If you arrived early to Coffee Tracks, you got a great view of an East bound Union Pacific manifest train! One of our early RATS even caught a man down the hill beside track 2 changing his clothes. Sorry, no picture of this trespasser! You truly never know what you will come across by the tracks.

After signing in and getting our fresh coffee, we began educating new RAT members. We also discussed the email alerting us to a local railfan that has been playing with the track switches near the dog food plant off of Waltham Road, ringing the bells of locomotives in the Sparks Yard and just general trespassing on railroad property to get a photo or video. As a reminder, if you see someone on the tracks, near the locomotives / railcars or trespassing on any other part of Union Pacific property, call RMCC (Response Management Communication Center) at 888-877-7267.

Because of upcoming community events around railroad tracks, we discussed general rail awareness for the public and the availability of several RAT members for local rail safety presentations. If you are part of a Neighborhood Watch Group, the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, a church, a School District or any other organization, no matter the size, we will be happy to do a FREE rail safety presentation for you. Please contact us at Contact | Rail Auxiliary Team (nvrailaware.org and we will set up a presentation for you.

One of the responsibilities of RAT members, is to check out rail crossings in our area. If you know that you are going to a specific crossing, it can be helpful to have the US DOT Crossing Inventory Form. If you know the DOT Crossing Number, you may download a copy of the Inventory Form at Crossing Inventory Lookup | FRA (dot.gov). If you do not know the DOT Crossing number, you may find the crossing and it's number at the FRA Crossing Viewer website: https://fragis.fra.dot.gov/

Here is a "checklist" of things to look at while observing a crossing:

1. Control Point Bungalow (If there is one. Only at crossings that have lights/crossing gates.)
   • Are the doors to the bungalow locked? Doors not locked or open - this is reportable to RMCC.
   • Is the strobe light steady on? Sometimes it is hard to see due to the direction of the sun. If it is off or blinking - this is reportable to RMCC.
2. Crossing Mast
   • Is the Blue ENS sign present, visible and legible? If not - this is reportable as a non-emergency to RMCC.
   • Does the DOT Crossing Number on the Control Point Bungalow (if present) match the Crossing Number on the ENS sign? If not, this is reportable on the Union Pacific website UP: Response Management Communication Center (RMCC). Choose the category ROUGH CROSSINGS and fill out the form.
   • Do the crossing gates and lights appear to be functional? No obvious defects or problems? If there appears to be a problem - this is reportable to RMCC.
3. Advanced Warning Signs (AWS)
   • Are the signs present on each side of the crossing? These signs are approximately 200 yards from the crossing. If they are not present, report this on our site using Contact | Rail Auxiliary Team (nvrailaware.org. We will then contact the appropriate road maintenance department. FYI - Railroads are responsible for the  actual crossing and the devices at the crossing, while the local road departments are responsible for AWS signs and the like.

As always, use caution around crossings and railroad tracks - never trespassing onto rail company property. Thanks to those that joined us in person and online this morning for our monthly Coffee Tracks.

Remember ....

Little did we know of the excitement that would occur during our Coffee Tracks time at the Union Pacific Sparks Yard! As the "pack" of RATS began to gather, the scanner alerted us to an event taking place in the yard by one of the tracks. A  railroad worker discovered a residential propane tank with, "Do No Touch" written on it, sitting next to one of the tracks. In the RAT (Rail Auxiliary Team) world, this is a big red flag for potential problems. We listened to the scanner as a group, hoping to hear what had happened. Read to the end to find out the result 😀.

Our first visual observation was a white male wearing a red jacket and carrying some sort of bag walking east along main track one. We discussed our decision to report or not report to RMCC  (Remote Management Communications Center) and decided not to report, as there were rail employees around the yard that would see him and he was not directly on the tracks, just on railroad property. Once again, read to the end to find out what happened 😀.

Tank Cars

There were several tank cars sitting on the tracks at our meeting spot, so our discussion/educational time turned to tank cars.

We started at the bottom of the railcar and worked our way to the top, learning about each of the tank car specific characteristics: bottom outlet valves, tank jackets, head shields, reflective stripes, crash box, protective hatch cover over the valves, the pressure relief valve along with how to identify the owner of the car and the type of hazardous material if necessary.

The video does a great job of explaining what we learned, plus more: Railroad Tank Cars: Capacity, Dimensions, History (american-rails.com)

Another excellent video stressing the safety of tank cars can be found at this link: Rail Tank Car 101 - YouTube.

Meeting the Supervisor

When you get a "pack"of RATS in orange vests hanging around the tracks, they get noticed! As we were discussing how a yard functions and all of the tracks available for switching, a truck approaches and out get two Union Pacific employees. After stating, "When you see a large group of people in orange vests hanging out in the yard, we figured we needed to find out what was going on.", they kindly asked what we were doing. Our faithful leader Rich Gent gave them a brief synopsis of the purpose of the Rail Auxiliary Team. It was nice to actually meet the Supervisor of the Sparks Yard. Interesting discussions about several topics took place and then one brave RAT asked the Supervisor what the outcome was of the residential propane tank with, "Do No Touch" written on it, sitting next to one of the tracks. He shared with us that he approached the tank, and since he had previous Army experience, he looked for wires attached to the tank, saw none, so proceeded to pick up the tank and put it in the bed of his truck. RAT members, or anyone for that matter, if you come across something like this - DO NOT TOUCH, back away and call 911 immediately. 

