Passenger Trains > NJT: another wheel falls off

The Star Ledger had an article today that a wheel "fell off" a passenger car being pulled into Suffern yard following a day of movement. A few minutes earlier the car had been travelling at 70 mph, with passengers.

NJT is examining the situation, which initially seems to result from a loss of lubrication following a "lateral stress" on the railcar. The incident happened to train 1119 about 730pm on June 17.

The diesel pulled car is of a different type than the NJT electric MU which also lost a wheel last year on the Northeast Corridor Line.

Although this message was sent to me privately regarding Amtrak's car availability situation, I do not believe anyone's privity is violated by sharing same here at the Forum:

"Mr. Norman,

As part of the "New Order" at Amtrak periodic inspection and maintenance work (previously done under the fomer Amtrak administration on an 'emergency-only' basis) has been given the respect and attention it deserves. Unfortunately, the fallout is a string of equipment that is sidelined for COT&S, 90-day and 180-day. So, while the recent derailment did put somewhat of a crimp in the availability of Superliner cars, the real culprit is the resurrection of a real maintenance regimen. All the extra car lines originally planned for summer travel demands on the western long-hauls have been canceled or otherwise severely curtailed"

This topic thread would suggest that "Mr. W" is merely picking up at NJT where he left off at Amtrak.

and you think the CEO is in charge of maintenance ??? utimatly yes but not after 6 or 8 levels of nincompoops have to sign their signature.

a problem with a bearing would either be a result of previous derailment or of maintenance far preceding Mr.W.

for the whole story:

NJ Transit Inspects Rail Cars After One Loses a Wheel
Thursday, June 24, 2004
BY JOE MALINCONICO
Newark Star-Ledger

NJ Transit has put hundreds of its rail cars through special
precautionary inspections during the past week after a wheel fell off a
Main Line passenger train that had just finished its final trip of the
night.

Train No.1119 was going less than 10 mph through NJ Transit's rail yard
in Suffern, N.Y., when a wheel came off one of the passenger cars at
about 7:30 p.m. June 17, transit officials said.

The train, which remained upright after losing the wheel, had just
dropped off its last passengers at nearby Suffern station and no one was
injured, officials said. Train No.1119, which travels from Hoboken
through Passaic and Bergen counties, usually carries 400 to 500
passengers, but officials said they were not sure how many people rode
it that night.

"They were very fortunate," said Robert Vallochi, general chairman of
the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. "Prior to that,
that train was going 70 mph."

The incident marked the second time in the past year that an overheated
wheel came off an NJ Transit train.
Last week's incident involved a different type of rail car and different
cause from the one that happened last July, when a Northeast Corridor
train en route to Manhattan lost a wheel while carrying 1,200 people.
Officials said the last time they could recall a wheel falling off a
train had been about 15 years ago.

NJ Transit spokeswoman Lynn Bowersox said the preliminary investigation
of last week's incident indicates it was a "highly unusual occurrence"
involving one particular car and did not involve a flaw in the design of
the rail equipment that would affect other trains.

Bowersox said investigators believe some undetermined "lateral stress,"
or impact on the train, broke the seal on the wheel's bearings, allowing
lubricant to seep out and causing the steel wheel to become so hot that
it broke from the axle.

Officials are not yet sure what caused the impact, which may have
occurred hours or days before the overheating. For example, the damage
could have been done during a "hard coupling" when the car was connected
to another car on the train.

Last year, officials determined an electrical surge had caused the wheel
on the Northeast Corridor train to overheat. The railroad subsequently
changed the way it cleans and checks the machinery designed to prevent
such power surges.

After last week's incident, NJ Transit had its crews take a closer look
at the wheels on 550 passenger cars during their routine overnight
visual inspections, Bowersox said.

Then, starting Saturday, the railroad added a new level of inspections
for the wheels on its passenger cars. Crews used special infrared
devices to measure the temperatures of the wheels on the cars
immediately after they had been in service to get a more reliable test
for overheating problems. So far, the wheels on 450 of the cars have
undergone the infrared checks, which will be repeated monthly, Bowersox
said.

"Obviously, given the history, we take these kinds of mechanical matters
very seriously," Bowersox said. "This is not a safety issue with our
fleet, and we've taken every precaution possible to make sure that this
was an isolated incident."

NJ Transit is designing heat detectors that would be installed on the
tracks to prevent trains with overheated wheels from continuing on their
routes.

"I feel pretty confident that they're doing an adequate job finding the
problems and fixing it," said Vallochi, the head of the engineers union.

"For now, any reasonable person would take Transit at its word that this
was an isolated incident," said Doug Bowen, president of the New Jersey
Association of Railroad Passengers. "If it happens a second or third
time, then we would be concerned."


http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/firstglance/index.ssf?/base/news-0/108813300064940\
.xml

Jaap Wrote:
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> and you think the CEO is in charge of maintenance

Nope he and the UP CEO are fiddling while their railroads burn

EXCERPT from the Star Ledger article:

"This is not a safety issue with our fleet." -Lynn Bowersox, NJT spokeswoman.

Yeah. Run 'em til the wheels fall off.

Bowersox was acting president of the Northeast Corridor under George Warrington. She and some other high-up officials departed suddenly (some say "pushed") after Gunn took over. Several landed at New Jersey Transit.

And, Jaap...if the BOSS doesn't take ultimate responsibility, he's not worth much, is he? YES, he IS responsible. You need to remember "The Buck Stops Here" and what it REALLY means; and quit apologizing for an incompetent.

Unfortunately it seems Warrington doesn't know what that means, either. He seems like one of those "I have an MBA and I can hire underlings to do stuff for me while I collect the big bucks." Probably that is the only kind of "Buck" he understands.

Ask the people at the Delaware River Port Authority what he's worth. The ones who threw a party after work on his last day. After he left.

While NJT's MMC shop productivity and quality has always been a joke, matters have gotton worse. A RR's tone and priorities are set by the CEO. It is none other than Box Car George that 2 months before he left Amtrak, not only had their mechanical dept abolished, but maintenace as an accounting entry also abolished. With Acela maintenace outsourced, overhauls stopped (other than the silly Amfleet Acela Regional Capstone project),only legally required maintenance performed, the CEO IS ultimately responsible, as Rumsfeld is responsible for prisoner abuses, even if it's ten levels down.

Jaap Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> and you think the CEO is in charge of maintenance
> ??? utimatly yes but not after 6 or 8 levels of
> nincompoops have to sign their signature.
===========================================

If there are six or eight or however many levels of nincumpoops in the way of proper oversight, they need to be gone. Otherwise, the power structure becomes one of Social Welfare for the Bureaucratic Management Class. Of course, if the CEO hired them all, it's cronyism.

GenePoon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Jaap Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > and you think the CEO is in charge of
> maintenance
> > ??? utimatly yes but not after 6 or 8 levels
> of
> > nincompoops have to sign their signature.
> ===========================================
>
> If there are six or eight or however many levels
> of nincumpoops in the way of proper oversight,
> they need to be gone. Otherwise, the power
> structure becomes one of Social Welfare for the
> Bureaucratic Management Class. Of course, if the
> CEO hired them all, it's cronyism.


Ultimatly, it doesn't matter how many levels there are. A CEO is responsible for employing people that will adequatly oversee their responsability. Part of those persons responsability is the capability of the persons underneath them, and so on. If a CEO, or in this case Warrington as director or whatever, is unable to promote, hire, or train and inspire workers that can make this happen, then he or she is ultimatly responsible for their organization falling into a state of poor repair, poor profits, or watever the case may be.

Greg