800 Passengers stranded near Sandford
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wayman
Engineer
"Workers tried to get the (draw)bridge to come down mechanically, but eventually it was lowered by hand, she said."
OK, what exactly does it mean to lower a drawbridge by hand? I'm picturing hundreds of guys pulling on huge rope going through some pulleys ... or Andre the Giant turning a massive hand-crank...
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I swear to God, sometimes you have to be a masochist to even want to consider traveling by train in the USA.........
I read reports like that, and it just makes my head want to explode, like that old movie Scanners..........
I mean, Amtrak has enuff of it's own GD troubles to deal with, and then to have to put up with crap like this....on an almost weekly basis......
"It it ain't one thing, it sure is another."
amtrakwolverine
Engineer
well with all do respect RRdude there is this thing called winter. and in winter it gets very cold and sometimes machines don't like to work in sub zero temps.
Agree, tell that to the Danes, Swiss, Russians, let me see who else operates pax trains in the cold, Chinese, Canadiens, (maybe not a good example) Norwegians, Germans, la, la, la, la, la........
I know, I know all the arguments.......just still makes me wanna...............nm
PetalumaLoco
Conductor
Here's the drawbridge in action.. Counter-weighted, just could be it can be raised manually by cranking a wheel.
of the entire bridge down, with trains crossing.
Trainorders.com link; "AIR PIPE LEAK HAS BEEN REPAIRED, BUT NOW REPORTING PRIMARY AND
BACKUP MOTORS ARE BURNT OUT. THEY WILL TRY TO CRANK DOWN THE BRIDGE WITH A
CRESCENT WRENCH. " :blink:
of the entire bridge down, with trains crossing.
Trainorders.com link; "AIR PIPE LEAK HAS BEEN REPAIRED, BUT NOW REPORTING PRIMARY AND
BACKUP MOTORS ARE BURNT OUT. THEY WILL TRY TO CRANK DOWN THE BRIDGE WITH A
CRESCENT WRENCH. " :blink:
G
Guest
Guest
Same thing happened to me a couple of years back on the northbound CONO at Manchak, drawbridge stuck in the up position. Weather was sunny and warm. The worst thing was we were a few hundred feet from Mittendorf's restaurant which serves the best catfish I've ever had. IIRC we were delayed about 2.5 hours but some of this was to let sb traffic through.
Gord
ALC Rail Writer
Engineer
"TRAIN COMING, I HEAR THE HORN, GET ME THE WRENCH!"
amtrakwolverine
Engineer
gives a new meaning to elbow grease.
G
Guest
Guest
umm, the bridge is in florida, no sub zero temps, rarely even sub freezing temps, try reading the article.
Well, just to clarify, this was in Sanford (not Sandford), which is in Florida. Sub-zero temperatures would not have been a factor since the temperature yesterday got up into the 70's. (And I'm pretty certain that aboard the Silver Meteor there were enough hot tempers that it could have been converted to a steam train.)
I was lucky enough to be a passenger on the Silver Star #92. I boarded in Tampa on my way to DeLand (the first station on the opposite side of the bridge in question). We departed Tampa about 35 minutes over schedule, which was not surprising given the large numbers of holiday travelers that were boarding in each station. We pulled into Orlando around 7:30-ish, and they announced that CSX had advised them to extend their stay at the station for at least an hour due to the drawbridge trouble. (If any earlier announcements had been made, they were drowned out by my Ipod.)
I called Julie at 800-USA-RAIL and they were estimating the arrival time into DeLand (normally about an hour from Orlando) at around 11:00 pm. So like most of the people getting off in either DeLand or Winter Park, I got off the train and made arrangements to be picked up in Orlando. I made it to my folks' place in Daytona Beach around 11:00 pm, by which time the Silver Star had just finally left Orlando.
At least we were fortunate enough to be stopped at a station during the time in question. The poor folks on the Silver Meteor were "somewhere between Winter Park and Sanford" according to Julie. As much as I like trains, I would still not want to be stuck sitting on one for 7.5 hours going nowhere. I don't know exactly where the Auto-Train was, though since their station is immediately south of the bridge, they hopefully just remained parked in the station so people could get off the train if they so wished.
Its not surprizing things like this are happening. Much of the rail infrastructure dates to the late 19th/early 20th century. The builders built solid, but somethings have to be updated periodically. What if all the airports were the same as they were post WWII?
battalion51
Engineer
I would imagine, without knowing for certain, that Auto Train would've tried to stay in the yard, but they may have been forced to pull since you have to have Mechanical present when a train is within yard limits. The Meteor may have been able to creep up and platform at the old Sanford station to be able to let people smoke and stretch.
Amtrak OBS Gone Freight
OBS Chief
- Joined
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Well, I happened to be around that night, so I will be happy to fill in the blanks on what trains were where.
AMTK #P098- was stopped at the signal for the bridge. Passengers were unfortunately stuck on their train. The T&E crew went on the law, therefore, half of the Auto Train T&E crew were placed into service on #98 to continue their train to Jax.
AMTK #P052- was stopped at the North End of Sanford siding. They had already pulled as that length of delay wasn't anticipated at that time. Their passengers were stuck on their train, too. The Auto Train probably had to be re-crewed before they got to FLO, but I am not sure.
CSX #OUCX- Train with empty coal hoppers pulled up behind the #P052 blocking it from being able to reverse into SFA.
CSX #Q456- Mixed freight train stopped in the siding at Sanford at the North end right next to #P052... Q456 was able to do their work in Rand Yard during the delay, but still had to wait with the others before they could proceed.
AMTK #P092 was held at the station in Orlando. At least these circumstances were better for the passengers of this train being they were in a safe entry/exit point should those who were onboard desired to make alternate travel plans.
On the North side of the bridge....
CSX #A766- Crew on the Sanford road switcher went on the law up in the siding at Benson Jct (about a mile or so to the North of the bridge)
CSX #Q187- SB TOFC/COFC (trailer/container) train made a straight run from Jacksonville to the siding at DeLand where they waited for the entire NB parade of trains as soon as the bridge opened.
Misc...
CSX train #Q188- re-routed up the S-line which is what #P092 most likely would have done had the delay been anticipated to be as long as it was before they had passed Lakeland.
OBS gone freight...
Amtrak OBS Gone Freight
OBS Chief
- Joined
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And tonight, train #92 struck a trespasser (suicide) just North of DeLand at milepost A744. They were exactly ontime leaving DLD, but have just now been released and are on the move heading towards JAX.
OBS gone freight...
OBS gone freight...
amtrakwolverine
Engineer
i was commenting in rrdudes comment in general sense he said amtrak was having lots of problems and you would have to be crazy to take amtrak. 90% of the problems right now are weather related.
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