February 20, 2024

A Trip on Amtrak's California Zephyr (Chicago to San Francisco, plus Las Vegas) - My full-length documentary video! (HD)

Well, it's finally here! For those who have seen my preview video & for those checking in for the first time...Here is my full-length documentary on the "California Zephyr" - Amtrak's Transcontinental passenger train, which runs from Chicago to San Francisco & showcasing the breathtaking scenery to be found en route.

This video is first in a 2-part series documenting our scenic land cruise across the U.S. by rail in December of 2023.

-Here in Part 1 we journey from Chicago to San Francisco aboard the westbound "California Zephyr" - including a stopover in Reno to visit Las Vegas and a stay in San Francisco to do some sightseeing.

-In Part 2 we will travel from San Francisco back to Chicago on the eastbound "California Zephyr"

For more videos, trip reports, & pics, see my website at: https://northamericabyrail.info

December 29, 2023

NEW VIDEO SERIES! Chicago to San Francisco on Amtrak's California Zephyr - Round Trip, Dec 2023

An upcoming 2-part Youtube series documenting our journey across the U.S. by rail in December of 2023.

Hop aboard for a short preview of my upcoming documentary on the "California Zephyr" - Amtrak's Transcontinental passenger train - which runs from Chicago to Emeryville in the San Francisco Bay Area.

This preview of our round trip (with stopovers in Reno, Las Vegas & San Francisco) was recorded during our scenic land cruise across the U.S. in Dec of 2023. Watch my YouTube channel for the full-length video coming soon - or see it on my website at
https://northamericabyrail.info/

December 8, 2023

A North American Train Odyssey (Part 4 of 4) Seattle to Chicago on Amtrak's "Empire Builder"

This video is fourth in a 4-part series documenting our journey across Canada & the US by rail in the spring of 2023

-In Part 1 we took VIA Rail's "Canadian" from Toronto to Vancouver

-In Part 2 we explored Vancouver Island by rental car, ferry & tour train

-In Part 3 we journeyed south from Vancouver aboard Amtrak's "Cascades" to Seattle

-And here in Part 4 we travel east from Seattle aboard Amtrak's "Empire Builder" to Chicago & "Lakeshore Limited" to Buffalo

For more videos, trip reports, & pics, see my website at: https://northamericabyrail.info/

For those who missed parts 1, 2 & 3 of my video series, they can be found on my website at:
https://northamericabyrail.info/feature-video-a-north-american-train-odyssey-canada-the-u-s-by-rail-april-2023/

As well as here:

November 15, 2023

A North American Train Odyssey (Part 3 of 4) Vancouver to Seattle on Amtrak's "Cascades"

This video is third in a 4-part series documenting our journey across Canada & the US by rail in the spring of 2023

-In Part 1 we took VIA Rail's "Canadian" from Toronto to Vancouver

-In Part 2 we explore Vancouver Island by rental car, ferry & tour train

-Here in Part 3 we journey south from Vancouver aboard Amtrak's "Cascades" to Seattle

-And in Part 4 we travel east from Seattle aboard Amtrak's "Empire Builder" to Chicago & "Lakeshore Limited" to Buffalo

For more videos, trip reports, & pics, see my website at: https://northamericabyrail.info/

For those who missed parts 1 & 2 of my video series, they can be found here:

August 4, 2023

A North American Train Odyssey (Part 2 of 4) Vancouver Island by tourist train, rental car, & ferry

This video is second in a 4-part series documenting our journey across Canada & the US by rail in the spring of 2023

-In Part 1 we took VIA Rail's "Canadian" from Toronto to Vancouver

-Here in Part 2 we explore Vancouver Island by rental car, ferry & Cowichan Valley Railway tour train

-In Part 3 we journey south from Vancouver aboard Amtrak's "Cascades" to Seattle

-And in Part 4 we travel east from Seattle aboard Amtrak's "Empire Builder" to Chicago & "Lakeshore Limited" to Buffalo

For more videos, trip reports, & pics, see my website at: https://northamericabyrail.info/

For those who missed part 1 of my video series, it can be found here:

July 10, 2023

A North American Train Odyssey: (Part 1 of 4) Toronto to Vancouver on VIA Rail's "Canadian" [Video]

From mountains, lakes & rivers ... to prairies, deserts & wildlife (including bears) - this trip has it all!

This video is first in a 4-part series documenting our journey across Canada & the U.S. by rail in the spring of 2023.

-Here in Part 1 we are departing Toronto & travelling west aboard VIA Rail's "Canadian" to Vancouver.

