Union Pacific Railway Coal Train Separation & Adverse Weather Conditions

Question:

Discuss about the Prices and Costs in Railway Sector.

According to the reports a Union Pacific Railway unit coal train CNAIM004-30 got separated between the forth and the fifth locomotive units on January 31, 1996 at about 2:00 AM while ascending a grade of 1% (ntsb.gov, 2018). The main reason for this occurrence was due to the fact that the automatic air brake of the train was unable to hold to hold the train in place and due to this the fifth locomotive along with the 114 other cars started a downhill movement which was totally uncontrollable.

Along with this a helper locomotive which was en route for the purpose of assisting this unit train was warned about the mishap on radio so the whole crew of the train abandoned it. In around 2:05 A.M the helper locomotive got struck by the runaway train. The runaway train almost pushed it about 1 mile towards east switch at Nacco, Wyoming. Two of the helper locomotive got derailed there along with 66 coal cars (ntsb.gov, 2018). As a result of the derailment the propane gas tank that were used for switching the heat services were punctured. But despite of all this there was no report of injuries and along with there was also no fire as a result of this. The total damage was estimated to be around $8,199,246. The temperature when the accident took place was around -35⁰ Fahrenheit and was dropping.

According to the post examination report it was found that the train had experienced an unnecessary emergency application of brake at around 1:47 A.M. After the application of the emergency brakes the train lost the brake cylinder pressure as well as the air reservoir process. This happed due to the leakage in the brake cylinder hose crimp fittings. As a result of this leakage the emergency brakes got released and the stopped train was allowed to roll down the descending grade. After this happed the train crew also did not applied the hand brakes which was an essential and was applicable according the operating rules (ntsb.gov, 2018). Nearly maximum tensile strength of the coupler was being exerted the unit coal train at the head. The total tonnage of the train was around 15,658 trailing tons while descending the 1% grade. Which means that each coupler amounts around 391,450 pound whereas the maximum exerted amount of pound to be exerted on the coupler was to be around 400,000 pounds. Operating at a range closer to the maximum coupler strength would lead to any type of slippage of locomotives during the breakdown of the coupler.

According to the National Transport Safety Board the probable cause of this mishap was failure of the hose fitting of the brake cylinder while maintaining of the air in the brake cylinders at extreme cold weather. Along with this another cause of this was the failure in the application of hand brakes to the train that was separated (ntsb.gov, 2018). Another factor which contributed to the main cause of the accident was the Union Pacific management which was associated with the dispatching of the trains in that territory with tonnage which was almost close to the maximum tensile strength of the coupler.

Causes of Union Pacific Railway Train Accident

Bad weather has put a major influence over the railroads.  This types of conditions effects the efficiency of operation, physical infrastructure and the safe passage of freight and people as well. The operations of the railroad company’s takes place in a variety of meteorological conditions which turns out to be very much problematic for the rail transport (Baggot et al. 2004). Conditions like the precipitation or fog can lead to decreased visibility of the signals, washing out of tracks due to flash floods or wrapping up of tracks due to excessive heat and many more. This causes various severe accidents and huge losses. Some of the effects of adverse weather conditions effecting the system of locomotives are listed below:

Rising waters due to flash floods, river floods, persistent heavy rains and hurricanes haven proven to be one of the most prominent weather related concern which effects the systems of locomotives. For example in the year of 1993 river floods almost 4000 miles of the tracks in the Midwestern regions and resulted in a loss of almost $200 million. Another important factor is the washouts caused due to runoff from the heavy rains or rising waters effects the strength of the bridge trestles, undermine blasts, or might result in collapsing of culverts (Baggot et al. 2004). So when the bridges or roadbeds gives out it results in the derailments and spills. Similar saturations are caused due to snowmelts.

Landslides and the hurricanes have a direct impact over the rail freight shipments. The intense winds, rainfalls and storms caused due to all this possess different types of risks related to safety along with damaging the railcars as well as the infrastructure. High winds turn out to be one of the disruptive weather conditions for the rail. Many high profile railcars are susceptible to potential risks like rollover or derailment due to the cross winds (Baggot et al. 2004). The most vulnerable are the lightly loaded or the empty hoppers.

Snow storms often effects the whole transport system. The operations of the railroads are degraded in this type of conditions due to low visibility, icing, snowdrifts and cold temperatures. Ice buildups occur due to the exposure on the overhead electric catenaries. Due to the hanging of the ice from the catenaries pose a high amount of risk and has an impact to the pantographs. Accumulation of snow takes place over the rail switches, brake riggings, track flange ways and grade crossings as well which thereby reduces the control along with increasing the risk of the derailments and other types of incidents as well (Baggot et al. 2004). Due to this the wheels of the locomotive and the rails cars face a high risk of slipping, sliding and loss of the control over the tracks which are coated with ice or frost.

The railroads are laid or repaired at a temperature which is also known as “rail neutral temperature”. So any type of significant deviation above or below the temperature might lead to expansion or contraction of the rails which occasionally develops kinks and are the responsible for creation of hazardous conditions.  Thermal misalignment of the railroads may result in poor ballast conditions or soft roadbeds. When high heat causes a switch to open up then it might lead to derailment of the lead locomotive or railcars (Baggot et al. 2004). Excessive heat also results in producing misalignment and slack along with damaging the catenaries and the pantographs. In a similar way the extreme cold conditions also produces brittle tracks along with separated or broken rails as well. Frozen air lines due to cold temperature along with the moisture present in the distal parts of the line also cannot be dislodged by the heat from the locomotive.

Weather Conditions

The above table provides the checklist of the major system that are likely to be get affected by various environmental conditions.

The above table provides the list of codes of practice and the standards that are to be followed so as protect the system from any type of environmental effects.

References:

Andrews, H.I., 1986. Railway traction: the principles of mechanical and electrical railway traction. Studies in mechanical engineering, 5.

ara.net.au (2018). [online] Available at: https://www.ara.net.au/cmcsecure/dbdoc/vol%201%20general%20requirements%20DIRN%20amend%2011%20Feb%2005.pdf [Accessed 17 Mar. 2018].

Baggott, M., Ferris, D.J., Macfarlane, I., Nikandros, G. and Venn-Brown, C., 2004. New Railway Environment-a multidisciplinary business concept. Engineers Media.

Baumgartner, J.P., 2001. Prices and costs in the railway sector. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.

library.uow.edu.au (2018). Catalogue (full options) - Library @ UOW. [online] Library.uow.edu.au. Available at: https://library.uow.edu.au/search/ [Accessed 17 Mar. 2018].

ntsb.gov (2018). [online] Available at: https://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/1998/rab9806.htm [Accessed 17 Mar. 2018].