Just curious but why do it this way? Why not just run 3 separate trains at ~5,270 feet each?
Fully automated shorter trains.
Kinda like packet switching.
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BNSF refused to adopt PSR - Warren Buffet still knows how to run a business.
We need the rent is too damn high guy to say....the trains are too damn long
Interesting article. Thanks for posting. Imagine a three mile train coming down a hill and trying to stop. Crazy.
I'm not going to accuse him of misrepresenting anything, but I fail to see how the practice of "precision scheduled railroading" (PSR) has anything to do with the length of the trains these railroads are running. If anything, the whole system has gotten more efficient and the railroad supply chain has become more streamlined by eliminating classification moves in intermediate rail yards between ends of a haul.
When your business model is entirely based on hiring as few people as possible . . .
PSR actually stands for Precision Scheduled Railroad. HOS is a very real problem with these longer trains. Fatigue causes the operators to make mistakes, and mistakes can be very costly. Particularly when hauling something like anhydrous ammonia or chlorine, both of which were mentioned by the author.
BNSF refused to adopt PSR. They’re still running trains that the crews can handle without exceeding HOS. I realize this is the sort of thing a Democrat says all the time, but community interests have to be balanced against private interests.
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A modern freight train needs an engineer and a conductor to operate. Mile-long trains are the general rule. I could see the point of using two people to operate a THREE-MILE-LONG train instead of three separate trains but it sounds like the challenges are greatly multiplied by such length.
I have delivered railroad crews to BNSF trains in an SUV. Sometimes I had to drive one of the crew to the other end of the train which was a mile away, then wait, and bring the crew member back.
Operating a passenger vehicle in a busy railyard is dangerous and requires great caution and vigilance.
Let me guess. Build Back Better will save us. And of course while they’re at it a few trillion for high speed rail no one will ride.
An additional factor is the problem in the towns along the railroad. They slow down for the crossings and then take a very long time to clear the crossings. Challenges with fire, emt and police exist when the train has the crossings blocked for an extended period of time.