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Re: Cal Zepher incident at Elko last night?
Author: OldPoleBurner
Date: 05-21-2011 - 19:36
> .....find shelter (transit buses, nearby buildings, etc.) for the passengers and
> crew until the emergency was abated.
What frickin emergency! Have we become so soft and unprepared for contingencies, that a few hours without power constitutes an emergency? A very unpleasant inconvenience - yes; but not an emergency.
Note that this area could be classified as wilderness, there isn't so much as a shack within 40 miles in any direction; let alone transit buses, nearby buildings, shade trees, or even local fire departments. Besides, if a mere bus could supply shelter, so could an Amtrak car. So all that was needed here was bottled water and an outhouse or three. Of course, openable windows for such contingencies, would have helped.
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> Checked with my sources, and "contaminated fuel" is given as the reason, which
> could include water. And no, the P42s don't have moisture sensors in the fuel system.
Even my 1982 Buick diesel had a moisture trap on it, to protect the injectors and pump. They at least had a trap I hope!
Mine even had an alarm on it that went off after it had trapped about a half inch in the bowl. Of course, it did not come from the factory that way. I had refused delivery until the dealership had installed one.
Surely, even Amtrak was smart enough to order their locomotives so equipped. So if the moisture trap did fill up with water, it should have been fairly easy to periodically drain the water out of it; and you then hobble into the next town - in this case a major crew change point for UP (Elko). Moreover, the fuel delivery truck in Salt lake City should have had a water trap and filter right at its hoses. And surely Amtrak was smart enough to insist upon that too!
But could it have been contaminated instead with a lot of sludge from a poorly maintained storage tank? In which case, all the inline fuel filters on the locomotives would have eventually plugged up bad enough to stall out everything running on diesel. And that is not something I would expect could be remedied on the road very easily.
Still to be answered though: Why the hell did it take Union Pacific 10 hours to get relief power to the train, when a usually ample supply of locomotives were only 50 miles away at Elko. It's not as though the UP was not under contractual obligation to do just that.
Seems that Amtrak should seek redress from both the UP and the fuel company.
> crew until the emergency was abated.
What frickin emergency! Have we become so soft and unprepared for contingencies, that a few hours without power constitutes an emergency? A very unpleasant inconvenience - yes; but not an emergency.
Note that this area could be classified as wilderness, there isn't so much as a shack within 40 miles in any direction; let alone transit buses, nearby buildings, shade trees, or even local fire departments. Besides, if a mere bus could supply shelter, so could an Amtrak car. So all that was needed here was bottled water and an outhouse or three. Of course, openable windows for such contingencies, would have helped.
--------------------------------------------------------
> Checked with my sources, and "contaminated fuel" is given as the reason, which
> could include water. And no, the P42s don't have moisture sensors in the fuel system.
Even my 1982 Buick diesel had a moisture trap on it, to protect the injectors and pump. They at least had a trap I hope!
Mine even had an alarm on it that went off after it had trapped about a half inch in the bowl. Of course, it did not come from the factory that way. I had refused delivery until the dealership had installed one.
Surely, even Amtrak was smart enough to order their locomotives so equipped. So if the moisture trap did fill up with water, it should have been fairly easy to periodically drain the water out of it; and you then hobble into the next town - in this case a major crew change point for UP (Elko). Moreover, the fuel delivery truck in Salt lake City should have had a water trap and filter right at its hoses. And surely Amtrak was smart enough to insist upon that too!
But could it have been contaminated instead with a lot of sludge from a poorly maintained storage tank? In which case, all the inline fuel filters on the locomotives would have eventually plugged up bad enough to stall out everything running on diesel. And that is not something I would expect could be remedied on the road very easily.
Still to be answered though: Why the hell did it take Union Pacific 10 hours to get relief power to the train, when a usually ample supply of locomotives were only 50 miles away at Elko. It's not as though the UP was not under contractual obligation to do just that.
Seems that Amtrak should seek redress from both the UP and the fuel company.
