stuff SHOULD have happened and whether or not it ever did.
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Mar 11, 2023 14:52
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Oh boy, National Steel Car. They’ve been in the news a bunch here in recent years because they had three workplace deaths in two years. Look up Google Reviews for them, it’s full of employees giving them one star and describing working conditions in detail. https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6499094
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Mar 11, 2023 18:43
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Pigsfeet on Rye posted:So, more interesting news on NS derailments: apparently there have been some defective, loose wheelsets found. "AAR's advisory says to "inspect and remove from service" the wheelsets mounted by National Steel Car between August 2022 and March 2023." Specifically, the loose wheelsets are being reported as the cause of the derailment in this video: NoWake posted:This video is a little bit clearer, action at 1:08
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Mar 11, 2023 20:15
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Personally I would make the train wheels tighter. Maybe that's just me though
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Mar 11, 2023 22:12
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MikeCrotch posted:Personally I would make the train wheels tighter. Maybe that's just me though Hey now, WMATA is in the middle of a decade long process of pretending that no one can really know how to tell if wheels are in gauge, believing that ignoring them is a solution, and that it will takes year and years to figure out how to measure anything let alone fix it.
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Mar 13, 2023 03:04
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Noosphere posted:What's the inspection interval for freight wagons in the US ? There isn't one. In theory they are inspected on the road by the conductor each time there is a crew change. No more thorough inspections are conducted until there is a problem and the car has to be repaired. Part of the reason for this is the cars are owned mostly by a panoply of different leasing firms, shippers, holding companies and railroads. So the company operating the car is rarely the one that owns it. I think the FRA rules mandate that they're still responsible for ensuring it is safe to operate and even repairing it as needed (?), but obviously companies as profit focused as the railroads would rather get a problem car off their system so the next guy down the line has to deal with it rather than fixing it themselves. This is demonstrated by all the examples that have come to light since the East Palestine incident of crews being told to keep going when detectors found problems.
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Mar 13, 2023 14:17
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Norfolk Southern: Remember, if you see a problem, no you didnt
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Mar 13, 2023 17:09
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Small adjustment to the rules. When the crew notices a problem, the previous operator they received it from pays the repair.
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Mar 13, 2023 18:08
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Saukkis posted:Small adjustment to the rules. When the crew notices a problem, the previous operator they received it from pays the repair. Sounds familiar to how they maintain zero FRA-reportable injuries: If you lose your balance and fall, it's because you didn't maintain 3 points of contact. You broke a rule and you're fired. When you land, you're now trespassing on company property. That, and sending all their MOW work out to be performed by contractors.
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Mar 13, 2023 18:23
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It sounds like you didn't understand my point. When an operator receives a car they should thoroughly inspect it, because anything needing repairs will be paid by the previous operator. If they don't do the inspection the next operator will and they will foot the bill.
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Mar 13, 2023 18:32
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Yikes, how is this allowed? Remind me never to ship anything by rail rail again in the US. Although shipping by truck is probably still more risky, so what do I know.
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Mar 13, 2023 18:53
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I work at dhl express. So I work with planes, not trains, but I can easily see how you'll miss it. Scenario: You get a call at 3am, it has been exactly 8 hours since your shift ended making you open for a fresh call. Boss is calling for you and your co-worker Kyle to run 2 hours out to pick up a train that had been parked by the previous crew having run out their time. The boss wants this train moving asap as a hot train full of coal or oil is expected to enter that section of track in 4 hours. Boss says this should be plenty of time to get going and pull into the next yard. Upon arriving, you learn the details your boss forgot. The train is a 100 car intermodal coming from the port of la heading to chicago. It has a double mover on the front. Deciding it best to split the work, you start working on getting the generators up and warming on both movers while Kyle takes stock of inspecting the cars. Kyle will be walking the inspection alone across 100 cars. A cursory glance is all he can afford to make before they really need to be heading out as the train was parked on a .5% uphill grade. Cursory glance showed everything was ok with all lines connected and all wheels on the rails. This rapid inspection would not notice a wobbly wheel. Instead, you rely that the previous yard it passed and sorted through noticed it and reported any problems. No notes are listed so the cars should be in working order. Notice that all precautions are taken and the derailment later going down a 1% grade was completely on an institutional level instead of on any worker. At DHL I experience slightly the same thing as a forklift driver. Inspections on planes are of course carried out in full because FAA has the power to turbo gently caress you for not doing so. However, for the ground equipment, a forklift might need 15 minutes to actually do a proper inspection to verify no dry rot of the hydraulic lines or anything else wrong. Instead, you are on the clock and should be working, so are compelled to just hop and go and deal with a busted line if and when it happens later.
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Mar 13, 2023 19:07
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GlassEye-Boy posted:Yikes, how is this allowed? Remind me never to ship anything by rail rail again in the US. Although shipping by truck is probably still more risky, so what do I know. the content of your post indicates that you aren't in the logistics industry so like it aint really up to you in that case
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Mar 13, 2023 19:07
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JuffoWup posted:I work at dhl express. So I work with planes, not trains, but I can easily see how you'll miss it.
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Mar 14, 2023 12:07
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They'll just fire Kyle
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Mar 14, 2023 15:17
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Yeah you're not thinking like a profiteering corporate ghoul evil_bunnY, Kyle would be fired for missing poo poo on inspection. If he did report poo poo he'd be probably be fired there too for causing trouble, delays, or complaining too much. Kinda a no win scenario for him. Edit: Or he'd be assigned to the shittiest possible tasks for having caused a fuss until he gets fed up and quits. Turbinosamente fucked around with this message at 15:38 on Mar 14, 2023 |
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Mar 14, 2023 15:27
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Turbinosamente posted:Yeah you're not thinking like a profiteering corporate ghoul evil_bunnY, Kyle would be fired for missing poo poo on inspection. If he did report poo poo he'd be probably be fired there too for causing trouble, delays, or complaining too much. Kinda a no win scenario for him. Capitalists aren't stupid (they are greedy and soulless).
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Mar 14, 2023 15:55
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evil_bunnY posted:I'm sure there would be friction at first but there's a reason rental car inspections are thorough and train cars' aren't. Being greedy and soulless to the extent that it costs you money is stupid in my books, and it's not a rare occurrence
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Mar 14, 2023 16:48
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GotLag posted:Being greedy and soulless to the extent that it costs you money is stupid in my books, and it's not a rare occurrence
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Mar 14, 2023 17:23
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wolrah posted:The whole point is that it saves money most of the time, as long as those savings outweigh the cost of the occasional disaster it's a win for the company.
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Mar 14, 2023 17:30
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:the content of your post indicates that you aren't in the logistics industry so like it aint really up to you in that case Unfortunately it is, sure we've got logistics people handling it, but we still need to choose method of shipping based off of delivery times and cost.
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Mar 14, 2023 19:16
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A very cool railroad! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL5sRCRa7AE https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%BCttmoorsiel-Nordstrandischmoor_island_railway Pigsfeet on Rye fucked around with this message at 16:24 on Mar 17, 2023 |
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Mar 17, 2023 16:19
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| # ? May 9, 2024 22:18 |
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Neat little mini-documentary about another cool railroad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMvU-lgPE-A
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Mar 19, 2023 17:03
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