Eastern Railroad Discussion > MofW and speed restrictions -- NS Pittsburgh Line

Temporary speed restrictions following trackwork (regulator, tamper, etc)
are of course required.  Typically, "two tonnage trains," or "until cancelled"
are what I hear as the norm.

Have noted on several recent trips to the NS West Slope around Cresson
something like:
Work complete @ 2:00 PM;
"10 MPH to 6:00 PM;"
"25 MPH to 10:00 PM;"
"After 10:00 PM, track speed."

Granted the West Slope sees lots of tonnage traffic, but there are
variations in traffic within any given time slot.  Can someone explain
how speeds/times like the example are determined.
 

It depends on the type of track work. For example, if surfacing 5 ties or more, you are generally required to put a 25 on it for ballast compaction, after so many tonnage trains, you can raise it to 50, then after more tonnage finally track speed. If the rail temp is over 110 degrees at the time of work being done, it gets a 10 on it until the temp drops under 110 or until 2100 hours that night, then it goes to a 25, then 50, then track speed after the required tonnage. I may be off slightly because I don't have my books in front of me, but that's the basics. Each railroad's procedures may vary slightly.

Posted from iPhone

Tim Rich
S. Ogden, UT



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/15 07:14 by TrainChaser.

NKP715 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Temporary speed restrictions following trackwork
> (regulator, tamper, etc)
> are of course required.  Typically, "two tonnage
> trains," or "until cancelled"
> are what I hear as the norm.
>
> Have noted on several recent trips to the NS West
> Slope around Cresson
> something like:
> Work complete @ 2:00 PM;
> "10 MPH to 6:00 PM;"
> "25 MPH to 10:00 PM;"
> "After 10:00 PM, track speed."
>
> Granted the West Slope sees lots of tonnage
> traffic, but there are
> variations in traffic within any given time
> slot.  Can someone explain
> how speeds/times like the example are determined.
>  

the FRA rules states if a track is worked out of face by a surfacing gang that is equipped with a working track stabilizer then the track is able to be returned to normal authorized speed if the work area is outside interlocking limits ... inside interlocking limits the track can be returned to 60 mph for 24 hrs or passed over by 12 train movements over the restricted area whichever time limit is gained first ...

track worked out of face by a surfacing gang without a working track stabizer the track will be restricted to 30 mph inside or outside and interlocking for 24hrs or 12 train movements over the restricted area whichever is gained first ...

those restrictions sound work specific ... i'd have to know what kind of work was performed to give a better explanation for your query ...



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/15 14:24 by Out_Of_Service.

In example I cited, work was done by a regulator and tamper.

NKP715 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In example I cited, work was done by a regulator
> and tamper.

ok ... then with no track stabilizer a temp speed restriction must be applied ... NS must have specific work location speed restriction requirements whereas Amtrak where i worked there were just blanket speed restrictions for such work that applied to any location ...