Working rail roads and their tracks.

MossRoad · Wednesday at 9:51 PM

35 Union Pacific train cars derail near Texas town, no injuries reported

Authorities say 35 cars of a Union Pacific train derailed near a small Texas town but there were no injuries reported and no evacuations ordered.

apnews.com

JRH02 · Thursday at 11:21 AM

We live near the Columbia Gorge on the WA side. On the south side is UPRR and BN across the river. Every year the environmentalists are screaming that every fire started from the trains. Or it is the coal dust which blew off a long way back killing people and fish? Or about anything else. Both of those companies have quick response teams and equipment and they are involved regardless of the cause.

In other places there may be problems. But around here the RR do a fantastic job of response.

bcp · Thursday at 11:41 AM

BNSF fire train.

BNSF fire-fighting trains help stop wildfires in their tracks

Our trains operate across much of the West, where drought conditions and high winds are common, so we can expect – and plan for – wildfires on or near our tracks. Although we take steps to prevent fires, they can and do occur, from lightning strikes, trespassers or other sources. The sooner we...

www.bnsf.com

Fire train assists firefighters in Washington – Wildfire Today

wildfiretoday.com

Wildfires Keep Fire Trains Busy Out West

BNSF and Canadian Pacific have both dispatched fire trains in recent days to help firefighters battling blazes in Montana and British Columbia.

railfan.com

One or more were working on the recent fire in the Gorge.

Bruce

MossRoad · Thursday at 11:45 AM

JRH02 said:
We live near the Columbia Gorge on the WA side. On the south side is UPRR and BN across the river. Every year the environmentalists are screaming that every fire started from the trains. Or it is the coal dust which blew off a long way back killing people and fish? Or about anything else. Both of those companies have quick response teams and equipment and they are involved regardless of the cause.

In other places there may be problems. But around here the RR do a fantastic job of response.

I love railroads. Have most of my life. That being said, like about every other industry of the past, they were not good stewards of the environment. They are getting much better, that's for sure, but only because they, again, like about every other industry, were/are forced to. So, probably a discussion for another thread, but here's just an example....
(click to enlarge)

JRH02 · Thursday at 11:45 AM

Yup, we were in a level 1.

JRH02 · Thursday at 11:54 AM

MossRoad said:
I love railroads. Have most of my life. That being said, like about every other industry of the past, they were not good stewards of the environment. They are getting much better, that's for sure, but only because they, again, like about every other industry, were/are forced to. So, probably a discussion for another thread, but here's just an example....
(click to enlarge)

View attachment 3918483

Yes. I worked at the Omaha shops. I believe it is or was a superfund site. I can believe it but of course I always practiced the best of the best practices. Right.. I wonder to this day how all the oils, solvents and caustics were handled. Huge volumes of it but maybe it was just a small thing for the size of the city. We always laughed that we drank Sioux city sewage but St. Joe and KC had to slurp it all up.

JRH02 · Thursday at 11:59 AM

MossRoad said:
I love railroads. Have most of my life. That being said, like about every other industry of the past, they were not good stewards of the environment. They are getting much better, that's for sure, but only because they, again, like about every other industry, were/are forced to. So, probably a discussion for another thread, but here's just an example....
(click to enlarge)

View attachment 3918483

Heavy industry is a tough thing. Esp old heavy. One of the reasons new heavy is not so much in the U.S.

BravoXray · Thursday at 10:11 PM

JRH02 said:
Yes. I worked at the Omaha shops. I believe it is or was a superfund site. I can believe it but of course I always practiced the best of the best practices. Right.. I wonder to this day how all the oils, solvents and caustics were handled. Huge volumes of it but maybe it was just a small thing for the size of the city. We always laughed that we drank Sioux city sewage but St. Joe and KC had to slurp it all up.

There was an International Truck garage in town next to the river for 30 or 40 years. Behind the shop, the lot was pretty much paved in oil and grease soaked gravel from washing trucks and dumping waste. If you walked to the river after a rain, you could see a sheen from oil leaching into the water. The shop closed in the early 80s, the building was torn down, and the lot sat vacant for 10 years or so, as the city was trying to get federal money to clean up the site. They never got it, and eventually someone bought the property, hauled in thousands of yards of fill, covered it all up, and eventually a Bob Evans restaurant was built.
A similar thing happened a block away, also on the river, where a scrap yard sat for many years. After it closed, eventually the city bought it and put up a couple office buildings and parking lots there.