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Re: First eastbound double-stack over Donner tomorrow
Author: OPRRMS
Date: 11-21-2009 - 22:19
George Andrews Wrote:
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> So Donner Pass is " ... run by Professionals" ???
> Are these the same " Professionals " who allowed a
> Pilot - Conductor who WAS NOT QUALIFIED to run the
> Rail Grinding over the hill ??? The same one that
> ran away & crashed last year ??? See post on the
> subject several pages back...
Well, no. The decision regarding the pilot was made by local managers in Sparks. Decisions on the Donner tunnel enlargement program and the rerouting of trains comes from Omaha.
Just for the sake of clarity, the pilot can not "run" the rail grinder. That's the domain of the Harsco employees. The theory with calling an engineer who was qualified on the territory instead of someone who had never worked there is that an engineer would've known that kicking off the brakes to recharge the trainline would be a fatal mistake (and a violation of UP's Air Brake Rules, had this been a train). Since no qualified engineer was available in Sparks, a better option would've been to not permit the grinder to leave Sparks until one was available, or at least have an MOP that was qualified on the Mountain accompany it. Within a week or so following the runaway, UP issued instructions regarding the handling of these types of machines in grade territory.
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> So Donner Pass is " ... run by Professionals" ???
> Are these the same " Professionals " who allowed a
> Pilot - Conductor who WAS NOT QUALIFIED to run the
> Rail Grinding over the hill ??? The same one that
> ran away & crashed last year ??? See post on the
> subject several pages back...
Well, no. The decision regarding the pilot was made by local managers in Sparks. Decisions on the Donner tunnel enlargement program and the rerouting of trains comes from Omaha.
Just for the sake of clarity, the pilot can not "run" the rail grinder. That's the domain of the Harsco employees. The theory with calling an engineer who was qualified on the territory instead of someone who had never worked there is that an engineer would've known that kicking off the brakes to recharge the trainline would be a fatal mistake (and a violation of UP's Air Brake Rules, had this been a train). Since no qualified engineer was available in Sparks, a better option would've been to not permit the grinder to leave Sparks until one was available, or at least have an MOP that was qualified on the Mountain accompany it. Within a week or so following the runaway, UP issued instructions regarding the handling of these types of machines in grade territory.
