I'm a retired Elevator Mechanic who worked on some hefty Traction Motors and Generators and let me tell you that when a big piece of machinery decides to give up the ghost it can be spectacularly done !! 😮😂
@Starship Captain RUD is from Kerbal Space Program forums, or at least that’s where Musk likely picked it up. He said he played around the same time (early 2015). Amusingly, he actually got it slightly wrong, the original was Rapid Unplanned Disassembly (because you didn’t really disassemble things for maintenance in games), but he used Unscheduled.
@Starship Captain A few tons spinning at thousands of RPMs sure ain't gonna be happy if disturbed. An uncontained engine failure is quite hellish indeed, even contained ones are quite the spectacle, like United 1175 and even more recently 328.
My dad was a Conductor but he rode in the Caboose with his Brakemen. I occasionally got to ride along. Those crossings were so dangerous that before they had a lightning system there were always accidents .
So if anyone is wondering what happened exactly, I can give an exact answer. From what I’m reading off of the Union Pacific locomotive managing system, the locomotive defect sections states word for word “Unit had a ccop explosion and engine fire, camshaft came apart on L-4 power assembly” In basic terms, high crankcase pressure just blew the unit up and messed up left bank cylinder 4’s camshaft. To add on, on the same day a crew reported that the unit produced excessive smoke, this was reported in the morning before the incident.
In my younger days as a volunteer fireman, we had EMD-FL9s catch fire when PC started moving them from their home rails to the NYC old Hudson line to Poughkeepsie NY, some failures pretty spectacular. That wasn't just an oil line that looked to be catastrophic prime mover failure. Glad it was the second and not lead unit, things could have ended a lot worse.
Initially I was thinking "uhhh... I think they know" but I suppose better to wave around and look like an idiot in the rare case the crew didn't see it. Better to be safe than sorry lol
@@jakethomas5338 I mean...what makes you so certain they were aware of it? and I don't see how trying to make sure theyre aware of one of their engines burning up makes you look like an idiot.
That might not be such a great idea if the failed unit was dropping burning fuel along the way. I'll bet the official Southern Pacific rule book says "Stop the train immediately!!" if a unit catches fire.
When I was a volunteer, we were called for a fuel leak on a parked engine. It ended up being a coolant leak. Either way, we got a chance to climb over it. 🤣
@@ffjsb Methinks the pun went over your head. "Firefighter" is a modern non-sexist replacement for "fireman" as in person who fights fire. The term was used in that sense since 1714.
My cousin does locomotive repair and he said that this happens more often than you would think. It's not super common, but it does happen. I don't think that most of the fires are that large.
I've been an enthusiast for 11 years and I've never seen an AC44 *spontaneously combust* Well you experience something new every day. Just on very different levels. Ever wonder why locomotives have mirrors? This. This is why Remember engineers: always check behind you every once and a while. Defect Detectors can't detect everything.
@@TheBeeMan1994 no reason not to. It's only dead weight, and there could also be other reasons. Like the crew being told to run the dead engine to siding for a return crew to pick up.
I used to live in Bryan TX and I never was able to see train that much and this video still sparks that inner kid in me who watches those Thomas video on RU-vid
As a model railroad engineer, this is a nightmare. Lionel doesn't have fire extinguishing systems installed. I have seen some terrible derailments. I know the hardships of railroading. Stay safe fellow engineers.
@@GXTOLX Yes it is 5000 gallons . Rode in a hell of a lot of them . With emergency fuel shutoff valves it's highly unlikely for the fuel tank to catch on fire . Great video catch .
Fuel tanks are below the walkway, close to the ground. Unless some shrapnel from the detonating engine ruptured the tank, not much chance of a fuel tank fire.
@@The_DuMont_Network I'm very familiar with locomotives , we have a locomotive shop here in North Little Rock , Arkansas and I've been in the shop so many times I can't count . They have a overhead crane that carries the locomotives from the rail lead into the shop and the crane carries a locomotive from that track to the far corner of the shop . Quite a site to see a locomotive of over 200 tons being lifted and carried over several other locomotives . Without a fuel tank they look a little weird . The main frame is very thick .
