Jodokast96
R.I.P Bassman442
Premium
join:2005-11-23
Erial, NJ
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to burner50
Re: Yet another idiot driver at a RR Crossing
And like I said, would it make a differenc? No. Nobody is coming away alive from either of them, so making a point about the size of the train is irrelevant to the amount of destruction. Car's gone, people are dead. Ok, maybe it makes a difference to the mortician. Now if you were making a point about how much time the trains need to stop to avoid something like that, there'd be some relevance. |
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Ken
Premium,MVM
join:2003-06-16
Brownsburg, IN
| reply to RR Conductor
Just read this timely article from the local paper
said by »www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a···12110435 :Flashing lights and cross arms will be installed at three Johnson County railroad crossings as early as next spring. The Johnson County Commissioners on Monday signed off on three contracts with the Indiana Railroad Co. that would add flashing lights and cross arms at the White River Township crossings. Total cost of the project is $509,589, or $169,863 for each of the crossings on Olive Branch, Smokey Row and Stones Crossing roads. So it costs $170,000 to put up flashing lights and cross arms on a small country two lane road. I think my earlier guess of billions was pretty accurate.
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Business: MerrittConstruction.com | Personal: KenMerritt.com | Xbox Live:KENMERRITT COM |
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Jeffrey
too dark too early
Premium
join:2002-12-24
Dix Hills,NY
clubs:
 ·Optimum Online
 ·Verizon FIOS
 ·Vonage
·magicjack.com
| reply to burner50
Dual-Mode | 
Electric Only | 
Old Diesel (out of use) |
At any rate, the LIRR runs from under 34th and 7th in midtown Manhattan (known as Penn Station) all the way east to Montauk Point, at the southern tip of Long Island. It's busiest commuter railroad in N. America - almost 300,000 passengers/day.
Parts of the system are electrified, and other parts are not. In the past, the LIRR used 2 models; diesel only and electric only. For those people commuting on a diesel to NYC, you'd have to change at a major hub outside of NYC due to the fact that the diesels can't enter the east-river tunnels to get to Penn Station.
Most of the engines from the 1960s to the 1990s were built by Budd and General Electric. New electric trains from Bombardier were purchased in the late 1990s that replaced the older electric cars.
Since it's not cost-effective to electrify the entire system, the MTA purchased many "dual mode" locomotives, built specifically by a now-closed section of a General Motors division. The dual-modes have double the rate of breakdown as the electric only trains, but they have their perks. For one, double-decker cars. Secondly, gone is the need to change at the hub to continue your journey to NYC---in one motion, they turn the diesel engines off and turn the electric on, and are then allowed to slip into the tunnel.
Main Site: »www.lirr.org
LIRR info: »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Island_Rail_Road
LIRR fleet: »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Islan···ad_fleet
--
And so castles made of sand, slip into the sea, eventually.
I'm the Dude. So that's what you call me. You know, that or, uh, His Dudeness, or uh, Duder, or El Duderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing. |
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burner50
Pinlifter
Premium,VIP
join:2002-06-05
EN22wm
·Mediacom
·FrontierNet Intern..
| reply to Jodokast96
I was simply explaining that there is alot more destruction when hit by a fully loaded freight train than when being hit by a small passenger train.
Imagine if that van had been drug far enough it had gone under the nose of the engine and been chewed up by the leading truck? Alot more carnage. So yes my point was valid. |
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burner50
Pinlifter
Premium,VIP
join:2002-06-05
EN22wm | reply to Jeffrey
Hmmm...
Also I wanted to mention the diesels are Diesel-electric...
The diesel engine powers a large alternator that sends power to several electric traction motors (4-6 motors per engine). |
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cmhbob
Did...Did I Do That?
Premium
join:2001-03-13
Grove City, OH
clubs:
| reply to RR Conductor
Since there's a couple of RR guys here, let me ask you this:
With the growth and improvement in LED technology, batteries, wireless radio, and solar power, why are so many crossings still using such old technology? It seems like it could be much cheaper to add at least lights to a crossing now.
