Hi Everybody
If USA and Canadian locos have to be left running continuously to keep up the train air brake pressure then something has to be wrong. First, modern air braking system should not and do not leak. If they do it is a sure sign of inadequate and poor maintenance by the operators. Back in the 1960s and through until 1990s the old type plunger tap connections on vehicles used to develop leaks on a regular basis when continuously being connected and disconnected during vehicle shunting. However, the modern Suzie type connections have proved to be a huge improvement with even the smallest of leaks rarely occurring while carrying out the same number of operations. The foregoing is my own personal experience in the British road haulage industry.
My second thought on the matter would be that even if a leak did develop following an engine shutdown that should not bring about the release of the vehicle(s) braking system as loss of air pressure apply modern braking systems and not release them. Basically it is loss of air pressure in the airlines on the application of the brakes from the cab that allows air from the trailer (or rail freight car in this case) reservoir tanks to enter a second system and apply the brakes. Non-return air valves stop air transferring between the two systems and therefore the reservoir tanks cannot drain. The only way these air reservoir tanks can be drained is manually normally from underneath the vehicle. Maintenance fitters and shunter drivers often drain them this way while carrying out their duties as it saves having to continuously connect and disconnect the Suzie airlines while moving trailers around.
Cascade, your obsession with no one else but railway personnel shutting down rail locos is somewhat beyond belief. Let’s take a scenario that a train is parked up in an oil refinery with a cargo of crude oil, the engine left running and the driver/engineer has gone off duty. A fracture then occurs in one of the engines injector pipes which is certainly not an unknown situation with diesel engines as these lines convey diesel under high pressure to the engine. The diesel then sprays across the engine block onto the exhaust manifold and catches fire. Within minutes the loco is ablaze and is quickly attended by the on-site fire-fighters and safety personnel quickly followed by the district fire service all ready for action. However, under cascades “rail personnel only” none of them can shut down the engine or even turn off the external diesel supply tap from the tank. The loco blazes away, the fire fuelled by the still flowing diesel pipe, it then sets fire to the overhead gantry pipelines, this spreads the fire to the bitumen and heavy oil tanks and then to the petrol silos and we then have one of the world’s great firework displays on our hands.
Fire-fighters will always shutdown any running machinery while attending an emergency. Every commercial business knows this and it is for them to ensure that an equipment shutdown does not turn into a full-scale disaster for the business and especially for the community as has happened on this occasion. The European Hazchem regulations state that vehicles carrying cargoes covered by the legislation are not allowed to be left unattended or un-monitored at any time. So for this train to be left in the way that this consist was would be totally illegal in Europe and my feelings are that it is probably the same in Canada and the United States.
If not then this terrible tragedy proves it certainly should be.
Bill
If USA and Canadian locos have to be left running continuously to keep up the train air brake pressure then something has to be wrong. First, modern air braking system should not and do not leak. If they do it is a sure sign of inadequate and poor maintenance by the operators. Back in the 1960s and through until 1990s the old type plunger tap connections on vehicles used to develop leaks on a regular basis when continuously being connected and disconnected during vehicle shunting. However, the modern Suzie type connections have proved to be a huge improvement with even the smallest of leaks rarely occurring while carrying out the same number of operations. The foregoing is my own personal experience in the British road haulage industry.
My second thought on the matter would be that even if a leak did develop following an engine shutdown that should not bring about the release of the vehicle(s) braking system as loss of air pressure apply modern braking systems and not release them. Basically it is loss of air pressure in the airlines on the application of the brakes from the cab that allows air from the trailer (or rail freight car in this case) reservoir tanks to enter a second system and apply the brakes. Non-return air valves stop air transferring between the two systems and therefore the reservoir tanks cannot drain. The only way these air reservoir tanks can be drained is manually normally from underneath the vehicle. Maintenance fitters and shunter drivers often drain them this way while carrying out their duties as it saves having to continuously connect and disconnect the Suzie airlines while moving trailers around.
Cascade, your obsession with no one else but railway personnel shutting down rail locos is somewhat beyond belief. Let’s take a scenario that a train is parked up in an oil refinery with a cargo of crude oil, the engine left running and the driver/engineer has gone off duty. A fracture then occurs in one of the engines injector pipes which is certainly not an unknown situation with diesel engines as these lines convey diesel under high pressure to the engine. The diesel then sprays across the engine block onto the exhaust manifold and catches fire. Within minutes the loco is ablaze and is quickly attended by the on-site fire-fighters and safety personnel quickly followed by the district fire service all ready for action. However, under cascades “rail personnel only” none of them can shut down the engine or even turn off the external diesel supply tap from the tank. The loco blazes away, the fire fuelled by the still flowing diesel pipe, it then sets fire to the overhead gantry pipelines, this spreads the fire to the bitumen and heavy oil tanks and then to the petrol silos and we then have one of the world’s great firework displays on our hands.
Fire-fighters will always shutdown any running machinery while attending an emergency. Every commercial business knows this and it is for them to ensure that an equipment shutdown does not turn into a full-scale disaster for the business and especially for the community as has happened on this occasion. The European Hazchem regulations state that vehicles carrying cargoes covered by the legislation are not allowed to be left unattended or un-monitored at any time. So for this train to be left in the way that this consist was would be totally illegal in Europe and my feelings are that it is probably the same in Canada and the United States.
If not then this terrible tragedy proves it certainly should be.
Bill