The Trespasser

As we were ending our meeting, another alert came over the scanner. A railroad worker put out the call that there was a man with a machete by main tracks one and two. We didn't see anyone from our vantage point. A few moments later, a Sparks PD vehicle pulls up next to us and the officer exits his vehicle. The conversation turns to the trespasser with a machete. Someone asked for the description and sure enough it was the trespasser we had seen at the beginning of our meeting. One of our RATs had taken a zoomed in photo of the trespasser and was able to share that with the officer. Was the trespasser caught? No idea.

What one person thought would be a boring meeting turned out to be an exciting learning time. Make sure to join us for our next RAT Coffee Tracks time on May 18th at a to be determined location. You don't want to miss the excitement!

 In an article by Robert S. McGonigal, defect detectors along the tracks are explained in detail.
(The article may be found at Defect detectors | Trains Magazine)

An Amtrak train en route from Milwaukee to Chicago on Canadian Pacific’s double-track main line hurtles by a metal cabin and some trackside apparatus. Over the radio, a stilted voice intones “CP detector, milepost five seven point six. Main track: two. Total axles: one six. No defects. Temperature: five three degrees. Detector out.” A moment later, the engineer’s perfunctory acknowledgement: “Amtrak 332, no defects, 57.6.”

Train 332 has just passed a wayside defect detector, one of thousands employed by the railroads to monitor trains and the fixed plant. Most such devices scan passing trains for defects like hot bearings, hot wheels, dragging equipment, and high, wide, or shifted loads. After inspecting a train, modern wayside detectors will automatically report their findings by radio. Other installations keep tabs on the right of way, watching for environmental conditions that pose hazards to trains.

Hot bearing detectors

Overheated wheel bearings (journals) were once the scourge of railroading. Journal boxes contained lubricating material that needed frequent repacking; overheating was common, resulting in “hotboxes.”

Undetected, a hotbox could turn into a burned-off bearing – and a derailment. Rear-end crews were always alert for the telltale smoke and smell of hotboxes in the train ahead of their caboose.

Today, plain-bearing cars are all but gone, but the successor roller bearing is still prone to occasional overheating. Likewise, hot wheels, often caused by sticking brakes, have long been a hazard.

The mid-1950’s saw the introduction of infra-red wayside hotbox detectors, which monitor the heat profile (compensated for air temperature) of each of the train’s bearings, even if it passes at high speed.

A typical installation consists of two units, one outside each rail, aimed upward. Such devices may also detect hot wheels, but single units aimed across the track (diagonally, to catch both sides), at mid-wheel level, are also in use. On-board monitoring systems are being developed.

Dragging equipment detector

Dragging equipment can damage the track and grade crossings, is often a sign of damage to the train, and can cause a derailment. In fact, dragging equipment can be a derailment; one or two wheelsets can be off the track but still travel for many miles before piling up the train in a wreck.

Early dragging equipment detectors (or “draggers”) were of the “brittle bar” type. Fixed elements between and beside the rails would break when struck by foreign objects. Their breakage would interrupt an electric circuit that formed part of the reporting system, and the train would be stopped and inspected.

The introduction of “self-restoring” draggers in the 1960’s, which are hinged and sprung so they return to position after impact, reduced maintenance requirements.

Modern detector installations

Hot bearing/hot wheel detectors and dragging equipment detectors are often part of the same installation.

Detector spacing depends on each railroad’s preference and local conditions, but 20-30 miles is a typical interval on main lines. Employee timetables list the locations of hot bearing and dragging equipment detectors (abbreviated HBD and DED, respectively), along with their data-reporting methods.

Early detectors were linked to the wayside signal system, so as to show a red signal to a train with a defect. Others reported their findings to the dispatcher, who could have the train stopped if a defect were found. Later types used a scoreboard-style sign to report the train’s condition to the caboose crew. On some others, the display of a simple illuminated light indicated a train had no defects.

Modern detectors are of the “talking” type, which use a prerecorded voice to report a train’s status over the radio, although some visual reporting methods are also in use.

Detector radio protocol varies. Communication can be limited to the detector’s identification of itself and the statement “no defects.” Others will first announce that they are working, then give a report after the train has passed. Some, like CP’s at milepost 57.6, give the ambient temperature as a check; others report the train’s length in feet. Some railroads require an acknowledgement from the crew of passing trains; others do not.

If a detector finds something, it will announce “you have a defect” or “stop your train,” then the location of the problem. The crew makes an inspection from the ground, paying special attention to the cars at and behind the cited location, as most detectors are set up to report only the first defect they find. Relative to actual defects, false alarms are rather common.

High car detectors and slide fences

Devices to detect cars or loads of excessive height or width, or shifted loads, are often placed in advance of bridges, tunnels, or other situations of reduced clearance. The growth in double-stack container and tri-level autorack operations has led to greater use of high-wide detectors.

Some safety detectors monitor the track, not passing trains. The most common of these, rock slide detectors (“slide fences”) are designed to break when hit by falling debris. When they do, an electrical circuit is broken, causing signals to go red on either side of the obstruction. High water indicators, earthquake sensors, and high wind detectors work similarly.

While the use of talking detectors has contributed to the demise of a cherished element of railroading – the caboose – they’ve been a boon to train-watchers with radio scanners. From detector reports, one can learn of approaching trains before they’re in sight, and acknowledgements can tell the listener what kind of train to expect.

Steam engines on excursions routinely set off detectors. Waivers are issued allowing them to proceed, providing the reported “defects” are near the cylinders or firebox.