Western Railroad Discussion > Derailment in Seattle

Looks like BNSF derailed empty well cars on the Stacy St Yard lead in Seattle around 10pm Monday night.

https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/seattle/train-derails-seattle/281-db166067-255e-4d05-a873-6a73a5ea7871

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Yes! One of the new $100,000 electro-computerized switches lined itself underneath a yard job after the train was quite a ways over the switch…resulting in cars going all over the place. Ahhh….technology, ain’t it grand?

Posted from iPhone

Texican65 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes! One of the new $100,000 electro-computerized
> switches lined itself underneath a yard job after
> the train was quite a ways over the
> switch…resulting in cars going all over the
> place. Ahhh….technology, ain’t it grand?
>

I'm sure there must be some way to blame the train crew.

Yes, if only they had taken a pay cut there would have been enough money to fix the switch right.

Out 

Texican65 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes! One of the new $100,000 electro-computerized
> switches lined itself underneath a yard job after
> the train was quite a ways over the
> switch…resulting in cars going all over the
> place. Ahhh….technology, ain’t it grand?
>
> Posted from iPhone

To err is Human,  to really Muck things up takes a computer (or the geek programming it).

RR

Amazon has a return policy for household appliances, sounds like the right catagory.

Texican65 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes! One of the new $100,000 electro-computerized
> switches lined itself underneath a yard job after
> the train was quite a ways over the
> switch…resulting in cars going all over the
> place. Ahhh….technology, ain’t it grand?
>
> Posted from iPhone


The NX system uses the same technology that a manual interlocking uses to not let a switch throw under a train. I haven’t heard anything yet about it being caused by the switch lining itself yet. I would say it’s much more likely somebody previously ran through the switch and damaged it.

Well…sorry folks…it was put out to us about the faulty switch last night, but an update today reveals that a transient threw the switch under the train.

Posted from iPhone

Texican65 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well…sorry folks…it was put out to us about
> the faulty switch last night, but an update today
> reveals that a transient threw the switch under
> the train.
>
> Posted from iPhone

So was this a manual switch or a motorized switch? The impression I got from your earlier post was that this was a motorized switch.

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Texican65 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Well…sorry folks…it was put out to us about
> > the faulty switch last night, but an update
> today
> > reveals that a transient threw the switch under
> > the train.
> >
> > Posted from iPhone
>
> So was this a manual switch or a motorized switch?
> The impression I got from your earlier post was
> that this was a motorized switch.

Correct…this is a motorized switch. 25-30 of them were installed around the Argo/Stacy/Harbor Island area a year or so ago.

One manager reported to us that they were to facilitate 1 man crew operations. They can be operated locally by pushing a button to line the route, or also controlled by a computer or iPad remotely. There have been several issues with them since their install, and one of these switches was reportedly involved in the derailment.

So called manager told us that these switches will alleviate the need for a field man or helper, and that when the company goes to 1 man crews, a single employee on a switch job will be able to line his entire route up by himself on his iPad…no need to stop and get 10 switches alone.

Texican65 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> PHall Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Texican65 Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Well…sorry folks…it was put out to us
> about
> > > the faulty switch last night, but an update
> > today
> > > reveals that a transient threw the switch
> under
> > > the train.
> > >
> > > Posted from iPhone
> >
> > So was this a manual switch or a motorized
> switch?
> > The impression I got from your earlier post was
> > that this was a motorized switch.
>
> Correct…this is a motorized switch. 25-30 of
> them were installed around the Argo/Stacy/Harbor
> Island area a year or so ago.
>
> One manager reported to us that they were to
> facilitate 1 man crew operations. They can be
> operated locally by pushing a button to line the
> route, or also controlled by a computer or iPad
> remotely. There have been several issues with them
> since their install, and one of these switches was
> reportedly involved in the derailment.
>
> So called manager told us that these switches will
> alleviate the need for a field man or helper, and
> that when the company goes to 1 man crews, a
> single employee on a switch job will be able to
> line his entire route up by himself on his
> iPad…no need to stop and get 10 switches alone.

It has been an interesting experiment to see it from behind the scenes after I left. The iPad thing only works...sometimes.

Texican65 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> So called manager told us that these switches will
> alleviate the need for a field man or helper, and
> that when the company goes to 1 man crews, a
> single employee on a switch job will be able to
> line his entire route up by himself on his
> iPad…no need to stop and get 10 switches alone.

Hello Mr. Manager. When they do away with the employees you supervise, your job will be?

(Hint: gone).

The infamous WF "Pisser Bill" Thompson observed that a trainmaster is as important as a K Mart manager, and just as easily replaceable.

TAW

TAW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Texican65 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> > So called manager told us that these switches
> will
> > alleviate the need for a field man or helper,
> and
> > that when the company goes to 1 man crews, a
> > single employee on a switch job will be able to
> > line his entire route up by himself on his
> > iPad…no need to stop and get 10 switches
> alone.
>
> Hello Mr. Manager. When they do away with the
> employees you supervise, your job will be?
>
> (Hint: gone).
>
> The infamous WF "Pisser Bill" Thompson observed
> that a trainmaster is as important as a K Mart
> manager, and just as easily replaceable.
>
> TAW

Very well put. Thank you.

Posted from iPhone

I use an IPOD in my line of work and they are not infaliable. Communication breaks are common but other weird things happen too. Most of the time a reboot fixes the problem.

Victor Baird



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/23 09:30 by wabash2800.