-In Part 2 we explore Vancouver Island by tourist train, rental car, & ferry.

-In Part 3 we journey south from Vancouver aboard Amtrak's "Cascades" to Seattle.

-And in Part 4 we travel east from Seattle aboard Amtrak's "Empire Builder" to Chicago & "Lakeshore Limited" to Buffalo.

For more videos, trip reports, & pics, see my website at: https://northamericabyrail.info/

April 19, 2023

For those interested: North America By Rail (my train travel photo website) has been totally rebuilt

For those interested, my train travel website:

"North America By Rail - A photographic land cruise across Canada & the United States"
( https://northamericabyrail.info/ )

has been totally rebuilt & revamped!

Much more user friendly - gone are the tiny little thumbnail pics, replaced by large images, so now it's simply a case of clicking the trip you'd like to see from the pulldown menus (Canada West, USA East, ect) and simply scrolling down to view the travelog, pics & videos.

Check it out if you'd like - hope you enjoy!

Cheers, Pete

(PS - stay tuned for the latest videos of our upcoming journey on VIA's Westbound Canadian & Amtrak's Eastbound Empire Builder)

April 15, 2023

New video coming soon! North American Train Odyssey -a Transcontinental Circle Tour on VIA & Amtrak

For those who enjoyed my prior amateur YouTube documentary on VIA Rail Canada's Eastbound 'Canadian', I will be doing a new video (or series of videos) documenting our journey from Toronto To Vancouver on VIA' Rail's Westbound 'Canadian', and then returning eastbound on Amtrak, including a trip on the 'Empire Builder'.

Watch this space (or check out our website - North America By Rail http://northamericabyrail.info/) in the coming weeks.

Hope you enjoy! Cheers, Pete

(For those interested who may not have seen my old video, link provided below - now at 150K views!)

February 24, 2023

An overlooked factor driving the proposed rollout of ECP brakes: PTC & increased train frequency

Although the NTSB has indicated that the train in the Ohio derailment was travelling within allowable speed limits and that a lack of ECP brakes was not the root cause ( https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217675069 )
PTC or Positive Train Control - implemented during the Obama admin -
is intended to prevent derailments due to other factors:


From the FRA website:
https://railroads.dot.gov/research-development/program-areas/train-control/ptc/positive-train-control-ptc

"Positive Train Control (PTC) systems are designed to prevent train-to-train collisions, over-speed derailments, incursions into established work zones, and movements of trains through switches left in the wrong position. "


So how does this tie in to ECP brakes?

Without getting into the nitty gritty technical details, Electronically Controlled Pneumatic (ECP) braking (with the application & release of brakes being controlled by an electric signal as opposed to an air signal in a brake pipe) allows for somewhat more convenient interface with PTC during the installation phase of PTC.


From https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267600084_Increasing_US_Freight_Rail_Network_Capacity_With_ECP_Braking_and_PTC_Systems

"Growth in U.S. rail freight demand, especially for intermodal and coal, is leading to capacity constraints on key corridors. The costs of building new rail lines are often prohibitive, and the industry needs to find other solutions for increasing capacity.

Electronically Controlled Pneumatic (ECP) braking combined with new Positive Train Control (PTC) systems have the potential to double the traffic density on existing double-track rail corridors,
as well as increase average network speeds. This has the potential to support the projected increase in rail traffic over the next 20 years, without needing significant additions to track infrastructure. Implementation of ECP and PTC is challenging, and will require close cooperation between railroads, car owners, shippers, railroad suppliers, and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)."

(emphasis mine)


The twist: It would be ironic if Trump meddling in the FRA (Federal Railroad Administration) - supposedly meant to assuage the concern of some freight railroads & railcar owners about the cost of rolling out ECP brakes (which could well have been shared the way grade-crossing eliminations are under the Biden Infrastructure Bill)- actually ended up limiting the industry's capacity.

(Disclaimer- I haven't seen any studies on this which I could quote, so no citations available so far on this last point.)

Reference: S. 1451 (IS) - Railroad Advancement of Innovation and Leadership with Safety Act
https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/BILLS-115s1451is
Is the Trump admin bill that specifically called for the Federal Railroad Administration to use "performance-based" regulation & effectively nullified the ECP brake rule

February 23, 2023

NTSB Preliminary Report RRD23MR005 Norfolk Southern Railway Train Derailment

Reposted from LBN as per recommendation from forum hosts:

Source: National Transportation Safety Board
https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Documents/RRD23MR005%20East%20Palestine%20OH%20Prelim.pdf

Issued: February 23, 2023

"On February 3, 2023, about 8:54 p.m. local time, eastbound Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) general merchandise freight train 32N derailed 38 railcars on main track 1 of the NS Fort Wayne Line of the Keystone Division in East Palestine, Ohio. The derailed equipment included 11 tank cars carrying hazardous materials that subsequently ignited
Train 32N was traveling about 47 mph at the time of the derailment, which was less than the maximum authorized timetable speed of 50 mph.

