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Late trains are the norm on the Florida trains lately. However today may have taken the cake. My son rode #92(29) from MIA to WAS. It left MIA over an hour late which is ridiculous and continued losing time through FL probably due to poor dispatching. They were over 2 hours late at Columbia, SC after 3:30am when a moron tried to beat the train by driving around the gates. My son was awakened by the sound of the air dropping and a full emergency stop. He called me at 4:00am to report they must have hit something. Five minutes later the emergency vehicles arrived. He learned at breakfast that both auto occupants were killed. They sat for 3 hours then later lost 2 more hours as the crew went on the law. They managed to lose another 2 1/2 hours along the way and FINALLY reached Washington sometime around 9:30pm, almost 10 hours late. While the auto driver caused 5 hours of this, Amtrak and CSX accounted for the other approximately 5 hours. What a terrible trip. At least the a/c stayed on most of the way. #98 (29) was running well until its lone engine conked out just past Savannah. It was over 7 hours late by Charleston. Those passengers may have had no power...I have no report on it. And..#91(29) was 9 hours late at JAX as it was held atCamden for #92 and its accident scene then was held up by a freight problem near Savannah. A lot of passengers are gonna not be too enthusiastic about rail travel!
PaulB Member # 4258
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I heard that 98 had a CSX unit for motive power, but the P42 was still able to provide HEP. I don't know how exactly, since the HEP generator is tied to the drivetrain, instead of a separate diesel generator as in the F59's.
However, this time they got lucky. THere have been several times when the lone P42 conked out, HEP and all.
notelvis Member # 3071
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I observed 92 over 11 hours late on July 13. This was during my 'Midsummer Tales of Woe' trip described in another thread.
During that trip every single train coming from Florida (including the Auto-Train) was at least 3-5 hours late.
This is not an attempt to 'one up' your post....just evidence that this horrible timekeeping on CSX lines south of Richmond now occurs regularly.
I can live with late trains and plan for that now in my itineraries.....however riding CSX through the Carolinas is such a frustrating exercise of stop, crawl, go, stop, crawl, stop now......well, let's just say that next trip I'll either drive to Ashland, VA or catch the Crescent northward.........if I don't just fly to BWI and go from there.
I Missed the Ma&Pa Member # 4300
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I figured something was "afoot" when I went to Baltimore Penn to pick up the Chicago tix for one of my companions at 4:30pm yesterday afternoon, and the 7:30am arrival of the Silver Meteor was still showing on the top line of the board simply as "DELAYED"
CHATTER Member # 1185
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A "full emergency stop"? What, pray tell, does this mean? Trains do not stop on a dime, even when they have hit a vehicle. Most of the time the passengers are initially unaware that a vehicle has been hit, especially when it occurs during the night. Something does not add up there.
Geoff M Member # 153
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Once leaving Miami over an hour late, I guess it lost its slot and it was no longer treated as a priority train.
"Full emergency stop" is probably just an exaggeration, like "last and final call" (repeated) you hear at airports. Although hitting a car in itself might not be noticeable to sleeping passengers, losing the air due to air hose breakage almost certainly would be a rude awakening.
Geoff M.
MDRR Member # 2992
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I'm sure what the OP meant by the "full emergency stop" was the abrupt stop the train came to after the engineer dumped the air upon seeing (I'm assuming) the car crossing in front of the train. Granted, this is not an immediate stop, but you can usually hear the air "dumped" and feel the immediate brake application that does not ease up, thus the abrupt stop.
George Harris Member # 2077
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Geoff: "full emergency stop" means just that, and if you are a regular rider, you can tell the difference. "dump the air" is a fairly correct synonym. It means the engineer has pushed the brake handle past the normal position so that the train line air pressure is reduced as fast at the system permits. You are trying to make the fastest stop possible without concern for the possibility of causing flat spots on the wheels. Steel on steel friction being what it is, it still takes quite a distance to stop even if you do lock the wheels. Also, ther is no easing up on the end as in the normal stop to reduce the final jerk. You usually end of with a very large final jerk on the end of an emergency stop.
Regardless of the fact that in reality it would make no difference, in case of hitting a vehicle, you better have been in the process of making one at the time of impact, and let it carry through to the full stop, to avoid having to explain in court to a hostile audience why you did not.
George
Geoff M Member # 153
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My comment (following on from Chatter) was the use of the phrase "full emergency stop". While I realise there may be cultural differences here, the use of "full" is unneccessary in the English-English voice comms protocol. Either it's an emergency stop or it's not.
My other comment, from experience, is that the collision with the car would not have been obvious, but the emergency stop would have been - your comment about the final jerk is indeed correct and is what I was referring to.
Geoff M.
George Harris Member # 2077
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True, "full" is redundant. However, in the context of what is essentially converstion by a non-technical person, it is not unreasonable to say. If we were talking communications protocol that would be different, however, at the point of necessity even the professional is likely to be saying something more like 'dump the air" or "big hole her" or something even less coherent, but still be fully understood.
George
SilverStar092 Member # 2652
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Thank you for the support Mr. Harris. As to Chatter, give me a break. I am a frequent rail traveler and have a great deal of experience in the railroading field. I am sorry I used a term that did not meet your exacting standards. I was tired from getting three hours sleep after my kid's phone call at 4:00am and did not proof my post to be sure I didn't use a redundant term. This is what happens when people try to provide information. My son was sound asleep and could tell they made an emergency stop as he was awakened by the sound of the air being dumped. He assessed the situation properly as he called and said "We had to have hit something" a full 5 minutes before a ton of emergency vehicles came upon the scene. I am sorry to rant but it is pretty pathetic when someone puts down another poster who is providing useful info that will interest fellow railfans. I have had several cab rides over the years and have many engineer and conductor friends and am not so pompous as to think I know everything they know. But I can hold a fairly coherant conversation with them. If I am going to be attacked for saying a full emergency stop, maybe I should withhold this type stuff next time. I could critique some of the lousy grammar of other posts but the people are doing their best to offer good reading material and that would serve no purpose. I don't mind the correction but you could be a bit less arrogant.
delvyrails Member # 4205
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Between Selma and Savannah,is timekeeping better on the Auto Train/Silver Meteor/Palmetto A-Line or the Silver Star S-Line?
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