Passenger Trains > Amtrak 785 dead in water

Amtrak #785 just notified the DS they are dead in the water @ 22:00, out of go-go juice/diesel. Location is MP 372, Look Out Road in Summerland, CA or just north of the spur at Ortega on the UP Santa Barbara Sub.

Oil cans are past the north switch at Seacliff and will come upon color. Discussion between two crews about pushing 785 to Santa Barbara and whether or not the oil cans can pump air to 110 pounds.

DS then told 785 to wait for a fuel truck and MOW. MOW is required to place portable derails before the oil can power can cut off its train and go couple to 785 and pull it back to a place were a fuel truck can reach the engine.

Also, the HEP generator will not start. Not sure how many unhappy customers on board, but I am sure the conductor is having fun explaining the situation as they are less than 10 miles from the depot at Santa Barbara. Will probably need a relief crew for #774 as the crew of 785 won't be rested for a 6:45 AM departure from Goleta.

Question, what is the new rule which requires MOW to place derails before you cut off your train? I have never heard of such a thing. Guys used to simply tie the train down and then cut off. I assume an accident happened some where that was the impetus for the new rule.

Josiah Wrote:
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> Question, what is the new rule which requires MOW
> to place derails before you cut off your train? I
> have never heard of such a thing. Guys used to
> simply tie the train down and then cut off. I
> assume an accident happened some where that was
> the impetus for the new rule.

I'm on the other coast ... is the spot where the cans would be tied down on or near a grade? Is the rule connected to the train's lading?

Also, doesn't the freight have multiple units? What're the regs on cutting the leader off to rescue Amtrak and leaving the others to keep the air up?

* JB *

UP has some safety initiative going on.
Last month they installed derails at the entrance to west Oakland and east Oakland yards.
These are manual derails in a yard full of power and radio controlled switches.
So every train arriving and departing has to open it, run past then the conductor has to close it and walk the length of the train.
Gotta be some happy conductors out there hiking in the ballast at night.
(Heck of a place to trip over an old rusted steel limber car strap.)

Maybe UP would accept the services of a volunteer derail tender/foamer. All the photos you can take.

Maybe this results from the run-aways out of the yards in California & Texas.
As for portable derails in this case, maybe because the train is oil cans?
Cal-P

Didn't CSX have a runaway from a yard in Virginia last year that caused an NTSB alert, and an FRA action letter?

Summerland and Ortega are within spitting distance of the Pacific Ocean. Without looking at a chart, grades are less than .5%. the oil cans were empty heading from Dolores [down by Long Beach, ICTF & the harbor area] back to Wunpost for loading south of Salinas and King City. The cans were tied down at Surf, MP 300 [Vandenberg AFB] this morning at 06:00 waiting for a new crew.

Josiah

The train ran out of gas??? Absolutely NO excuse for this. Geez, Amtrak.......

Unless it was a fuel leak, that's pretty embarassing. Why would the HEP generator start if there's no fuel? They draw from the same tank, and at least on Caltrain's CAT-HEP engines, the HEP engine will stop before the main engine when fuel is low.