"out of an abundance of caution”

It seems it might be prudent to have an "abundance of caution” before the SHTF for a change.

--Einstein gave the same test to students every year. When asked why he would do something like that, "Because the answers had changed."

Perhaps principles of process safety integrity should be applied to rolling stock.
thread962-223631: Adding MTBF's

150 cars * 24 bearings per car = 3600 bearings

If we assume 1,000,000 miles per bearing failure,

(1000000/3600)= 278 miles per failure in a 150 car train. (MTBF Methiod)

I think these calculations prove a point, the axle bearings do not fail this often, so my assumption is off, but this does present the idea that as trains get longer individual components must either get much more reliable or stoppages become more frequent in terms of train miles. But probably not in ton miles.

https://www.engineersedge.com/bearing/typical_bear... Possibly closer to 2 million miles, but that's a nit.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
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Link to more video


RAW: Drone footage shows train derailment in Springfield

Officials Give Train Derailment Update WLWT Not really anything new, relatively routine cleanup.

Well that certainly doesn't look very good at all

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Why yes, I do in fact have no idea what I'm talking about

No. Train crashes don't usually look good at all.

However. I do rather think this one sorta does:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcqfa_uj2hA


spsalso

And did you notice the name on the train car:



John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

Quote (FacEngrPE)

150 cars * 24 bearings per car = 3600 bearings

A typical rail car has four axles.

Depending on what you want to call "a bearing" , there are either two or four bearings per axle.

So, 8 or 16, but not 24.

Timken used to supply the barrel steel for Roy Weatherby's rifles... ICYC.

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

I admit to being a bit loose with the numbers, as it does not change the point that putting more cars in a train increases the likelihood of failure significantly even when the components are themselves quite reliable.
4 axle trucks are the most common. but 6 axle trucks are used for cars above 125 ton,

"And did you notice the name on the train car"

I'm shocked, I tell you SHOCKED, to find that this glorious event actually happened on Norfolk Southern tracks at Memphis on September 6, 2020.


spsalso

Quote:

I admit to being a bit loose with the numbers, as it does not change the point that putting more cars in a train increases the likelihood of failure significantly even when the components are themselves quite reliable.

I'm not disagreeing with the reliability physics, but the issue seems to me to be a bit moot; if the total ton-miles TM of active cars is rolling, how the cars are divvied up is irrelevant if TM remains at least the same, a minimum X number of failures will occur.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
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'That Just Happened': Train Derails and Crashes Near Tulsa

Dynamics of a train derailing (from a track defect) vs sticking to the tracks is likely influenced by both how loaded a car is and where it is in the string. This derailment in Tulsa OK resulted in the tank car hopping completely off of one of it's trucks. It looks like the car stayed on the track, but the truck ended up several feet to the rear of where it should be.

I wonder how much of an impact is required to brinell a race. In that video the impact was sufficient to knock the truck out of place. Would that truck be set back under the car and continued on service, possibly with damage to a bearing race?

In that Tulsa derailment video, the trailing end of the bulkhead flatcar and the leading front of the tank car had already derailed. The wheels of each truck were parallel to the track, but off of it. When the wheels of the derailed trucks hit the raised grade crossing, they and the truck they were in slowed abruptly. The car body of the bulkhead flat continued forward, appearing to shear off the kingpin. The tank car appears to have lifted up enough to have disengaged the kingpin, and slide forward over its truck, which did keep moving across the roadway.

As soon as the train was parted, both halves went into emergency. The rear of the train stopped in about 100 feet. And the car behind the tank car appears to have stayed on the track.

The derailment happened earlier, before the video. What we see is a sorta small problem turn into a much bigger problem.


I would hope and expect the derailed cars would have their trucks replaced with "new" ones. Then, once rerailed, they will be pulled at a very slow speed to a repair shop for inspection and repair. The old trucks might not be damaged, but they certainly should be torn down and inspected. And since they're now apart, new bearings would be a very good idea anyway.


spsalso

I think many cars are craned onto flat cars to be moved to a repair shop.
The trucks likely onto a different flat car.