Western Railroad Discussion > What can cause stringlining?

What can the engineer do to help prevent stringlining?

Not trying to be a smart*** or start anything, I'm just curious about train handling considerations.

TIA for any information on this.

brassjournal Wrote:
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> What can the engineer do to help prevent
> stringlining?

He can smack the yardmaster upside the head for building the train wrong in the yard. ;)

trainjunkie Wrote:
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> brassjournal Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > What can the engineer do to help prevent
> > stringlining?
>
> He can smack the yardmaster upside the head for
> building the train wrong in the yard. ;)


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAH!!!!!

Who gets in more trouble?? the hog for hitting the yard master...or the yard master for putting empty racks mid train going over Mojave Sub... With UP you may never know..

Another BNSF, not UP.

Jeff

A number of things can cause it.

1) The engines going into Transition at the same time.
2) Unit hitting a greaser then getting grip can cause a surge.
3) Rail rolling over
4) Cars behind the empties binding on the curves.
5) A broken train line (Emergency App.)

That is just a few off the top of my head

uprrman156

For those of a lower education, what is stringlining?

R/
ss

See images in the post just below this one, regarding the derailment at Rowen.

Bob

ATSF100WEST......Out

Soonersailor Wrote:
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> For those of a lower education, what is
> stringlining?
>
> R/
> ss

http://forum.atlasrr.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=52403

Thank you Google.

R/
ss

Like the one posting said is that if you had a lot of power on the head-end and lets say that you have 50 empty coal cars and then 70 or so heavy cars behind that. Without getting into algebra and all that crap, what happens is that if you are in a curve and you start pulling hard from a stop, you can actually lift the empty cars off of the rail, and pulling the cars until they either fall over or just derail. I have seen a company film of this happening, and it made a believer out of me.
There can be other factors that will cause it to, but this is the primary one.

Simply, it's just like the cars on your train set, if the train is going 'round the loop and you grab the last car, or the last car gets hung up, which direction do the cars tip over? On the inside of the curve, of course! --- --- - --- JLH

....... or too many powered axles on the head end of the train.

From my years of going to Tehachapi and viewing just about every foot of Caliente to the Summit, that particular curve is about as tight as there is anywhere on that pass.
Lothar
Corinth, TX

Saw an unforgettable sight when hi-railing in Mexico about 10 years ago, on the line from Acambaro to Lazaro Cardenas. Coming down to the Pacific Coast, there's about 70 miles of virtually continuous 2% downgrade. A freight ahead of us was transiting a sharp curve in a cut, and for some reason the engineer applied the independent (locos only) brake to slow the train. It had about 15 empty boxcars at the head end, followed by 25 or so loads of crushed limestone. When we got to the derailment site, the boxcars had all tipped over on the high side of the curve and were lying at about a 45 degree angle against the wall of the cut. Just like an HO-scale railroad!

That's sort of "reverse stringlining", in which the compressive forces push the cars over the high rail. Properly, stringlining happens on the low side of the curve when a lot of drawbar force is applied. But it's the same principle.

Interesting,
I learned something new. Thanks for the info all.

R/
ss

Wasn't string-lining the cause of the tip-over that gave Trainorders.com such
celebrity status some 5-8 years ago?

ArgyleEagle Wrote:
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> Wasn't string-lining the cause of the tip-over
> that gave Trainorders.com such
> celebrity status some 5-8 years ago?

It happened at Tunnel 10 (just east of the loop) and ripped out all the steel ties in the tunnel. A locomotive ended up on its side (BNSF 8173, an SD40-2) and a covered hopper spilled a load of cattle food (pellets) that fouled the air for months, right in front of Dave Burton's house. It took two large cranes to place the loke back on the tracks and one of the cranes, a new 6 axle type, sustained some damage from the effort. One of the results of that debacle was the removal of all steel ties within all the tunnels on that hill; they were too light for the application. Also a contributing factor was the make-up of the consist in that there were numerous empty well cars between loads (my speculation) and the pull up the grade may have caused those cars to want to pull straight in the curving tunnel.

Lane.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/09 12:05 by GP40X.

How it happened it Denver a few years ago.

Tight U-shaped curve. Train had to stop because someone saw a handbrake tied. The engineer stopped suddenly causing the slack to bunch and set a big gob of air. After the handbrake was released, the engineer put too much power on the train to get it going. The brakes were not releasing on the rear-end as fast as the head-end. As he pulled hard, the rear stayed put and the empties in the middle leaned over as a result.

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guys don't forget cantera loop----where espee goes, nothing grows.

brassjournal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What can the engineer do to help prevent
> stringlining?
>
> Not trying to be a smart*** or start anything, I'm
> just curious about train handling considerations.
>
> TIA for any information on this.

Imagine this: Starting a 90 car train with the head end of 20 empty centerbeams on a 15 degree curve, six six-axle locomotives and and open angle cock on the rear. Take your power out to run three and see what happens!

Thanks to all. I appreciate the information.