Is Ford Cursed?

[66F100]

Ahh yes, auto racks being run on the head end of a mixed freight train lol .. this isn’t the first time auto racks have been derailed due to position in train won’t be the last since lessons are never learned

I grew up in a Railroad town - our high school mascot is the Railroader - and I am interested in trains. Why would having the auto racks at the head end have contributed to the accident?

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[Zaph]

Or just having some really bad luck? Between the chip and commodity shortages now there was a train derailment with F150's onboard. Luckily no one was injured but there's a lot of damaged trucks.

https://www.freep.com/story/money/c...s-crushed-missouri-train-accident/5494548001/

Train derails, crushing newly built Ford F-150 pickups traveling through Missouri

 

[tfisher15]

I grew up in a Railroad town - our high school mascot is the Railroader - and I am interested in trains. Why would having the auto racks at the head end have contributed to the accident?

Good question. Saw this about train loading:

James Moe
, Locomotive Engineer Union Pacific & previously Soo Line R.R.
Answered 3 years ago · Author has 693 answers and 1.4M answer views
Yes, and it does matter, there are several guidelines as to proper train make up, and putting the loaded cars, (carriages) in the front part of the train is essential to better train handling, and reducing in train forces that can cause slack action, and other problems with train handling. There are also guidelines about long car, short car combinations along with loaded and empty placement.
Other guidelines and operating rules specify types of cars that should not be coupled to other types of cars that could cause problems, and very strict rules and regulations about the cars that are carrying hazardous materials, including poison gases, flammable liquids, explosives, and other toxic substances.
These days all of the train make up requirements are programmed into the railroad computer systems, making it very easy to build up a proper train, that will be safe to handle and not cause problems during the trip, such as excessive in train forces that could lead to broken knuckle couplers, or derailments.

 

[RedlandRanger]

These days all of the train make up requirements are programmed into the railroad computer systems,

And that may very likely have contributed to the problem. That computer system is only as good as the data it is fed ("garbage in, garbage out") and without people who know what they are doing overseeing things it can cause problems. Although I'm in IT, and computers can do wonderful, amazing things, it scares me when we put so much trust in computer systems without doing much in the way of verifying what the computer tells us - "Trust, but verify".

For other examples see people getting lost in the middle of nowhere because they blindly followed their GPS.

Now, get off my lawn, sonny!!!

 

[66F100]

Thank you for the answer. It's all physics and motion dynamics.

There was a well publicized derailment in Harpers Ferry a little over a year ago. I talked with some of the local CSX guys and they said that the lead engines pulled the middle of the train straight off of the inside of a curve on a bridge over the Shenandoah. It happened while trying to get the whole consist moving.

Amazing how much power and traction those locomotives have!

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Or just having some really bad luck? Between the chip and commodity shortages now there was a train derailment with F150's onboard. Luckily no one was injured but there's a lot of damaged trucks.



https://www.freep.com/story/money/c...s-crushed-missouri-train-accident/5494548001/


Train derails, crushing newly built Ford F-150 pickups traveling through Missouri

Hi Dave,

Ford is okay....when a vehicle pokes it shiny new nose out of the Assembly Plant and crosses into the distribution yard....Ford is paid for the vehicle...So the looser in this mess is the Rail Company....Ford got paid for the vehicle.

We had several yard audits and repairs prior to shipment but the vehicles on the other side of the gate were not ours and we were not able to repair these vehicle....we did not own them.... So you see stuff like this....Not Ford's loss...

best,
Phil

 

[GregsFX2Ranger]

stop putting a damper on the fun. it's all in good spirit.

It DAMPERS my capability to concentrate on the topic that is actually the subject of the thread! LOL

 

[Blue Streak]

try Yoga. it helps you to focus.
and the flexibility it gives you is an added bonus.
Some people have told me, I am so flexible now I can kiss my own ass.

Will come in handy in a nuclear attack?

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