Canadian Railroads > Field tragedy Update: Surviving grain hoppers fail brake testing

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada released an update on its investigation
of the runaway tragedy that occurred near Field, B.C., on February 4, 2019. 

Part of the investigation included testing of the 13 grain hoppers that did not derail.
Testing was done at Banff, from February 8-10, at similar temperatures, -18 to -24 C.
Based on locomotive event recorder data,
service brake applications and emergency brake application duplicated the actual event. 

The findings included: 

“The air brake system on these cars would not provide adequate braking effectiveness
to ensure the safe operation of a loaded unit grain train in a situation
where the air brakes are required to remain applied for an extended duration,
such as while descending a steep grade.” 

When testing the 13 cars, “relative to the expected maximum pressure
during the series of service brake applications,
brake cylinder pressure dropped to 56% in 15 minutes.” 

Also in testing the 13 cars, “relative to the expected maximum pressure
from the emergency brake application,
brake cylinder pressure dropped to 60% at the end of the 3-hour test period.” 

“All 13 grain hopper cars failed additional testing utilizing an automated single car test device (ASCTD).
The ambient temperatures during testing ranged between −21°C and −26°C.”  

The Transportation Safety Board concluded,

"The leakage of pressurized air is always present on trains to varying degrees depending on several factors,
such as ambient temperature, condition and age of the air brake equipment on each car,
maintenance practices, and length of time the air brakes remain applied."

Consequently, the Transportation Safety Board has written to Transport Canada, 

“Transport Canada may wish to review the efficacy of the inspection and maintenance procedures
for grain hopper cars used in CP's unit grain train operations (and for other railways as applicable),
and ensure that these cars can be operated safely at all times.”

http://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/securite-safety/rail/2019/r19c0015/r19c0015-617-05-19-20190411.html



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/19 11:06 by Marcus.

Not knowing the actual cars that were tested I wonder if the Canada covered hoppers that were purchased by CP are suspect?

Tim
mp35mountain

TO member KickingHorse photographed the 13 grain hoppers at Banff,
including a UP locomotive similar to the mid-train locomotive,
and possibly the actual tail-end locomotive at the far end of the cars.

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?15,4730870

Thanks Marcus.  I had completely forgotten those pictures. So if those are the same 13 cars ( and in my previous life I was a corporate investigator who learned never to assume ) it worries me that all 13 cars failed because there are a couple of what I consider to be newer cars in that line.

Tim
mp35mountain

I wonder if the results would any different if you just chose some random cars and subjected them to the same tests?

As a result of this testing, could Transport Canada issue instructions restricting the length of trains to much shorter configurations in the mountain districts when the temperatures are below freezing?

BNSF use 9 locomotives and a 4x3x2 setup to move a 110 car grain train Through the Tehachapi mountains without incident regularly. Maybe our neighbors to the north should do the same. Especially in cold weather.

Posted from Android

lynnpowell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As a result of this testing, could Transport
> Canada issue instructions restricting the length
> of trains to much shorter configurations in the
> mountain districts when the temperatures are below
> freezing?

The longest effective brake pipe length on that train was 28 cars.  (112 cars divided by half=56 cars.  Half of the 56 car distance between the lead engine and the mid train helper is 28 cars, the  same distance between that halfway point and the mid-train helper.  The same thing applies to the rear portion, 28 cars to the longest brake pipe distance between the mid helper and the rear helper.
G

The-late-EMD Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> BNSF use 9 locomotives and a 4x3x2 setup to move a
> 110 car grain train Through the Tehachapi
> mountains without incident regularly. Maybe our
> neighbors to the north should do the same.
> Especially in cold weather.
>

Tehachapi has steep grades on both sides of the pass, which is why that much power is used.  Loaded grain trains only see 1% grades climbing over Kicking Horse and Rogers passes.