Railroad Forums 

  • Runaway Railcar

  • Discussion about shortline operator Genesee Valley Transportation, operator of the Delaware-Lackawanna; the Mohawk, Adirondack & Northern, the Falls Road Railroad; Depew, Lancaster & Western; and the Lowville & Beaver River railroads. Official site: GVTRAIL.COM.
Discussion about shortline operator Genesee Valley Transportation, operator of the Delaware-Lackawanna; the Mohawk, Adirondack & Northern, the Falls Road Railroad; Depew, Lancaster & Western; and the Lowville & Beaver River railroads. Official site: GVTRAIL.COM.

Moderator: metman499

 #1319468  by SemperFidelis
 
A lumber laiden railcar somehow got away from a crew and rolled from Archbald through to Scranton. Luckily, no one was hurt and the car remained on the rails.

http://wnep.com/2015/02/26/runaway-rail ... -scranton/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The railcar apparently reached speeds of 50 mph and came to a stop when it rolled up the grade at the Strawberry Hill Connector in downtown Scranton. The local police forces were credited with blocking all affected crossings, though since they're signalled I can't imagine too much would have happened if they'd not done anything at all.
 #1322044  by BR&P
 
ctclark1 wrote:I thought there was something about minimum axles to trigger some crossings?
No, simply completing the circuit between the rails will activate the lights. Signal maintainers use a simple jumper cable with a clamp on each end as part of their testing.

As for the crossings, the concern I would have is the posted speed on the line. If, for example, a given crossing is set for 10 mph, and the signal circuits are the appropriate length for that, a car rolling 50 mph will give very little warning time between hitting the circuit to start the lights, and entering the crossing itself.