Western Railroad Discussion > UP Cascade Sub Tunnel Fire

Well here they go again. Tunnel fire in #7. UP MOP says that it is right in the middle of tunnel #7 and flames coming out both ends.

That'll be a tough one, being over 3,000' long!

John

Amtkrd4man Wrote:
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> Well here they go again. Tunnel fire in #7. UP MOP
> says that it is right in the middle of tunnel #7
> and flames coming out both ends.
>

AMTK 11/14 detouring via Bend, or bustituting? To think, No. 14 was into KFS before 09:00 today!

- gb -

Brings up a few questions for me:
1. They have wood in tunnels still? (obviously)

2. Is the CORP tunnel still down? Or could they detour that way.

3. What is required for a train to run through Bend as far as the crew is concerned. Is there enough qualified crews? And how long would it take to get qualified.

Lynn (ain't got that much hose on my engine to put that fire out)

Gotta love them GE's! It looks like I get a night off GM, how about you? <G>

Captain92 Wrote:
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> Brings up a few questions for me:
> 1. They have wood in tunnels still? (obviously)
>
> 2. Is the CORP tunnel still down? Or could they
> detour that way.

And an answer:

Tunnel 13 south of Ashland, Oregon on CORP's Siskiyou Line is still closed. Earlier this week, there was still 800 feet of tunnel to clear and repair. The line may be closed for another two or three months before the tunnel is rebuilt. FWIW, Tunnel 13 is also about 3000' long.

As for running on CORP, even if the south end were open, it'd be highly unlikely to see any UP detours. The SP didn't detour over the Siskiyou in the 80's and early 90's. Since then, some sidings have been removed, the line south of Ashland is dark, and the signal system is set up now more for protection from broken rail and other surprises than for running lots of trains.

> Lynn (ain't got that much hose on my engine to put
> that fire out)

Do you have an engine, Lynn? At the onset of the Tunnel 13 fire, structure engines were of little use even with the fire near the north portal. CORP even brought up a water car. The problem was the fire got behind the gunnite and into the ancient redwood timbers and defied conventional attack.

Larry Tuttle
7 miles up the creek from MP 465 of the Siskiyou Line
http://www.alpharail.net

Was it the QPTRV-13 with five 5700 seris units and 88 cars that caused this one?

Ted Curphey
funnelfan@icehouse.net

Amtrak busing between Eugene and Sacramento.

mundo Wrote:
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> Amtrak busing between Eugene and Sacramento.

Pity the passengers. What a long, horrible bus ride.

By 0200 or so there are now three work trains on the "hill" out there all presumably working the fire situation. Additionally, UP appears to be deadheading all "away from home" crews back tho their home termnals, which in the past they haven't done. So it looks like this fire might be a bit worse than the usual ones we have up here.

BTW, all the tunnels on the Cascade Line are primarily concrete lined as when built. Unfortunately almost all the tunnels also have wood bents in between the concrete sections, and of course wood lagging behind the concrete. What happens is that these bents may catch fire and then the fire works its way to the lagging behind the bents. It's not a true "blaze" but more of a smothering fire usually.

In the past they used to run manned helpers up here also. If a fire did get started by an uphill train (almost always the case) the helper would find it very early on their way back down. With DP's nobody is there to find a fire until the next train comes through and by then the fire may be too large to simply contain.

To fight these fires they usually end up pulling the concrete out on both sides of where the fire actually is so they can pour water in and then also the concrete and lagging where the fire is once knocked down a bit. In the past they have usually worked on the fire for a while and then will run trains though slowly to keep traffic moving. This time it appears they are shutting everything down.

As a side note, back before UP came along the SP had started a program to get rid of the wooden bents or at least cover them with nonflamable material (Gunnite). One of the first things UP did was to eliminate this project to "save money".

I am just leaving K-Falls on the way back north to home, and there is nothing moving at all except the BNSF and the UP switchers in the yard. Caught a couple of trains last night, presumably went through before the fire, and sounds like trains are stacked up on the downhill side of the incident. The DS was having signal problems at Chemult, due to a train tied down possibly too close to the signal. Not much radio chatter here at all. Sounds like the OT will be the place to be today.

Robert Scott
FoamersNW.Org

DB.....Still slavin away up the gorge...be in your town tomorrow night on 507...have a great few days off probably...

I just (3:00 to 4:00 PM Sun) came across the Willamette Pass not knowing that a fire had happened. Heard on the scanner that the track that was "out of service" was being assigned to somebody else. I didn't know what that meant. On Hwy97 where it crosses over the SP main just south of Chiloquin I crossed over two UP units pulling three water cars with the pumps on them and a bulk head flat. (28 axles) It was moving at track speed. Just below McCredie Springs I passed a freight going down the hill with loads of lumber which I thought was odd. At Hampton was about a third of a train with one unit on the (SP) west end with its nose to the train.

jb