--
If illegal aliens are filling jobs that Americans don't want, what happens when those illegal aliens become Americans? - Jay Leno |
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BurntCricket
Gotta Do What Ya Gotta Do
Premium
join:2000-09-02
Here
clubs:
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to RR Conductor
Around here all the main streets and many of the side streets have gates the only ones that don't have lights are those on roads with little traffic and/or few trains ... The lights can be seen for miles so there is NO excuse for not "seeing" them, and the way most conductors are now with the horn you know it's coming LONG before it gets there ...
In RR's video you can hear the train's horn AND the train itself LONG before it gets to an unsafe spot, and look how long the guy would have had to wait for the train .... LESS than a minute.
--
Looking for fly shit in pepper. |
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rfnut
Premium
join:2002-04-27
Fisher, IL
·Mediacom
| said by BurntCricket  :Around here all the main streets and many of the side streets have gates the only ones that don't have lights are those on roads with little traffic and/or few trains ... The lights can be seen for miles so there is NO excuse for not "seeing" them, and the way most conductors are now with the horn you know it's coming LONG before it gets there ... Unless your radio is turned up real loud. And you can not assume that the gates are always working either. 2 kids where killed just west of me, when the gates and lights failed to work on a highway crossing (caught on camera as well). I taught my kids to stop(ok being realistic- slow way down) look and listen on any crossing with reduced visability.Even gated ones. By reduced visibility, I mean here in the flatlands we can usually see more than a mile in each direction at many crossings. |
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captokita
Premium
join:2005-02-22
Calabash, NC
| reply to BurntCricket
said by BurntCricket :Around here all the main streets and many of the side streets have gates the only ones that don't have lights are those on roads with little traffic and/or few trains ... The lights can be seen for miles so there is NO excuse for not "seeing" them, and the way most conductors are now with the horn you know it's coming LONG before it gets there ... Before we moved to NC (a place with NO trains around argh) we lived with my wife's folks in Wilmington, MA. They were real close to the tracks, it was right down the street, and we'd go watch them many times a week. The reason I brought this up, is that the line that went through ran the MBTA commuter trains, as well as freight trains. The town had people complain about the engine horns, and they actually made them NOT SOUND THE HORNS!!!!! This is ridiculous, but the town made them do it anyway. So while the crossings did have gates and lights, there were times that I saw trains go through and the gates/lights didn't work. So some poor bastard riding through there would never know a train was there. I don't know if they've overturned that ruling, as it's been 7 years since we were there, but.... |
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plencnerb
Premium
join:2000-09-25
Franksville, WI
clubs:
·RoadRunner Cable
| said by captokita :said by BurntCricket : The town had people complain about the engine horns, and they actually made them NOT SOUND THE HORNS!!!!! This is ridiculous, but the town made them do it anyway. I know there are places here in IL and WI that are the same way. I don't see how laws like that can get passed. I mean, the Horn and Bell on the train are their for a reason, to alert those around the train that it is coming.
In fact, there is a section of the Wisconsin Central line that runs between Grayslake and Vernon Hills in Illinois that has a device at the crossing to "simulate" the horn of the train. It sounds off when a train is coming, and the speaker of this device is directed towards the roadway. This way, the train itself does not have to blow its horn, there is one at the crossing to do the job.
People who complain that the horn is to loud belong with the same group of people who move next to an airport, and then, after living there for a few years, complain it is to loud. If you don't want to hear the noise, don't live near the airport, or in this case, the tracks! Let the people who operate the trains due their job with all the safety equipment they were given. If I was a person driving a train in that town, I would blow the horn, regardless of any law. I don't want to see people killed or hurt over some stupid rule.
