Train derailments and other mishaps
 

Words fail me. Amtrak train derails in Philly. The damage to the train equipment is appalling, especially considering there were people inside.
[URL]http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Amtrak-Derailment-Philadelphia--303536331.html[/URL]

Derailment, spending, infrastructure
 

[URL]http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/05/13/3658146/amtrak-deadly-derailment/[/URL]

I heard last night that the cars of this train are 1970s vintage. This was given as the explanation of the car which was virtually folded in half. Newer equipment has more steel structure, meant to reduce crumpling, especially from side impacts.

Speculation I heard ranged from track failure to a wheel breaking as causes. These rails get pounded repeatedly in the course of a single day. Deferred maintenance amounts to setting a time bomb.

Thanks, Republicans. No other "advanced" country has such a pathetically starved passenger rail system.

[QUOTE]Already the densest rail route in the U.S., aging Northeast Corridor trains are grappling with [URL="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/03/01/1657201/all-abord-investment-railroads/"]more riders than ever[/URL]. The route has steadily broken ridership records every year for more than a decade — last year, [URL="http://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/238/481/Amtrak-FY2014-Ridership-and-Revenue-ATK-14-096%20.pdf"]11.6 million people[/URL] rode a Northeast Corridor train. But Amtrak has been starved of the funds required to keep up with this increased demand. The Northeast Corridor is shouldering a backlog of repairs expected to require [URL="http://www.nec-commission.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/NEC-Five-Year-Capital-Needs-Assessment-FY15-19.pdf"]$4.3 billion[/URL] in fiscal year 2019, while federal funding is expected to dwindle to $872 million.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE]CTV News ‏@CTVNews 6m6 minutes ago
Amtrak train was travelling at 160 kph just ahead of crash, 2X the speed limit: investigators [url]http://ow.ly/MV7wX[/url] [/QUOTE]

well that doesn't help things.


[QUOTE]PHILADELPHIA -- The Amtrak train that crashed in Philadelphia, killing at least seven people, was hurtling at more than 100 mph (160 kph) before it ran off the rails along a sharp curve where the speed limit is just 50 mph (80 kph), federal investigators said Wednesday.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=science_man_88;402256]well that doesn't help things.[/QUOTE]

Yeah. [URL="http://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?t=18403"]It's too damned familiar.
[/URL]

[QUOTE=kladner;402260]Yeah. [URL="http://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?t=18403"]It's too damned familiar.
[/URL][/QUOTE]

though I don't have cable so I haven't watched it in a while the speed is similar to:[QUOTE="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mayday_episodes"]21 9 "Runaway Train" San Bernardino train disaster 30 November 2005
On 12 May 1989, a 69-car freight train goes out of control while descending from California's Cajon Pass. It derails in a residential neighborhood of San Bernardino after reaching speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour (160 km/h). Two residents and two train crew are killed in the initial crash. More than a week later, an underground gasoline pipeline—damaged by earth-moving equipment during the post-crash cleanup—ruptures and sparks a fire that kills another two people. A clerical error had caused the train's weight to be greatly underestimated, and it had been assembled without enough locomotives to provide adequate braking. Additionally, several of the engines had completely inoperable brakes, but this information was not passed on to the crews.

Note: This is a Crash Scene Investigation episode[/QUOTE]

So the real "infrastructure" issue again comes down to something as old-fashioned as a speed controller, encoding "max speed entering this portion of track is X, and *nothing* the engineer/rogue-train/evil-hacker-trying-to-derail-train does can override that, because it's enforced at the mechanical, not electrical/signals, level". Human stupidity is a given - systems must be designed with that in mind. The word "foolproof" is not a techno-neologism, it has a long and distinguished history.

We'll never prevent all such accidents, but we're still afflicted by these obvious-huge-design-flaw-from-inception ones? More human stupidity, not lack of money - though we obviously need to budget enough of the latter to keep systems reasonably well-maintained.

I heard, for the first time on Wednesday evening, on the Lawrence O'Donnell program, that Amtrak locomotives have a "Cab Signal". (I could not dig out the remarks on MSNBC.com.) The Cab Signal is the thing I have been ranting about since the speed of the train was discovered. The Chicago Transit Authority El trains have had this for decades. As described last night, it sounds the same as the CTA. There are rail-side transmitters which monitor speed. If the train is going too fast, a beep starts up in the cab. If the driver does not slow the train in a short specified time, the system will do so automatically.

However, unlike the CTA, I heard last night that the driver in an Amtrak locomotive has the option of overriding the signal. I'd say that this is similar to letting a cop shut off his dash or body camera. It defeats the whole purpose of the system.

If anyone else can dig up information on this topic, I would be grateful.

Here is the Wiki on this subject:
[URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse_code_cab_signaling[/URL]

This article is on the system used by Amtrak. Unfortunately, it states that the system is only installed in parts of the NE Corridor.

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Civil_Speed_Enforcement_System[/url]

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Jones#Death[/url]

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;402307][URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Jones#Death[/URL][/QUOTE]

Being a lifetime folk music aficionado, I had visited the Casey Jones Wiki before. [I]This [/I]time, revisiting I went off on a fascinating string of links on steam locomotive terminology and mechanics. Thence, I came upon a diagram of just one of many "valve gear" arrangements developed for steam locomotives. It has many parts labeled, and I was particularly taken with parts like the "Eccentric Crank".

This also led to some musical side tracks-

[YOUTUBE]ZQYY27UZR_w[/YOUTUBE]

(oops)

[YOUTUBE]pa4hNVYB_pY[/YOUTUBE]

and closer to what I knew as a kid, though historically bogus in all sorts of ways:

[YOUTUBE]w8qTKyb0EcY[/YOUTUBE]

[QUOTE=kladner;402304]If anyone else can dig up information on this topic, I would be grateful.
[/QUOTE]
Just a press article, but it may be useful:
[URL]http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/may/14/amtrak-promises-automatic-braking-crash[/URL]

[QUOTE=Nick;402330]Just a press article, but it may be useful:
[URL]http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/may/14/amtrak-promises-automatic-braking-crash[/URL][/QUOTE][quote=www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/may/14/amtrak-promises-automatic-braking-crash]“Human error like this derailment should not happen in the 21st century,”[/quote]I wonder if in some future years people will be saying similar things about cars and automated anti-crash systems.