Massive Train Derailment near Hope, B.C.

[mu26aeh]

https://globalnews.ca/news/7333314/train-derailment-hope/

[Point353]

If you're a covered hopper car sales rep who needs to make a quota this month, you might want to give Canpotex (or CIT) a call.

[wazzou]

Man, that is a mess.

[davefoxx]

Good lord!  It's like the front of the train just stopped and the entire train accordioned.  Those folks walking around the wreck must feel like, "Where do we even start?"  That's going to take some time to clean up.

DFF

[Specter3]

Thats one of those “how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time” jobs. Will they drag the cars someplace else or try to scrap them on site? U gonna need one heck of a dust buster for all that potash.

[DKS]

https://globalnews.ca/news/7333314/train-derailment-hope/

Near the bottom of that page is another derailment: How to split a switch and stop just in time to avoid making things much worse...

[davefoxx]

Near the bottom of that page is another derailment: How to split a switch and stop just in time to avoid making things much worse...

Your description reminds me of this scene in "Top Secret":

[Hawghead]

Good lord!  It's like the front of the train just stopped and the entire train accordioned.  Those folks walking around the wreck must feel like, "Where do we even start?"  That's going to take some time to clean up.

DFF

This is what happens when you run 185 car, 9500', 28,000 ton Potash trains.  Once you get a train like that started it does not want to stop, add a descending grade to that and you have what is called a controlled runaway.  Additionally trains today are powered so as to use the absolute bare minimum necessary amount of engines to get the train over the territory, but the power desks don't remember, or don't care, that when you take away power you also take away brakes.  Then also add to the mix that many of the younger engineers are less adapt at using air to control the train and incidents like this are going to continue to happen more frequently.

On the Portland sub there was an old Fuel Masters trick we used going from the 45 mph track speed at Rowena to the 30 mph track speed at Mosier (about 6 miles).  At the first signal past Rowena the engineer would go to idle and the train would drift into Mosier right at 30 mph.  These were 100 car, 6000' 12,000 ton soda ash, potash and grain trains.  Do the same thing with a train like the one above and it'll slow maybe 4-5 mph.  The amount of kinetic energy in these trains is not to be believed.

Scott

[davefoxx]

Scott,

I totally understand what you’re saying.  I once watched a huge loaded NS coal train with mid-train helpers descend Saluda Grade in 1994.  Controlled runaway is a great description.

DFF