Western Railroad Discussion > SLO Work Train Tie Fire

Looks like someone may have torched some gons carrying ties on a tied down work train, at the south end of the San Luis Obispo, CA yard...

Amtrak 774 has been annulled...

http://www.ksby.com/story/38201797/breaking-multiple-rail-cars-on-fire-on-tracks-in-san-luis-obispo



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/16/18 08:27 by ats90mph.

SLOPD says fire "suspicious." Duh.

---

---

Time-honored phrase in the fire service is "when the (ladder)pipes go up, the walls come down"! Be interesting to see if the cars/gons the ties were kept in are salvageable when they are emptied.

Bruce

According to the news report.

Each car were filled with spent Railroad ties.
About 200,000 each per car.


I think all the railcars involved will have to be scrapped.
Some of them had the sidewalls folded in. And one car had the mid-section sagging.

That is a lot of wood that had burned. And each car got filled with water.
All that heat and water did a number on each rail car.

Jerry Martin
Los Angeles, CA
Central Coast Railroad Festival

Hi Bruce, it's Bruce (Doc)
True words indeed re: ladder pipes. Three on that job must have meant a big-a** fire. That's usually a major event. I'm sure Hazmat, etc. was called in acct. all the creosote.
BTW, along with everything else I volunteer for Los Angeles County Fire Dept. in their photo unit.

Have fun, be safe,
Bruce "Doc" Jones Sierra Madre CA

BCutter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Time-honored phrase in the fire service is "when
> the (ladder)pipes go up, the walls come down"! Be
> interesting to see if the cars/gons the ties were
> kept in are salvageable when they are emptied.
>
> Bruce

This looks like a case of major felony arson. I doubt it was lightning!

200000 ties per car? Sounds way too high! Maybe 200 ties per ties.....

Marty Harrison
Knob Noster, MO

200,000 pounds.

I left off pounds. Either that is a lot of fuel to burn.


livesteamer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 200000 ties per car? Sounds way too high! Maybe
> 200 ties per ties.....

Jerry Martin
Los Angeles, CA
Central Coast Railroad Festival

Some interesting videos from the local news and SLO City Fire

Power moving along Main 2, under the hose streams:
https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/996762273778614272

Sunrise firefight
https://twitter.com/SLO_City_Fire/status/996736717708115968

Early AM Fire
https://twitter.com/SLO_City_Fire/status/996714366471884802

Total of 20 cars that have TYOX reporting marks.

Some are old coal cars labeled with “Coalvelor. Maybe old AEX reporting marks.
Some have a Fire Hose Port up top.
There are even two that are the dimensions of a boxcar, but with an open top, oddly tall, labeled Plate F, TYOX 919, TYOX 908

TYOX = Tie Yard of Omaha...a UP salvage contractor.

Dick Samuels

Sounds dangerously close to a "Cement Tie Conspiracy."

They ran a stub train from LAUPT to San Diego.

Chris



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/18 03:49 by Mudrock.

Mudrock Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> They ran a snub train from LAUPT to San Diego.
>
> Chris

A Stub train?

Anyway...I was under the impression, that it takes a lot of heat to get a tie burning. Would someone have had to have thrown a molotov cocktail into a car to get it to light?

Mudrock Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> They ran a snub train from LAUPT to San Diego.
>
> Chris


That would be a train that rolls into the station and rockets off if anyone is there waiting to get on.

Posted from Android

pdt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mudrock Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > They ran a snub train from LAUPT to San Diego.
> >
> > Chris
>
> A Stub train?
>
> Anyway...I was under the impression, that it takes
> a lot of heat to get a tie burning. Would someone
> have had to have thrown a molotov cocktail into a
> car to get it to light?

Not all that much as know someone who burned some pieces by accident, once started hard to put out. BN used to burn small piles of old cut ties along the Columbia river coming out of Pasco thru the gap on there right of way..

BAB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> pdt Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Mudrock Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > They ran a snub train from LAUPT to San
> Diego.
> > >
> > > Chris
> >
> > A Stub train?
> >
> > Anyway...I was under the impression, that it
> takes
> > a lot of heat to get a tie burning. Would
> someone
> > have had to have thrown a molotov cocktail into
> a
> > car to get it to light?
>
> Not all that much as know someone who burned some
> pieces by accident, once started hard to put out.
> BN used to burn small piles of old cut ties along
> the Columbia river coming out of Pasco thru the
> gap on there right of way..

Yea...once it gets going, uve got an oil file going, and throwing water on it doesnt do a lot. Really need foam to fight it.

Did the vandals take time to spray paint the cars first?