Posted on 03/04/2016 11:41:27 AM PST by george76
Railroads would be required to have at least two crew members aboard freight trains when they are traversing the state under a bill that won preliminary approval in the Colorado House .
...
Minority Leader Brian Del Grosso, R-Loveland, took the Democrats to task over the bill, saying it is a poor way to deal with a problem he said they created.
He said over the past several years, Democrats have made policy decisions that have contributed to the slowdown, and even closure of coal mines, citing the recent closure of the Bowie No. 2 mine near Paonia specifically.
That had a direct impact on the recent furloughing of 147 railroad workers at Union Pacific Railroad’s Grand Junction roundhouse, and the idling of a portion of the steel mill in Pueblo, which manufactures train tracks and pipes for oil and gas wells, Del Grosso said.
“Prior legislatures here have passed policies that have attacked certain industries in our state,” he scolded Democrats on the House floor.
“I’m sorry that you feel guilty and that’s why you feel like you need to support this bill.”
...
Del Grosso said Democrats can’t support policies that kill one industry, badly impact others and then try to fix the problem by telling some companies that are hurting because of it who they must hire.
“If you’re angry that railroad people are being laid off, you need to be angry at the fact that policies from this chamber have shut down an industry,” he said.
“We need to be mindful that what we do here has real-world impact, and it puts people out of work.”
(Excerpt) Read more at gjsentinel.com ...
And in your second sentence you give the exact reason why the answer to your first is HELL YES. Humans do stupid things. The vast majority of train incidents are the result of human error, take out the humans, take out the errors.
It would seem the political stooges are blindly following the whining unions
Many miles of Empty coal cars stored in several different states.
Gets worse soon after they found Scalia with a pillow over his head.. re the Clean Power plan, etc..
~250 BNSF Locomotives were recently put in storage on tracks just east of Gillette, Wyo.
Do you see the inconsistency in that argument you just submitted? A person caused a disaster, so you think computer systems are bad.
Unions have been arguing against safer systems because they are harder to sabotage. A good computerized system could have prevented the Big Bayou Canot disaster. More bodies in the cab would not.
It was an easily preventable human error. The engineer/conductor (one in the same) didn’t tie down enough handbrakes for the weight of the train, and left the automatic brakes set up and the locomotives running to keep air on the train. The locomotives shut down due to a fire on one of the units (poor maintenance). If there was a two man crew, the conductor would work with the engineer to set the required amount of handbrakes on the cars.
If you tried to pull that shit on a class one railroad in the US, you would literally be fired on the spot.
This isn’t trains, but it may interest you anyway.
Caterpillar’s Mining Automation Journey (Extended Edition)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMw5G8FSbdI&index=20&list=PLF70F7538D7201CD8
24 minutes
Cat has more than 20 250 ton mining trucks running 24 hours a day at a large iron mine in Australia.
No drivers.
They are expanding the fleet to 50 trucks.
Ever hear of PTC? Positive train control. I install those systems on 3 to 4 locomotives a week. It’s a system designed to stop a train if the crew fails to follow a tightly controlled schedule. The train is controlled by a back office hundreds to thousands of miles away from the train.
The technology at this point is as reliable as the weather.
Automated freight trains will be viable just as soon as remote control tractor trailors, ships, and passenger vehicles are mandated.
wrong again factoryrat.
a town fireman shutdown the engine
and you cant possibly know if 2, or 3, or4 crewmen would have followed the existing hand brake tiedown regs.
Still human error. The engineer should have tied down the required number of handbrakes on the cars. That number is given on the paperwork issued with the manifest and track warrant. You NEVER, EVER, rely on the air brakes when parking with no crew aboard, for exactly this very reason, ESPECIALLY if it’s on a grade!
We can go roundy round about this all you want, but back to the topic, bur two person train crews are better and safer than one person crews.
For the number of actual trains running out there, going from two to one on the crew isn’t squat in most railroad payrolls.
Del Grosso said Democrats can’t support policies that kill one industry, badly impact others and then try to fix the problem by telling some companies that are hurting because of it who they must hire.
...
Yes they can, they do, and they are never held accountable.
Yeah, RCL. So what happens when that train is out of your sight? Oh, BTW, those are used only for yard operations, and there’s plenty of intrinsic safeguards to keep those sets from ever leaving the yard.
If there had been a second crew member, there would have been someone else to confirm that all the rules were followed and help to set more brakes.
If there had been a second crew member it might not have been necessary to leave the train unattended, something which is probably a very bad idea whenever there is hazardous cargo.
If there had been a second crew member, someone might have been there to observe when a fire started in the locomotive, firemen shut off the engine, and the train eventually started to move downhill.
Yes, exactly. Very well put. What most people who don’t realize is that most railroads run a minimum two man crew and are fine with it. And don’t forget the FRA mandates, especially when it comes to hazmat loads.
Honestly, I don’t know why people would even have a problem with this. The last thing anyone working on the railroad would want is a disaster like the one in Canada. After that happened, the whole incident was laid out in detail, and literally beat into our heads on how NOT to do things.
If you believe that is what i said you are a moron.
Apparently anyone who believes what you say is a moron
I go by a yard in Council Bluffs, Iowa that has signs all over the place instructing people to NOT call 911 when they don’t see a driver.
A moron like yourself reads a comment that says there is a good safety/redundwncy reason for two man crews, and then makes a reply saying that means I am for mandating two man crews.
THAT is what a moron does.
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