Eastern Railroad Discussion > Aberdeen Md. derailment

Anyone know how bad the derailment on the Northeast Corridor is by a NS train? Looks like it is blocked as of Saturday morning according to the Amtrak Alerts.

Just more "NS freight train interference!" to use one of Amtrak's favorite terms!  ;-)

Apparently it's 20 cars of coal - excerpt:

Norfolk Southern sent a statement to 11 News, saying: "Early this morning, 20 loaded coal cars derailed approximately 20 miles north of Baltimore. Thankfully, no one was hurt and the material does not pose a danger to responders or the community. At this time, Norfolk Southern, Amtrak and federal authorities have deployed teams to the site and we are working together to restore service as quickly as possible."

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/amtrak-service-suspended-freight-derailment-near-aberdeen/39332740

what does the situation look like right now? Is it just two tracks or the whole amtrak corridor that is blocked?

nick

Posted from iPhone

Darthsimpletext Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> what does the situation look like right now? Is it
> just two tracks or the whole amtrak corridor that
> is blocked?
>
> nick
>
> Posted from iPhone
All tracks blocked.  Culprit was NS Symbol Y92.  Anyone know where this train runs from/to?
Andy

Y92 is a second section of 592 runs from Shire Oaks,PA to Canton Yard Baltimore, MD

Posted from Android

The “Y” designation means it’s an extra train in the 500-599 bulk commodity train symbol series so I’m guessing the train in question is an extra 592 symbol hauling coal from Shire Oaks, PA to Canton Yard in Baltimore.

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/22 08:51 by JPB.

JPB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The “Y” designation means it’s an extra
> train in the 500-599 bulk commodity train symbol
> series so I’m guessing the train in question is
> an extra 592 symbol hauling coal from Shire Oaks,
> PA to Canton Yard in Baltimore.
>
> Posted from iPhone

Correct....

Darthsimpletext Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> what does the situation look like right now? Is it
> just two tracks or the whole amtrak corridor that
> is blocked?

All tracks were blocked by the derailment.

It appears to me that the NEC narrows from three tracks to two at the site. The train's head end came to a stop at the north end of the bridge over the Bush River.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/22 12:16 by toledopatch.

The last NS derailment I saw on the NEC at Edgewood, MD south of Aberdeen happened on a section of tangent track about 15 years ago. Seems that a journal on a loaded gondola burned off and derailed several cars. Derailed cars all stayed in line with only the burned journal axle wheelset landing on the adjacent main track. Can't make this up. NS and Amtrak were lucky. Not so here.
CR

Don't Amtrak use hotbox detectors?

Updated news reports with a few photos of the accordioned hoppers and clean-up video:

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/amtrak-service-suspended-freight-derailment-near-aberdeen/39332740
https://www.wmar2news.com/news/local-news/freight-train-derails-in-aberdeen

Looks like Amtrak has restored limited NEC Acela, Regional, and LD service through the area: https://www.amtrak.com/alert/modified-service-between-new-york-washington.html



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/22 02:46 by JPB.

steamloco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Don't Amtrak use hotbox detectors?


Yup.

There are also Hot Box and Dragging equipment detectors approximately every ten miles on NS's Port Road from Harrisburg to Perryville. Additionally ten miles north of Perryville there are Wheel Impact, Wide Car and High Car detectors. 

With the abolishment of freight, plain bearing axles ( plain bearings banned
from AAR interchange service). decades ago, other means of axle/ journal
 defect-detection became necessary.

Rolling-element bearings have published limited life-times, based on hours of use.
Manufacturers have generated results of tested hours-of-use averaged figures.
All rolling element bearings have recommended hours of continued use 
specifications.   Plain bearings, as long as properly lubricated, have no
such 'hours' parameters ...some last virtually forever.

RR axle rollers 'life' numbers exceed wheel profile wear condemning 
limits.   So, with wheels wearing-out ( exceeding worn-profile wheel wear)
before the rollers reach their  'number'..the wheels come off, taking the bearings with them.
Then a re-qualified axle gets new wheels and new bearings.

When the axle wheelsets are reconditioned. they get either new rollers,
or re-built, requalfied bearings applied.  All Bearings , new or reconditioned,
are accepted as 'new' bearings.

Any rollers submerged (floods) are automatically  condemned.

So, today, there are a very few roller bearings that fail in-service.  When the limited
grease-charge is somehow depleted, the temperature rises....at speed, from that time to "burn-off"
is a very few minutes.   Using the old thermal, "hot-box" detectors meant that a cool-running,
( endangered) roller bearing could pass a detector ---cold--- and yet burn-off!!
way before the next hotbox detector...

Today's detectors are ultrasonic devices.  Any Rollers that are in-trouble emit high frequency
 ( ultrasonic) squealing sound waves, of a specific frequency, or higher --- as long as they
are rotating.   Low or slow speeds don't generate the signature high frequencies.

They always emit varying, high frequency sounds when rolling, and the frequencies vary with
axle RPMs .    Axles thst are "in trouble" squeal at specific, high frequncies and those
specific frequencies are what triggers the radio-relayed warnings.

The detector locations use computer voices ( on radio alerts) to communicate the
defective axle's number,  from the loco's first axle.  The ultrasonic detection& warnings
occur well before the the danger-point of a derailment threateneing incident.

It appears that hi-wide detectors ( with axle monitors) are typically spaced 10-miles apart...
With that distance being determined by the probability of catching 100% of endangered,
squealing axles..  The early detection allows the decision-makers the options about
methods of "setting-out" the endangered wheel-set, at the best locations.

Its important that detectors are spaced where trains will be traveling where
their speeds ( axle RPMs are highest) & free from "traffic desnity signals" do not
result in a lot of slow trains.

No more hot-box detectors. 

​W.
 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/22 05:52 by wcamp1472.

That's a scary proposition with high speed passenger trains on the line...

Victor



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/22 14:18 by wabash2800.

Has the cause of this derailment been announced yet???

The talk so far has discussed journals, in a general sense,
but I do not yet know the cause of THIS incident.

Let me know what they attribute as the source/cause of this 
incident.

​W.

​as of 2300 Eastern
3/6/22

I've been involved with military and space telemetry electronics and communications for 50 years. I've been a railfan for 70+ years. Everything stated by "W" is true. In 1985 or thereabouts I worked with a very gifted engineer who stated that bearing failure could be predicted by the ultrasounds emitted from the rotating elements. However we were not in an employment to "listen" to industrial bearings but rather as mentioned, space and military communications. His mentioning of this was just passed off by most people in our facility. Personally I thought that was an amazing possibility, but never connected railroad axle bearings vs industrial bearings, such as paper machines, steel rolling mills and other high pressure process industry applications, that this guy specifically proposed monitoring. He obviously was onto something, just not in a subject of particular interest to me or my peers. I might add that this individual was rather "squirrely", erratic, a caffeine and nicotine addict. I don't know if his foresight actually led to any suuccess in his endevours but whatever happened we coined a nickname for him, "Chaz the Spaz". 
Long ago and far away from this NE Corridor oops!
I personally believe that no matter whatever man designs to predict and prevent failure of mechanical things, they, mechanical failures, will still on occassion occur, and this is what is called an "Accident".

This is a fascinating thread. Thanks for all the good info.

Posted from Android