horn blast or sounds

[mf5117]

I live near by an asphalt plant . They get alot of rock in by rail . What I'm wondering is ,at times I hear about 10 to 15 short blast or sometimes it just seems that the engineer keeps blasting those short horn blast . Does this mean there is people on the tracks around the train or signaling the breakmen . Sometimes it goes on all day . I'll hear the diesels rev up and slow down then here the couplers all mating up then the diesel engine die down .Then will be quite for awhile then the short blast again . Just wondering my son works nights and it wake's him during the day .

[mf5117]

edit : and there is a chemical plant just down the road from them with about 4 crossovers going to different locations of that plant

[NarrowMinded]

The amount of horn blast in a row mean different things they are no doubt unloading and picking up moving forward and reverse and stopping.
http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/funfacts/signals.shtml
NM-Jeff

[mf5117]

I saw that site NM and a couple of others . But was wondering why 10 to 15 like I said in the previous post . And some times they just keep doing the short blast . I know there is a standard .

[NarrowMinded]

Maybe it's a loco yard signal. Email the company and ask, they will likely respond.

NM-Jeff

[Doneldon]

mf-

There's no rule against using the horn as a warning to people who might
get hurt because they are too near the loco or in the way. Perhaps you're
hearing the result of switching and doing other railroad things 9n an
urban environment.
                                 -- D

[mf5117]

I actually found out what's going on . I know somebody that works for Huntsman Chemical and called and asked them why all the horn blast . While the rock load or string of tank cars are going threw the switching part of the tracks that lead into the yards . The engineer makes those short blast to let workers be alert that the train load is moving into one of the yards in route to the loading and unloading platforms . Also I've noticed the engineer makes the normal horn blast when crossing public crossings such as street and road crossings .

[Jim Banner]

I live about 1/2 a kilometer from where a major city road crosses the CN's north-south main.  Not surprisingly, there are often idiots who manage to stop on the tracks while waiting for traffic lights a block away.  Most of the engineers who regularly work that line will blow a series of short toots when they have to stop for such idiots.  But there is one who blows his horn only once, holding the button down from the time he has to stop until the idiot clears the track.  Needless to say. other drivers are looking at and pointing at the idiot who learns by embarrassment not to stop of the tracks.  Even the guys looking and pointing are reminded to avoid stopping on the tracks.  Some people are annoyed by the noise.  But I figure that he saves just one life over the span of his career, the noise is worth it.

Jim 

[Doneldon]

Jim-

I almost always agree with you about various things but this may be one where I don't. I'm not entirely opposed to idiots being thinned out of the breeding stock. Anyone stupid enough to stop on a track (not to mention the people who race trains at grade crossings and so are not only dumb but nuts) is kind of asking to get clobbered.
                          -- D

[Jim Banner]

It is indeed an effective method of chlorinating the shallow end of the gene pool but can be pretty hard on the train crew.  One engineer I met was off work for 3 months and off trains for an additional three months after hitting a car and killing the driver.  She tried to beat the train but didn't quite make it.  If she had, she might have saved a minute or two.  What she lost was the rest of her life.  If you figure she might have lived another 40 years, she was risking 2 million minutes to save 2 minutes.  What a huge risk for such a small return.  What a loss to her husband and kids.  And all for two lousy minutes.

Jim

[phillyreading]

It is indeed an effective method of chlorinating the shallow end of the gene pool but can be pretty hard on the train crew.  One engineer I met was off work for 3 months and off trains for an additional three months after hitting a car and killing the driver.  She tried to beat the train but didn't quite make it.  If she had, she might have saved a minute or two.  What she lost was the rest of her life.  If you figure she might have lived another 40 years, she was risking 2 million minutes to save 2 minutes.  What a huge risk for such a small return.  What a loss to her husband and kids.  And all for two lousy minutes.

Jim

I live near West Palm Beach, FL. About two weeks ago a pedestrian was killed by an Amtrak train near WPB Amtrak station. Also saw a man running down the CSX tracks two days prior, wonder if that was him?
You think car drivers are dumb, how about a Hess gasoline trailer truck getting struck by an Amtrak train in Ft. Lauderdale FL at the RR crossing? That accident killed 9 people including the truck driver, about 12 to 17 years ago.
Now the city of West Palm Beach or the county wants to kill train horns between 11 pm and 6 am on the CSX & Tri-Rail line. I think that will be a suicide license.

Lee F.

[Desertdweller]

I am a retired locomotive engineer, and you can believe me that this is something we have to deal with continually.  Although some crossing accidents are the result of drivers racing the train to the crossing, by far the biggest factor is drivers who totally ignore the possibility that a train may occupy the crossing at the same time they are attempting to.  A surprising number of these accidents involve people actually driving their cars into the side of trains already occupying the crossing!

The "thinning out the gene pool" concept can serve as a self-defense mechanism on the part of the engineer to turn the horror of a near-miss into anger at the stupidity of the driver.  It is easier to deal with anger than the idea that someone almost lost their life before your eyes.

Even if a fatal accident of this type is wholly the result of driver incompetence, it takes a heavy toll on the train crew, especially the engineer.  I have known engineers who have given up their certificates after fatal accidents that were not their fault.

Even worse, many of these accidents involve the loss of innocent lives of passengers in the vehicles.  The absolute worst thing you can hit is a school bus.  The next worse thing is a fuel tanker.

Les

[Doneldon]

Dd-

You are so right about the consequences paid by persons who have no responsibility for the stupidity of others' actions beyond merely being present for the mayhem. We've had a spate of people in the Twin Cities laying down in front of vehicles on the freeway in order to kill themselves. Add the suicide by cop crowd and the folks who OD with relatives' medications and there's quite a number of massively distressed innocents trying to cope with the undeserved aftermath of
self-destructive behavior over which they had no control and for which they had no responsibility. There are people here who are seriously traumatized by such experiences.
                           -- D

[phillyreading]

What people don't think about with a train is the train's stopping distance.
Try one mile or better for most short trains, under 50 cars, or an Amtrak passenger train. Long freight trains can take up to two miles to completely stop, depends on speed and sometimes percent of downhill incline.

Could you hold up the Empire State building if it was falling? NO! So why try to beet a train at any crossing, almost the same weight coming at you-but in a differant way.

Some diesel engines, like an SD90 can weigh near 255 tons, just for one engine. A Reading T-1, 4-8-4, steam engine weighs in around 404 tons.

Lee F.

[Doneldon]

Could you hold up the Empire State building if it was falling? NO! So why try to beet a train at any crossing, almost the same weight coming at you-but in a differant way.

Philly-

Well, the weights are no where near the same but the mass of a train is still so enormous that it hardly matters if the Empire State Building would weigh many 1000 times as much. Plus, the Empire State almost always stays put while trains are always moving around and acting shifty.
                                                                                                                                                                                           -- D