Western Railroad Discussion > Tempe derailment question. . . .

It's hard to overlook the double light rail bridge adjacent to the Tempe UP bridge that burnt a couple of days ago. 

It would surprise me if this was the case, since I suspect that the Light rail system in Phoenix is, uh, light rail. . . . 

But assuming that the track was the same gauge -- is there any chance that any freight cars could use the light rail bridge?? 

Perhaps just by "pushing" freight cars across and night without allowing locomotives on the bridge?? 

Does anybody know the weight capacity and gauge of the track on that adjourning bridge??
 

Gauge would be the same. Most likely interchange track is not available but the bridge most likely could not handle freight train weight.

usmc1401 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Gauge would be the same. Most likely interchange
> track is not available but the bridge most likely
> could not handle freight train weight.

Even if it was physically possible, no one would touch that idea on account of liability issues.

Be patient. The bridge will be repaired before you know it!

Add in the height restriction due to catenary

Posted from Android

Marty Harrison
Knob Noster, MO

ts1457 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> usmc1401 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Gauge would be the same. Most likely interchange
> > track is not available but the bridge most likely
> > could not handle freight train weight.
>
> Even if it was physically possible, no one would
> touch that idea on account of liability issues...

And UP already wrecked one bridge!

mapboy

Narniaman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's hard to overlook the double light rail bridge
> adjacent to the Tempe UP bridge that burnt a
> couple of days ago. 
>
> It would surprise me if this was the case, since I
> suspect that the Light rail system in Phoenix is,
> uh, light rail. . . . 
>
> But assuming that the track was the same gauge --
> is there any chance that any freight cars could
> use the light rail bridge?? 
>
> Perhaps just by "pushing" freight cars across and
> night without allowing locomotives on the
> bridge?? 
>
> Does anybody know the weight capacity and gauge of
> the track on that adjourning bridge??
>  

Why?  There are other ways to get cars to Phoenix. It's not like they're cut off from civilization.

Any news on detours?

A similar incident was the bridge over the American river in Sacramento a few years ago.  How the UP handled the rebuild was impressive.  If I remember correctly, everybody from the Gov on down got out of the way and let the engineers do their job, quickly and efficiently.

rbenko Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Any news on detours?

Yes, there have been some detours.  One example is "Tucson > Yuma > West Colton > Barstow > Phoenix".

SouthWest RailCams
CA, NM, CO, TX, AZ
https://SouthWestRailCams.com

are not the flangeways on railroad and light rail uncompatable for railroad cars to run on light rail tackage  ?

Did you see that they demolished part of the bridge with explosives?

https://news.yahoo.com/arizona-bridge-partially-detonated-train-160431152.html

I have been seeing UP Freights going through Flagstaff and Belen, via the VRF Cameras

Jerry Martin
Los Angeles, CA
Central Coast Railroad Festival

i saw an e/b 3x1 u.p. manifest on the seligman sub yesterday..........

66

wabash2800 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Did you see that they demolished part of the
> bridge with explosives?
>
> https://news.yahoo.com/arizona-bridge-partially-de
> tonated-train-160431152.html

I would have liked to have seen some live action on that one, but I guess it wasn't too dramatic of a drop.

TV Got video of the drop.

https://www.abc15.com/news/region-southeast-valley/tempe/bridge-over-tempe-town-lake-to-be-partially-demolished-for-construction-following-train-derailment

Cumbres Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> TV Got video of the drop.

I appreciate it! That was worth seeing.

I wonder if any more spans have to come out, but if so, maybe they are structurally sound enough to be lifted.

 

The remains of the two lumber cars still on the bridge were brought down too.

Cumbresfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The remains of the two lumber cars still on the
> bridge were brought down too.
So were the remains of a bunch of pigeons. 
I hate pigeons, but seeing them all flopping down after the blast was not a great look!

It'll be interesting to see how quickly the new hybrid bridge is built.
Edit: This video shows a better view. 
https://www.azfamily.com/video/demolition-tempe-town-lake-bridge/video_d8f1a03c-f07b-5737-a46b-c914798a1a06.html



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/20 07:53 by jtbrandt.

wabash2800 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Did you see that they demolished part of the
> bridge with explosives?
>
> https://news.yahoo.com/arizona-bridge-partially-de
> tonated-train-160431152.html

I see a huge employment opportunity. They can hire 10,000 people to cut it apart with hacksaws. Yeah, that's a lot of folks for a jobsite, but they'll need 1st, 2d, 3d tricks and relief jobs, plus some extra board sawyers.

TAW

I get a kick out all the media fawning over using explosives for demolition, etc.  Not that many years ago, just about every railroad section foreman, B&B foreman, or Roadmaster was a "powder monkey" competent in the use of explosives to  demolish structures,  break up big rocks, etc.   Many of them are still around, but don't use explosives anymore, mostly because the cost of maintaining certification to use them has become so cumbersome and expensive.  So, today, expensive contractors are hired by the railroads to do explosives work, while the railroad's often explosive-competent employees stand around and watch the fun.  One of my fond memories from about 25 years ago was watching a Roadmaster calmly wrapping about a case of dynamite sticks around a 30 ton rock laying on the railroad track..  When the dynamite detonated, there wasn't a chunk of the rock left bigger than a softball and the only damage to the track was one broken rail caused by the rock itself, not the detonation.  Within 30 minutes of the detonation, the track was repaired and trains running.  Just another "day at the office"  for the Roadmaster.  He called it "rock-popping."