--Brian
--
============================
--Brian Plencner
E-Mail: bplencnerCancer@wi.rr.com
Note: Kill Cancer to Reply via e-mail |
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burner50
Pinlifter
Premium,VIP
join:2002-06-05
EN22wm
·Mediacom
·FrontierNet Intern..
| reply to cmhbob
said by cmhbob :Since there's a couple of RR guys here, let me ask you this: With the growth and improvement in LED technology, batteries, wireless radio, and solar power, why are so many crossings still using such old technology? It seems like it could be much cheaper to add at least lights to a crossing now. It is alot of cost up front and maintenance plus paying the power company to extend their infrastructure out to the middle-of-nowhere every couple miles... It is a costly endeavour for some crossings that have little to no traffic...
said by captokita :The town had people complain about the engine horns, and they actually made them NOT SOUND THE HORNS!!!!! This is ridiculous, but the town made them do it anyway The town is supposed to install some sort of means of keeping people from going around the gates, like a median with orange pylons sticking up several feet... But I have run several 70mph "quiet zones". They are dangerous and stupid. Just because you cant go aroudn the gates doesnt mean people cant cross in other areas on foot... Ames IA is a particularly dangerous place... The UP just hit a girl on a bicycle.
Trains in Idle rolling down welded rail can actually be nearly silent... Very dangerous situation |
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ULTIMA1
join:2005-07-10
New Oxford, PA | reply to burner50
But it still shows how long it takes for just the engine to stop. And yes i know freight trains are bigger and heavier but the Europeon trains travel a lot faster. |
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RR Conductor
RailRoadDude
Premium
join:2002-04-02
Redwood Valley, CA
·Comcast
4 edits | reply to Jeffrey
Jeffrey, the reason you don't see the LIRR hauling freight is because a freight line took over freight duties from the LIRR In 1997, The New York and Atlantic Railway-
»www.anacostia.com/nyar/nyar.html
They are doing VERY well I might add, averaging 20,000 carloads a year  The freight rail business there, as well as across the nation is booming, they are really helping to take more and more trucks off the roads.
Some more links-
»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_a···_Railway
»www.oldnyc.com/bayridge/contents···dge.html |
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Jeffrey
too dark too early
Premium
join:2002-12-24
Dix Hills,NY
clubs:
·Optimum Online
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·magicjack.com
| Interesting - shares the same tracks too. They must run them at night or something. I see about 1 freight per day, and it's usually about 6 cars long hauled by a locomotive that looks like it was built 200 years ago. I'll have to check out those links.
I'm all for more freight around here. Get the damn semi's off the LIE. 
--
And so castles made of sand, slip into the sea, eventually.
I'm the Dude. So that's what you call me. You know, that or, uh, His Dudeness, or uh, Duder, or El Duderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing. |
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RR Conductor
RailRoadDude
Premium
join:2002-04-02
Redwood Valley, CA
·Comcast
3 edits | reply to RR Conductor
Here's another neat line there, the New York New Jersey Railway, they do cross harbor freight, between Jersey City and Brooklyn, as well as operating yards in both places-
»www.nynjr.com/
Edit-Some excellent links on freight and passenger operations in NY-
»www.nynjr.com/links.php |
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ULTIMA1
join:2005-07-10
New Oxford, PA | I have some photos od some old Shay steam engines form the CASS railraod in West Virginia i will ahve to scan and post.
I have photos of 7 Shay engines with 70 cars of coal. |
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RR Conductor
RailRoadDude
Premium
join:2002-04-02
Redwood Valley, CA | Cool, bring them on it ULTIMA1 ! I would love to go see that line someday, they do a great job keeping those Shay's alive and running. |
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jrock444
join:2004-11-30
Wilmington, NC
| reply to RR Conductor
ran across this vid on digg and thought it would go good in this thread... looks really cool. any of you rail workers have any good train vs. snow stories?
»www.maniacworld.com/snow-plowing-train.html |
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captokita
Premium
join:2005-02-22
Calabash, NC | Cool - that's one way to clear the tracks! |
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captokita
Premium
join:2005-02-22
Calabash, NC
| reply to RR Conductor
said by RR Conductor :Here's another neat line there, the New York New Jersey Railway, they do cross harbor freight, between Jersey City and Brooklyn, as well as operating yards in both places- Hey! I don't see any crossing gates/signals in those photos! 
Do those barges just link up to a rail line directly on either end? Wow....... |
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