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Politics : Canadian Political Free-for-All -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alastair McIntosh who wrote (19464)	4/20/2019 11:15:49 PM
From: gg cox	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 37412

The original crew came out of Calgary destined for Field BC. Delays can happen, delays in Calgary waiting for change off,, or if out of the yard ,, delays making up the train or a defective car has to be switched out, or bad meets along the way,, stopped by hot box detector, max tonnage and not making time,,steep grades,,and many more can occur. James Carmichael of the TSB said the original crew was on hours here... youtu.be Meaning that the original crew could not make their normal change of point of Field BC.( their 12 hours in before Field) The relieving crew has to be ordered,, usually a two hour call so they show up for work at designated time and then they are taxied out to the point determined by rail management, the Rail Traffic Controller ( RTC) and the crew “on hours.” (...maybe 2 or three hours altogether for the relieving crew to get to “arranged “change off point.) I do not know why the original crew put the train in emergency and left it there ( maybe he was going to overshoot the roadway arranged change off point I do not know) Having the train at the top of 2 percent grade in emergency application of the train brakes is extremely dangerous. If the engineer was to start to pump off the train brakes, the train would be sailing down the steep grade before the train brake pipe pressure is fully charged resulting in the next brake application is the only one you have and unfortunately not very effective compared to a fully charged train line. The safest way to handle this treacherous event is to tie on hand brakes while the train is sitting in emergency. I am guessing ,,but maybe 40 might hold the train on that grade. A test is required so the brakes are released and if the train stays put,great! If it starts to creep away another emergency application might be required and another ten hand brakes applied. The train is now held by the hand brakes and is now ready for the train brake line to be fully charged . Once the brake line is fully charged a full service brake application is required and then all 40 or 50 hand brakes are released. Now the situation is,, train at top of 2 percent grade with a full service brake application to hold it there while the hand brakes are released and Conductor is back on the engine . Release the brakes and away you go,, hopefully working full dynamic brake if you have them and charging train line the faster the better,,for the next application of the train brakes and possibly hold them on until almost fully around the 20 MPH slow curve at the bottom of the hill. Changing crews or even stopping trains by choice on extreme grades is courting another deadly occurrence and should be avoided at all cost. We will see eventually, what the TSB,, TC,, and Monsignor Garneau recommends,, if anything.