[1w] CSX Q676 Stalls with Four Engines, Delaying Trains, Elberton - Hull GA, 01/24/2016 ©mbmars01 

YOU are right, if they can get the train moving!I used to work for csx, and I told the engineer to tell the foreman to give us a trio of sd40-2s. We had a189 car heavy freight train heading north from Dothan to montgomery,Alabama. We tried a trio of ac 4400s, but only got as far as brundidge, Alabama before I smelled what was a TRACTION MOTOR burning. We had to stop and put out the fire, and wait for the trio of sd40-2s to come. First, we disconnected the ge locomotives from the train ,and put them in the siding, and shut down the others. We secured them and was told that a southbound train would pick them up in 45 minutes. after we got the trio of sd40 2s, we had to push the train back down the grade, and then leave town. We throttled up in Notch 8, with all three ends on line. as we we were now moving, not one of these units gave us any trouble.and soon ,in 10 minutes, we reached track speed of 45mph. We were late getting to Birmingham, but I will tell you this, those sd40-2s got us to our destination in three hours. Onse we climbed the grade in troy,Alabama. We had to throttle back to notch three, and those three emds proved that they could do the job because, they have the lower gear ratio, giving them a higher TRACTIVE EFFORT than the ge units have.

+csxcw44ac Appreciated, many thanks!

+Graham Rawlings Thank you!

Awesome, greetings back to Ireland! The channel has many fans there, which is cool.

That's true, that's why I like that spot. It can be somewhat too busy during rush hours as this is an industrial area. Thanks! Great you like them.

Lol, awesome. Good you like the video :)

+Shaun Chisholm Many thanks, I'm happy you enjoyed watching it.

This is very interesting. I didn't know how the trucking business works, but I figure it's not an easy life. 3500 miles a week is crazy. Messing around with all these car drivers on the road, day by day, must be an awful experience, even if the payment doesn't sound bad. It is also so frustrating when chasing a train lol.

It's tough on the trucker but great for the highways, fuel consumption and pollution. Yep. Times are a-changing

Pass by any rest stop on I-35 in Texas around dawn and you'll see so many trucks that the parking lot is full and the ingress/egress lane is also full. The more trucks on the backs of rail cars the better I like it, plus it stops pollution and helps unclog our highways and byways.

Most of us OTR truckers make about $0.60 a mile now. But we don't roll 3500 anymore. They took away our paper logs. Now we got a box on the dash that tells us were tired when we're not.

I know! They really sound great in some areas here.

+Werner Sievers Danke!

Much has changed since on this CSX sub. Problems like the one documented in this video are rare nowadays.

I agree. CSX seems to have serious continuing issues with stalled trains and poor allocation of locomotives, which costs money and inconvenience to many people. That said, an engineer would know that these things may happen and should be pro active, making sure the right horse power is there for the job. Not just driving off and hoping that everything will be OK. That is simply stupidity. This is one example of why American railways are laughed at in all other countries in the developed world. Can't do a simple job from getting from A to B without an incident that could have been avoided.

phillyslasher Well said.

@phillyslasher Yeah, I don't know a lot about trains, but I'm sure there's much more that goes into making them run well than what that douchebag said.

Not surprising at all, all GE Junkamotives.

Cool, thanks.

+chris shoulders I'm glad you liked it!

CSX and NS locos always flash their ditch lights at railroad crossings and when start moving out of a full stop. The engineer typically turns the lights off when meeting another train in a siding, to not to blind the other engineer. The normal operational mode is to have all lights on, but not flashing.

I guess there is a loop under the track at the defect detector and by electromagnetic induction an axle going over it induces a current in the circuit. The detector "gets confused" if the train is too slow (which makes perfect sense because the amount of induced current depends on speed). The train stalled because of icy tracks uphill. Cool, glad you like the video.

Could it be that the trains are just too heavy and the calculations for appropriate power were wrong?

Thanks for the info; if I keep watching these train videos I just might learn enough about trains to dangerous

Lol :)

Some like it lol

No, each line has its own set of frequencies.

24:00

There's a red signal...lol...

Guess I missed it too !

Stall I think he was talking about his Prius the night before

You all need to read the sub title at 2:24.

+Thomas Wheat Many thanks!

+mbmars01 lol another stalling. nice video.

Believe it or not, today there was another one broken down in the same part of the Abbeville Sub.

