Does anyone know the story of how they finally caught the locomotive?
Jarrod
Amtrak Workers Fail to Stop Runaway Locomotive
Associated Press - October 10, 2007 10:45 AM ET
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (AP) - Two Amtrak contract employees who repair trains for Virginia Railway Express have been fired after they failed to stop a runaway train locomotive.
It happened September 26th when the 118-ton engine that was under repair rolled out of a train yard and went on a six-mile run. Workers hadn't blocked its wheels or put on the emergency brake.
VRE officials say the runaway locomotive went onto the main tracks and reached speeds of about 40 miles per hour. There was no announcement of the incident until a report today in The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg.
The engine rolled from the train yard in Spotsylvania County and was eventually stopped just north of the Rappahannock River in Stafford. It was on tracks shared by both freight and passenger trains. It approached the Fredericksburg train station going about 10 miles per hour.
VRE spokesman Mark Roeber says the public was not in harm's way and no other trains were in the way.
Posted by Geoff M (Member # 153) on :
From the story you pasted, it would appear that the engine finally ran out of momentum and simply stopped of its own accord.
Why didn't, what we call catch or trap points, derailers stop the engine even getting onto the main line? It's one thing to forget to chock the wheels or stop the engine moving at all; it's quite another to fail to protect the main line.
And to say that the public was not in harm's way is ridiculous to say the least. Ok, so nobody got hurt - but it could have been disastrous.
Geoff M.
Posted by pelican (Member # 754) on :
There were apparently other factors. Derail was down for a departing train. Dispatcher initially thought indication was that departing train. Maintenance employees were working on brakes.
Fortunately there are few crossings in the area.
Posted by Geoff M (Member # 153) on :
That makes more sense now. Multiple failures leading to an incident.
Geoff M.
Posted by Southwest Chief (Member # 1227) on :
Any idea what locomotive this was?
Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :
Southwest Chief, are you planning to model this incident?
That would be interesting in N scale -- one would need a demotored, degeared locomotive with very slippery wheels and some extra weight and enough track on a 2 per cent grade ... but how to model the frantic railroaders chasing after it?
Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :
quote:Originally posted by Geoff M: That makes more sense now. Multiple failures leading to an incident.
Geoff M.
This point needs emphasis. It usually takes MORE than one thing gone wrong to cause an accident in the railroad world. In fact, in all that I have first hand knowledge of, there were usually three amd occasionally more things that were involved before any derailment or collision. Usually it is a combination of component failure and rules violation, not just one or the other.
Posted by Southwest Chief (Member # 1227) on :
quote:Originally posted by Henry Kisor: Southwest Chief, are you planning to model this incident?
Ha, no, just curious about the loco that got away.
Posted by JONATHON (Member # 2899) on :
Wow, all those things like not setting the brakes, not blocking the wheels, and all that, nowonder they got fired
Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :
Nam veterans call that a "cluster****." I wonder if railroaders have a similar term.
Posted by Amtrak207 (Member # 1307) on :
I believe it's called "just another day on the railroad."
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Ha, no, just curious about the loco that got away.