Oil Trains (RJMA / MARJ, OI-x, etc)

Do they shove the train with a helper unit(s) through this area? I thought I read something about it someplace.

And Fatigue is very much a problem with track structure. Constant up and down action causes the spikes to work up, much like in the above linked NERail photo. Also the weakest point of the track is the joint. Constant excessive up and down movement can break the joint bars.

miketrainnut wrote:Do they shove the train with a helper unit(s) through this area? I thought I read something about it someplace.

No pusher here. That 50-60 miles west between northern main junction and old town.

I forgot to mention I understand the unwillingness to dump a lot of money into District 1. Without a long term contract from Irving it is hard to justify new welded rail and a complete refurb if they could go back to just SJPO/POSJ in a year.

CN9634 wrote:They have been running track cars ahead of oil jobs or about one a day up the line scouting for broken rails. The problem is, a hi-rail truck doesn't have the weight to detect a soft spot... Same problem they had on the Andro Bridge

I can imagine it has been hard this year and in any winter with a substantial amount of snow for track personnel to properly evaluate the track structure when the only thing they can see is the top of the rail head.You can't evaluate the condition of the ties,spikes,tie plates,joints and rail bed when they are not visible.

From the Bangor Daily News:

Bangor Daily News wrote:By the end of Saturday night, crews will be finished transferring the last of the approximately 495,000 gallons of crude oil from tankers that tipped over when a Pan Am Railways train derailed Thursday afternoon.

“Our responders report they continue to make great progress, and expect to wrap-up the product transfer by midnight, at which point DEP’s around-the-clock efforts on the scene since early Thursday will come to an end,” Maine Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Samantha Warren said Saturday in an email interview. “Pan Am will then work to upright the derailed cars and fix the track.”

Read more at: http://bangordailynews.com/2013/03/09/n ... -dep-says/

Back to something other than the derailment, a loaded crude left Waterville around noon today. Power was pretty cool with BNSF C44-9W 4845, CSX SD40-3 rebuild 4023, SD70 MAC 8829, and GRS GP40-2W 514. One spacer at each end with 100 tanks in the middle. They came through CPF 94 into the siding before canning at CPF 92. There was a Kabota off-road 4-wheeler with flanges waiting in Pittsfield for the EOT to clear. Possibly going into CPF 92 to get the crew since no roads are even close to it? Go figure, another great crude job with the sun in BACK of it.

Sounds like as soon as the track is clear, they will test it with another shipment.

It was reported that Clean Harbors was expected to finish pumping off the loaded tankers last night.
Once that was completed, work would begin on re-railing and track repairs. I have not seen any
details on what wreck equipment has been sent to Mattawamkeag. The Waterville wrecker may be
a possibility, but the only two PAR CAT sidewinders were at Nashua yesterday.

It would seem that the loaded oil train that left Waterville will either be parked somewhere for a while,
or do some detour route via the MMA from Bangor to Brownville Jct and the EMR to Mattawamkeag.

Keag bound traffic was still at NMJ this afternoon. I expect them to just push everything aside to open up traffic for now.

You are probably correct on pushing things aside, however, there is probably some residue
in those cars and the DEP will not tolerate any spills. Also, most of those cars are relatively
new and other than the jacknifed cars, probably are salvagable with no compromise of the
tanks. I don't see PAR springing for 13 new tanks, if they can help it. The river being right
there probably will somewhat restrict the movement of heavy equipment, also.

The river should not restrict the movement of equipment. The track is far enough away from the river that some silt fencing and hay bales would take care of any worries that DEP would be concerned with with them being close to the river and disturbing the soil. We have worked right to the waterline before with approval for the projects.

Probably worth mentioning that out of a small incident like this will come renewed internal institutional resolve to ensure that all measures necessary are taken to protect these trains and the new revenues that come with them going forward. If anything the plans in place for District 1 trackwork this year may be reinforced somewhat and the trackwork itself could end up being even more thorough than originally planned.

All of this is good and despite the costly delays and three (3) gallon spill of crude I would say in the long run it's, "worth it."

Mattawamkeag Line Reopened...

http://bangordailynews.com/2013/03/13/n ... tedSidebar

Or try this: http://tinyurl.com/bqobn8x

Thanks Dick. Nice to see the first train through was another oil train.

I still wonder what specific heavy equipment that PAR used to re-rail the tank cars.
It appears from the Bangor Daily News that they must have been able to re-rail
most of the cars without further damaging them. Anyone know if the Watervill
wrecker was involved in the cleanup? Maybe Hulcher or R.J. Corman? How about
NBSR, which might have access to wreck cleanup heavy equipment?