Canadian Railroads > Safety Inspection Car

Not sure if this has been covered here before (I searched, but couldn't find anything), but this car came into Halifax on 120 yesterday.  It was near the end of the train (behind the DPU).  It appears to have solar panels on the roof, and judging by the 1202 placard, probably a diesel generator or oil furnace in case the sun hasn't been shining for a while.  I couldn't hear anything running as it rolled by.

What does it do?  I think CN has some semi-autonomous track geometry cars, but this doesn't appear to have any of that kind of equipment.  There are one or two radomes on the roof which look like they might be for GPS antennas.  The number is CNIS 412024.  It's not listed in the TSG with the air repeaters and other work service cars.

GTD

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'appears to have' No.     'Obviously does have' - Yes

If you look under the car directly below the "SAFETY" isn't there a red laser line across the rails / snow?

Rob Smith
Hamilton, ON

Sound like a good idea. BTW, the sun does not have to be shining brightly to generate power...

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

DundasMP23 Wrote:
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> If you look under the car directly below the
> "SAFETY" isn't there a red laser line across the
> rails / snow?

You are correct.  I guess it's a matter of knowing what to look for.  I was expecting something a lot bulkier than that black box.

GTD

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Might be looking at the rails.
That laser detector should be able to measure the rail head contour, track gauge, and the "cant" of the rail.
As installed tie plates and concrete ties set the rail up to tip toward the center of the track about 1:40 to 1:20.
Over time wood ties can and pads on concrete ties can crush down on the outside edges resulting in the rail tipping outward.
This is bad because that wide gauge and/or bad gauge face angle can lead to a wheel climb derailment.
These conditions are tricky to find because the rail often snaps back to its normal position after the wheel loads are gone so inspectors don't recognize it.
This car can probably measure dynamic gauge and dynamig gauge face angle, which is what wheels actually encounter.
It probably fires alarms for the worst conditions and generates a log of  overall conditions for planning maintenance programs/investments.

Nifty catch; is there a speed recorder on the lead axle of the trailing truck, or some other sort of equipment? The six-bolt plate isn't the usual configuration.
Fred