Train 32N was operating with a dynamic brake application as the train passed a wayside defect detector on the east side of Palestine, Ohio, at milepost (MP) 49.81.
The wayside defect detector, or hot bearing detector (HBD), transmitted a critical audible alarm message instructing the crew to slow and stop the train to inspect a hot axle. The train engineer increased the dynamic brake application to further slow and stop the train.
During this deceleration, an automatic emergency brake application initiated, and train 32N came to a stop.

On the Fort Wayne Line of the Keystone Division, NS has equipped their rail network with HBD systems to assess the temperature conditions of wheel bearings while en route. The function of the HBD is to detect overheated bearings and provide audible real-time warnings to train crews. Train 32N passed three HBD systems on its trip before the derailment. At MP 79.9, the suspect bearing from the 23rd car had a recorded temperature of 38F above ambient temperature. When train 32N passed the next HBD, at MP 69.01, the bearing's recorded temperature was 103F above
ambient.
The third HBD, at MP 49.81, recorded the suspect bearing's temperature at 253F above ambient.

NS has established the following HBD alarm thresholds (above ambient temperature) and criteria for bearings:
Between 170F and 200F, warm bearing (non-critical); stop and inspect
A difference between bearings on the same axle greater than or equal to 115F (non-critical); stop and inspect
Greater than 200F (critical); set out railcar"

Read more: https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Documents/RRD23MR005%20East%20Palestine%20OH%20Prelim.pdf

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Key points & takeaways in the NTSB preliminary report:



1) The train was operating within allowable speed limits (paragraph 1 above)

__________________________________


2) The train was operating in dynamic braking mode (paragraph 2 above). Dynamic braking is an additional braking system over & above the airbrakes and involves the use of the electric traction motors on a diesel-electric locomotive to slow the train.

In many cases dynamic braking alone will just about hold back what tonnage a locomotive can pull, with conventional airbrakes being "blended-in" at lower speeds to bring the train to a complete stop.

Furthermore, the NTSB Chair has issued a statement indicating that the use of conventional airbrakes was not the root cause of the derailment:
(Per my prior post at: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143035850 )

__________________________________


3) The rail car that initiated the derailment had an overheated wheel bearing (paragraphs 3 & 4 above)

A device that can play a role in preventing derailments is the wayside hot-box detector. It uses infrared sensors to detect bearings, axles or other components of a rail car that are overheating, then uses radio signals to flag rail crews of any overheated components.

Train 32N passed three HBD systems on its trip before the derailment, and these hotbox detectors appeared to be working.

At Mile 79.9, the suspect bearing from the 23rd car had a recorded temperature of 38F above ambient temperature.

At Mile 69.01, the bearing's recorded temperature was 103F above ambient.

At Mile 49.81, the HBD recorded the suspect bearing's temperature at 253F above ambient.


Between 170F and 200F above ambient temperature the rules state for the crew to stop and inspect the train and greater than 200F the crew must uncouple the defective railcar from the rest of the train.

As per the operating rules, the bearing temperature threshold that would invoke stopping the train and remedial action by the crew was not reached until Mile 49.81 - right at the east side of Palestine, Ohio

__________________________________


4) The report also indicates that the partners in the investigation include:

The FRA,

Norfolk Southern Railway,

Trinity Industries Leasing Company,

and GATX Corporation among others.


In most cases, the companies that own the railcars are the ones responsible for railcar safety inspections. Norfolk Southern does not own the railcars but owns the locomotives & right of way.

____________________________________

Summary:


The root cause of the derailment was not brakes, but an overheated bearing on one of the railcars owned by a third party.

The wayside sensors appeared to be working correctly and the crew following the operating rules

The NTSB investigation is still ongoing and will be up to them to determine whether the 3rd-party railcar owners, &/or Norfolk Southern & other parties bear - or share - in the responsibility.

It will also be up to them & the FRA to determine if required, and recommend & enforce, any changes to the operating rules such as lowering the temperature threshold (recorded by the hotbox detectors) at which to stop a train