Trains are no match for tornados

On my last two trips to Cheyenne, Wy over the past 5 weeks, the wind both times was so strong that Union Pacific was slowing the trains down. This is particularly critical on the Autoracks (automobile carriers) because of the relative light weight and the high profile. Empty coal cars are also sometimes blown over because of their weight (~~55,000 lbs. empty) and profile. I've seen 30-40 coal cars blown over near Marysville, Kansas. They were moving at 30 mph when it happened.
Believe it or not, somebody at UP lost their job for releasing that video.
It doesn't take a tornado to derail a train.
 
ScottM said:
Why was that?
Click to expand...

Those cameras are called TIR's (Track Image Recorders) they are just like the dash cams in cop cars. Some of them record at 7 frames per second until an emergency application of the brakes, then they retain the normal 30 FPS video back some seconds prior to the application. In the video you can hear the air rushing from the brake system's emergency valve at 1:09 as the train starts to break apart and the automatic brakes kick in. The crew probably had no idea that the train was on the ground until they were in emergency and dragging the head car behind them. Their only clue was the train went into emergency.
The video will no doubt become evidence in a legal proceeding against the railroad and as such is going to be protected property (work product). They are very particular about TIR imagery. In a crossing accident you can imagine how valuable to one side or the other this can be.
 
Keith Lane said:
Those cameras are called TIR's (Track Image Recorders) they are just like the dash cams in cop cars. Some of them record at 7 frames per second until an emergency application of the brakes, then they retain the normal 30 FPS video back some seconds prior to the application. In the video you can hear the air rushing from the brake system's emergency valve at 1:09 as the train starts to break apart and the automatic brakes kick in. The crew probably had no idea that the train was on the ground until they were in emergency and dragging the head car behind them. Their only clue was the train went into emergency.
The video will no doubt become evidence in a legal proceeding against the railroad and as such is going to be protected property (work product). They are very particular about TIR imagery. In a crossing accident you can imagine how valuable to one side or the other this can be.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the explanation and that makes sense. I had thought it was just some train engineer with his video camera out the back window or something.
 
Keith Lane said:
Those cameras are called TIR's (Track Image Recorders) they are just like the dash cams in cop cars. Some of them record at 7 frames per second until an emergency application of the brakes, then they retain the normal 30 FPS video back some seconds prior to the application. In the video you can hear the air rushing from the brake system's emergency valve at 1:09 as the train starts to break apart and the automatic brakes kick in. The crew probably had no idea that the train was on the ground until they were in emergency and dragging the head car behind them. Their only clue was the train went into emergency.
The video will no doubt become evidence in a legal proceeding against the railroad and as such is going to be protected property (work product). They are very particular about TIR imagery. In a crossing accident you can imagine how valuable to one side or the other this can be.
Click to expand...

Interesting points on the camera... Altho the cams in police cars are public owned and that video is available as it belongs to the taxpayers.. The video from private entities are classified as private till a court orders them released for a multitude of reasons. If the cars on said video stayed with the railroad right of way then the 'person' who released it will probably not stand a chance of fighting the dismissal.. But.. if those cars traveled into public or surrounding private property then those tapes are "on the table" for viewing. IMHO..
 
Private Corporations, especially retail, often have more cameras in employee areas than in customer areas.

Guess where the most theft, fraud, and other expensive behavior occurs in most retail stores?

They typically can't release camera footage of even the public areas, to assist law enforcement, unless they get the nod from the Corporation's legal staff.
 
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