From: nilknocgeo@earthlink.net   
      
    wrote in message   
   news:1150810053422162717.604051dpeltier-my-deja.com@news.aioe.org...   
   > "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   
      
   All I see here is excuses on why oil trains should not derail, when they do.   
   Denial.  Comments implying that a few derailments now and then is ok, for   
   financial reasons.  Just pay the dead and move on.  Cheaper than good track   
   no?   
      
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