From: gl4317@yahoo.com

In article ,
 Stephen Sprunk  wrote:

> Aside from the obvious case of collisions, derailments nearly always
> boil down to a train going faster than it should have--either due to
> crew error or due to the speed limits not being set properly for the
> actual condition of the track.


Equipment defects are also very common though.  That's why there are so
very many defect detectors all over the main lines.  It's also why they
do train inspections every 1,000 miles or less.  Freight cars have tread
brakes that contact the wheel surface, and heat cracks in the wheels in
the wheels can happen.  There are also flat spots on the wheels which
you can hear very plainly when a freight train goes past, and those can
lead to wheel defects as well.

With the huge expansion of oil traffic, these tank cars are putting in a
lot of rolling hours and miles with a lot less maintenance attention
than they used to get, and over some pretty long distances as well.  I
know George is suspicious of the track in Virginia, but I would also
suspicious of a wheel defect or some similar problem with the cars.

The one derailment I witnessed firsthand was, after a long
investigation, attributed to the engineer applying too much power at the
wrong moment in time, causing the slack action wave to hit the
particular car in question at the wrong moment in time.  The local yard
crew knew of the problems associated with the yard in that area, but the
main line crew was somewhat less familiar with the situation in that
part of the yard.

So, the causes of these derailments can be pretty complicated.

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