What great footage. Can’t imagine seeing that roll up on the tracks. I would of been screaming holy cow. You were quiet LOL. You don’t see something like that on video every day
Good effort from the person in the white van "Erm!, Excuse me, Helllloooo! Excuse me!! Hey buddy Hellllooooo!!!!!" Glad to see that it was put out ok!!
Norfolk Southern somehow found a way to be present even when a Union Pacific has a catestrophic incident. The ol' NS is having a rough 2023 so far! Can you say Sh*t magnet!?
Love how the camera calmly pans along with the burning engine like this is a common occurrence. I can imagine the camera operator thinking "oops! There goes another one."
Wow! How lucky to be right there filming when it happened! I am glad someone called the fire department and they got the train stopped before more serious damage happened.
I'm a retired commercial pilot flew Airtankers as a Co-pilot DC6/7s. My first actual flight as a Co-pilot on a fire, we had#4 engine spectacularly blow on takeoff out of Winslow Az. Much like that UP unit. Nothing like bits and pieces of engine or components scattering across the landscape. Hope everything went ok.
Wow, what a catch, and all the years that I’ve been filming trains I have never seen anything like this, if you haven’t, you should send this video to the local news stations and also put it on some of the world news I think that would make for educational purposes!!
I live in the area and was surprised to see this pop up on notifications with the views it has. It's a college town (Bryan-College Station, TX), and it's already all over the local news and was on the university subreddit as well.
It makes me smile to know that there are people who are so obsessive about their love of trains that they go outside to watch and record them passing like this. Life is so much richer if you have an obsessive interest!
People who know nothing about trains - "Why didn't the train stop immediately!". Same people - "Trains should never stop where they block a railway crossing!"
Nice capture my friend. SHHHHHHHOCKING it was a UP engine, I guess there excellent scheduled maintenance on their rolling stock is proof here that cutting costs is the way to go much like PSR. Good thing this didn't happen during fire season in a wildfire prone area in this country.
@Mystic Ren correct it is on UP because it was their train with a NS leader although that is a ac4400cw not a GEVO but you are correct. I’ve never seen something to that severity though locomotive wise
I drove the crews for BNSF and UP around Texas and never saw this. I have seen the aftermath of a derailment and an engine derailed in the yard close to me, but not a fire! Wow!
Looks like that GE decided to eat up the main generator and then gobble up other electronics along the way...kind of shocked that the other units behind were still linked MU style and not in shutdown mode by then. Impressive that the unit kept running.
@@josuemartinez8482 Thankfully, the second engine, UP C45ACCTE #5626 was empty at the time of the fire, so everyone was alright, which is all that matters.
Man that train right there can hold up traffic but what's wilder here is that there is a police station literally like 2 blocks away from there... For people who do not know this area... those tracks signify the metaphorical 'living on the other side of the tracks' mantra. If you value your safety you choose NOT to live on the other side of that train at all costs.
I used to work in a rail yard and saw the Norfolk Southern engines roll through from time to time. Everyone said they paint them flat black because of how shitty that company is at keeping their stuff up. After having been up close while I fueled a few I am amazed that more don't catch fire. They are all grime from top to bottom but you can't see it from a distance due to the paint job being the same color as the grime.
@@glenbard657 Lead engine is an NS. Norfolk Southern often borrows/rents UP power units (and maintains them like they are their own.) Although not a 100% universal rule, the rail line owner/train owner tends to put their power units as the lead and the borrowed/rental power behind them.
It's not train length. It's tonnage. And yes they may regularly put modern high horsepower units on trains expecting them to work when the vast majority of the time they do work.
I've seen them blow a turbo charger through the stacks. but honestly never through the engine unit itself like that. It sure got the attention of everyone on highway 6.
