Oil and Stack train meet at Tukwila Station, 10-13-2014
Today I'm at the newly renovated Tukwila Station in Tukwila, WA - about 12 miles south of Seattle. The old temporary wooden platforms have given way to concrete platforms, more shelters, a bigger parking lot, etc.
Scanner traffic indicates that a northbound train is coming but I can also see that the Main 1 southbound signal is green. Hopefully, we'll get two trains for the price of one!
An oil train comes around the distant curve on Main 2. The lead loco is BNSF 5332 (C44-9W).
As she passed me, it was apparent that she was slowing down. This is unusual, as most trains just blast past the station at full track speed. Sure enough, she came to a complete stop.
Just a minute later, a southbound stack train came hustling down Main 1 at full track speed. BNSF 5264 (C44-9W) is on point. This close to the train, the wind is enough to almost knock you over.
Once the stack train passed, the oil train started pulling again. Nice train handling from the engineer, as there was barely a jerk as he throttled up. As the DPU units passed, you could hear them pushing hard as the train continued to accelerate.
As for why the oil train stopped, I have a theory. I heard Dispatch inform the oil train of a 25mph Form A speed restriction on Main 2 several miles north of Tukwila. I'm guessing that there some sort of track work going on, perhaps with Main 1 shut down and Main 2 under restriction. That would have put the stack train on Main 2 past the work crew, then it would have crossed over to Main 1 at CP Black River to make the meet with the oil train.
The oil train would have stopped short of the Black River signal immediately north of the station. The Black River Main 2 signal would have been red until the stack train passed. Once the stack train cleared Black River, switches would have been lined for the oil train to continue. The signal would have gone green and the engineer throttled up.
Oil:
5332 / 7517 / 5043 / 4688
C44-9W / ES44DC / C44-9W / C44-9W
Stack:
5264 / 7503 / 7604
C44-9W / ES44DC / ES44DC
Пікірлер: 12
Nice job SRF ! The close up of the shelf couplers was cool!, .they are huge!!, now I know why my HO scale ones look too big..LOl. Good stuff. Cheers Gregg:-)
@SeattleRailFan
9 жыл бұрын
For those unfamiliar, tank cars and other cars handling hazmat cargo use the AAR Type-E double-shelf coupler. These couplers have "shelves" that extend 5-6 inches above and below the main body of the coupler. This feature makes it less likely for the coupler to separate in a derailment. One of the main causes of tank car punctures in derailments is from couplers on other cars poking a hole in the car. There are also top-shelf and bottom-shelf couplers, with the additional shelves on the top or bottom only. AAR stands for American Association of Railroads, they set standards for many aspects of US railroad equipment. Also in that shot, you can see these cars are equipped with half-height head shields. A plate of 1/2 inch steel protects the lower part of the head of the car. Again, this is to minimize the chance of a coupler damaging the car. These cars are of the DOT111A100W1 spec, which you may have heard environmentalist nutcases freaking out about how the DOT111 tank cars are unsafe. These cars were built after Oct 2011, when the AAR started requiring that tank cars built to the DOT111A100W1 standard have the head shield, thicker steel and better protection for the top and bottom fittings. I can't believe I survived being that close to 100 of them! Whew!
@FishplateFilms
9 жыл бұрын
SeattleRailFan Thanks for that! Gregg
@colleenharlos2009
9 жыл бұрын
gregg-go-see-horseshoe curve- iin pennsylivia from leigh lennymust go see.
Nice catch! Rolling to a stop is not uncommon on the S-line here in Florida when trains meet.
Great catch my friend.
Good clip Todd!!
Nice! Can't wait to see your next video!
So THAT is where Glacier Park is located. I hear it mentioned frequently on the scanner.
@SeattleRailFan
8 жыл бұрын
+Robert F. W. Whitlock Glacier Park Company was a real estate company owned by Burlington Northern, hence a yard with that name. I think Glacier Park Co developed some of the land in Tukwila near the tracks. I think I've seen office parks in the area with the Glacier Park name on them.
These trains carrying Bakken formation oil have been getting a bad rep lately
@SeattleRailFan
9 жыл бұрын
Yes, ironically the protesters forget the crude oil these trains carry also provides some of the fuel that powers the car or bus they use to drive to their anti-oil train protests.