Did u get it on video

+kevin butler No, wish I had! It was an insane day on the Abbeville Sub today, but I didn't have time to go out.

Thank you! Oh well, it's the track. Old story...

I honestly don't remember. Sometimes it helps to put sand under the drivers, or roll back a mile and try it again with more "oomph".

If it's not mentioned in the video, I don't remember it anymore. At least an hour. Thanks!

Yea, those were the times when one could still catch an AC60 on CSX.

Lol, of course not. They simply forgot to turn on the lights.

It identifies hot wheels and dragging equipment.

Lol, I know I have friends in Germany, but most of the comments sound rather American English to me ;) Thanks, appreciated!

So? We do speak English, you know! It is mandatory from 6th grade here.

Excellent.

+Steve Auld Thank you! It's funny that you observed the forgotten headlights. I actually tried to tell the engineer, when the train stopped at Howie, yet he didn't understand me (the engines made too much noise). I don't know if there are rules for headlights at crossings, but I would guess that the headlights must be on anyways whenever the engine moves. At least, I have never seen them off if not forgotten to be turned on.

it's taking its time due to such a very heavy load

I suspect that horsepower/tractive effort had nothing to do with the stall but rather given the fact it was quite hot at the location at the time and given the fact the units were likely under a reasonably heavy workload for extended periods of time the cooling systems of the locomotives more then likely started to fall behind a bit. This consequently causing the units to overhead slightly when in turn would lead to the units beginning to derate there horsepower output to reduce the load on the cooling system to allow it to catch up. The problem being if a train is riding the line with the HP to weight ratio needed to make a climb then that derating of power can cause a stall. It's easy to fix though as simply allowing the units time to cool down will allow them to work at there full performance once again. Hence why the train was able to restart and carry on again unassisted by any other power. One could argue maybe a unit was having issues loading or staying online but I would bet money it was a derating related issue. I work for UP and have seen similar circumstances over the years.

You can only use 3 of them though. One of those is just along for the ride

Thanks! I nowadays use a Uniden BC125AT scanner with a Smiley antenna, which is okay.

Cool. Good to know

The train has been abolished about two years ago. Nowadays, trains are rarely of that size here on this line.

The region, where the train stalled is inaccessible. I always wanted to railfan this area, but no chance.

It’s the “diverging clear” indication. On this line it typically means that a train is clear to proceed on the side track of a siding.

In regards to Q194 yes the engineer simply forgot to turn the nose lights back on. I work for UP and have done it a few times over the years as well. It was to light outside for him to take notice of the fact the lights were off. The ditch lights blink when the horn is blow regardless of if they are turned on or not but only blink for around 10 seconds until they return to there prior state which if they are turned off then they simply turn back off again as they did in this video. Had they been actually turned on manually then after blinking they would return to twin steady beams.

Wellll... One really has to find them at times.

142 actually.

I suspect that horsepower/tractive effort had nothing to do with the stall but rather given the fact it was quite hot at the location at the time and given the fact the units were likely under a reasonably heavy workload for extended periods of time the cooling systems of the locomotives more then likely started to fall behind a bit. This consequently causing the units to overhead slightly when in turn would lead to the units beginning to derate there horsepower output to reduce the load on the cooling system to allow it to catch up. The problem being if a train is riding the line with the HP to weight ratio needed to make a climb then that derating of power can cause a stall. It's easy to fix though as simply allowing the units time to cool down will allow them to work at there full performance once again. Hence why the train was able to restart and carry on again unassisted by any other power. One could argue maybe a unit was having issues loading or staying online but I would bet money it was a derating related issue. I work for UP and have seen similar circumstances over the years.

Slipped to a stand is a nice turn of phrase. We use that here in the UK.

"Slipped to a stand". I like that.

In regards to Q194 the headlights are fine. The engineer simply forgot to turn the nose lights back on. It was to light outside for him to take notice of the fact the lights were off. The ditch lights blink when the horn is blow regardless of if they are turned on or not but only blink for around 10 seconds until they return to there prior state which if they are turned off then they simply turn back off again as they did in this video. Had they been actually turned on manually then after blinking they would return to twin steady beams.

There are many grades along the line and sometimes the trains just don't make it "over the hill", particularly during the winter.

