"conklin"  wrote:   
   > Is the geo car ever put on the end of these 100+car oil trains?  If not, why   
   > not?   
      
   Because a.) the slack action at the end of a 100-car freight trains is not   
   safe for occupied passenger cars, and b.) they want to test as many miles   
   per shift as they can, so they want to operate on priority trains. As I   
   said, the usual practice is to run them as stand-alone trains. The route is   
   determined to meet FRA-mandated test frequency requirements, which are   
   based on track speed, tonnage, and haz-mat tonnage, if I remember   
   correctly, or to meet stricter self-imposed standards set by the railroad.   
      
   Incidentally, the FRA has a website (safetydata.fra.dot.gov) where you can   
   run all sorts of reports that could help you avoid making ridiculous   
   assumptions about railroad operations and accidents. For 2011-2013, track   
   condition caused 27.3% of all mainline reportable accidents / incidents,   
   accounting for 45% of reportable damage. (Reportable damage includes damage   
   to railroad track and equipment only.) Breaking it down further, about 6.8%   
   of reportable mainline incidents and 5.6% of reportable damage was due to   
   conditions that should typically be detected by a geometry car.   
      
   We're still waiting on causes for all of the big crude oil incidents that   
   have happened in the last year, but so far the available info seems to   
   suggest that 0% of them could have been prevented by measuring track   
   geometry from the back of unit crude trains...   
      
   Dan   
      
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