That was a Jb hunt engineer

I believe they are just units being transferred between yards to move consists at another location

ohhhhhh ok, i get it

With a large switching yard that can be up to 100 or more tracks wide. My father worked for the railroad when I was young and took me up in the tower where most of the switching was done. they rolled the cars over the hill and it could be routed to any of many tracks as it coasted. Brakes were on the tracks that actually squeezed the wheels to slow them down before they connected to other cars.

You make a very good point. Most of these flat cars loaded with metal sheets or beams have actually a bulkhead on both sides to prevent the loads from sliding off the cars in the direction of train motion.

Lol :)

@@mbmars01 😂

Do you mean the centerbeam cars? These are used to transport lumber.

Nope. There is quite a bit of steel slab and plate on the flat cars and probably coil in those covered cars. Were is that stuff coming from? Import steel or someone exporting? In many of your videos I see steel as a cargo. But as I don't know your regional layout (although I do google the locations) I don't really know which direction is export and which is import.

I would think most of the steel transports have a domestic origin/destination, but I cannot tell you where the steel that you see in the videos comes from or goes to. There is definitely not much heavy industry in the area closest to where I mostly railfan, but maybe there is in Atlanta. I don't know.

mbmars01 Thx . Great videos no matter.

Totally a guess....but there is a huge US Steel facility in Birmingham near this location

No, there's no such policy. CSX road engines can have 1, 2, 3, or 4 digits.

Trains can be 200+ cars long here.

Norman McGill obviously your not payin attention.at 24:00.click ahead

@@sharonrivers1347 thats a red signal...I guess the trained Q676 stalled up ahead and we dont see it or...? what are we missing! even if thats the stalled train @24:00 it doesnt have 4 engines and isnt q676

Thanks :)

They stalled at a location that is not accessible, but it's a single-track line and that caused major delays for other trains as far as I remember.

Railroads in North America invest heavily in maintenance and upgrade. You have absolutely no idea wtf you are talking about. Did you bother even to research just a little bit before you betrayed your ignorance?

The Burlington Northern Santa Fe line that runs by the farm is kept in excellent condition. East/West trains are always highballin' when they pass.

@C David Oh yes, thats for sure.... It only doesnt look like it. If you search for videos with content showing this heavy maintenance content you mostly find videos, where a bunch of gandydancers with a herd of tiny two-axle MOW-vehicles are pulling spikes and changing old and rotten wooden sleepers...... You may be lucky and find some videos which at first glance look like they've really invested and bought big track-laying machines. Then you see that most of it is TRT909, which was constructed in the last century around 1970 and whose only update was maybe a few pails of paint. Videographers love to use their zoom. That's nice, because then you can see the track positions very well. Example at 20:02 ...... Do not worry, I know pretty well what modern track renewal trains look like and how they work. And I know how they make a straight and level track with a decent tamper and a proper gravel plow. By the way - a one-tie-tamper today is a machine for special applications such as switches and level crossings, etc., but not for the track. That starts neatly with a 3-tie-continuous tamping and consolidation machine..... Many Americans seem to believe that what they do and how they do it is world-class and no-one can do it better than they do, and they think MOW technology, as in the following video, is "state of the art". The video is from 2016 ........ NS Maintenance of Way Equipment - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PUZZDauiIRk.html I'm really wondering where is the heavy investment in maintenance? Where do they put all that money? Every locomotive builder who wants to deliver locomotives for the American market has to fulfill at least one condition: The locomotives need to cope with the below-average quality of the track ... What do you think, why is that a prerequisite?

@@pearlyhumbucker9065 I'm thinking 233,000 miles of track in the USA has something to do with maintenance. That's about 375,000 kilometers. There are only about 655,000 miles of active railroad track in the whole world. That's a lot.

That would be too easy... lol

It really did and I chased this train only because of it lol.

5438 is a ES40DC

Smart man.

That should be pretty easy to do given the fact that these locomotives are already IN America lol...

What do you mean? They are already IN America..

The traction of the Big Boy would probably have helped more; however, the Gevos have already enough power.

It's the story about a stalled train and the consequences it had. Doesn't this count? :)

The train didn't stall

Well, Q192 is currently reactivated on this line, but everything else but hot. You're right, NS seems to dominate the intermodal traffic in that area.

Lol.

@sw4414 So y'all is ok wit dem talkin' like hillbilly ignorant yokels is yew? Yew mus be a maga man? 😉🤤😲

... and CSX is considering making them even longer. However, there isn't much mixed-freight traffic through here anymore.