IS IT FIXED? NOPE.. | Jason Asselin

After my last video I wondered if they the MOW crew might give it a quick fix.. I guess not! Keep filming here I will.. Today they had to switch a few cars in East Kingsford, MI before continuing down the line. ELS 501 (EMD SD40-2) was originally built for Milwaukee Road in 1973 and is still hauling freight today for the Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad.
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HAULING COIL CARS, LOGS AND MORE! WATCH ELS 501 BUILT AS MILW 22 (SD40-2) HEAD SOUTH
• HAULING COIL CARS, LOG...
JUST SECONDS AWAY, TRAIN ALMOST HITS VEHICLE IN NO TRAIN HORN ZONE!
• HUMP DAY & JUST SECOND...
ICED OVER TRAIN TRACKS CAN LEAD TO TROUBLE!
• ICED OVER TRAIN TRACKS...
IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE I FILM IT..
• IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF ...
RARE EMD F7A OF THE ESCANABA & LAKE SUPERIOR RAILROAD - LOCOMOTIVE GRAVEYARD!
• RARE EMD F7A OF THE ES...
E&LS TRAIN HORN BATTLE IN PEMBINE, WI (LIVE)
• E&LS TRAIN HORN BATTLE...
3 LOCOMOTIVES SWAPPING CARS AND HEADING SOUTH!
• 3 LOCOMOTIVES SWAPPING...
FIRST TRAIN OVER NEWLY INSTALLED TIES..
• FIRST TRAIN OVER NEWLY...
E&LS RAILROAD REPLACED TIES UNDER THE SKETCHY TRACKS! • E&LS MOW CREW - RAILRO...
RAILROAD CALLS POLICE FOR ME FILMING!
• RAILROAD CALLS POLICE ...
FREIGHT TRAIN DERAILS ON VIDEO!
• Watch This Freight Tra...
TRAIN DERAILED, ITS ON THE GROUND!
• FREIGHT TRAIN DERAILED...
DID THAT FREIGHT TRAIN ENGINEER GIVE ME A PROPER SALUTE?
• DID THAT ENGINEER JUST...
A NEED FOR SPEED, PLUS LOGS FALLING TOO!
• A NEED FOR SPEED, PLUS...
THAT HANGING LOG WILL GET YOU!
• THAT HANGING LOG WILL ...
THANK GOD HE BEAT THE TRAIN!
• THANK GOD HE BEAT THE ...
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[@JawTooth]

That track sure does need some work. They could possibly get some grant money to rebuild that. It can't get much worse than that. Hopefully they will see this and do some necessary maintenance.

[@jasonasselin]

I called them and made them aware, although they must know at this point. Maybe these videos can get them that $$$ or show the state they need help.

[@lukenolts4]

@@jasonasselin do you ever see track gangs roll by in hi rails inspecting the tracks

[@neighborlynut]

Especially with it being so close to a grade crossing. You don't want derailments. But you definitely DON'T want them where people will get crushed in their cars while waiting for a train.

[@stephaneduguay7267]

Do you really think so 😅

[@maxrshelltrack7443]

@@neighborlynut as slow as it's going you really think those cars are gonna go that far omg lol.

[@charlesfarmer9474]

Thanks Jason - what you don’t see is the rail also twists as it jumps up - it wouldn’t take take much time to derail. Good eye by the way!

[@anthonyrichardson9975]

Turn this in to your local tv andor newspaper s editor s. Someone is going to get hurt

[@jamesdmehl]

No worries until the next thing the fish-bars break or the rail breaks or is missing, that's what happens when You can remove the track out of order and see how long it takes to have it fixed!

[@jamesdmehl]

By the way I was wondering who they are switching?

[@chcopping1358]

@@anthonyrichardson9975 m

[@suzanneillingworth8692]

Thanks Jason from uk

[@mattclark8436]

Jason, as much as that rail is flexing that rail joiner is not going to last long! They are operating on borrowed time before a derailment. I would think some track maintenance would be cheaper than picking up derailed cars. Thanks for another great video. You take care.

[@leannkennedy6568]

Once the bolts free it'll be on the ground.

[@jasonasselin]

We shall see

[@leannkennedy6568]

@@jasonasselin from the looks of how loose the nuts are it should happen shortly. Hope you're there to catch the action.

[@garyhardwick8489]

Trains would never be allowed to run over track like that in the UK. I do like your videos Jason,and you seem like a nice guy. As for my weekend,I'm not doing much as lockdown is still very much in force over here in the UK. Keep up the good work and stay safe.

[@jasonasselin]

Thanks 👍

[@TheLpbrennan]

Back in the early Sixties the Atlantic Coast Line began running Rail Rambles out of Orlando over branch lines. These were very popular, often having three E or FP units up front, 18 or 20 streamlined coaches, a baggage car in the middle for food and drink, and sometimes a bright red ACL caboose on the end! These trains quickly sold out, and made an impressive sight pulling through some little towns that hadn't seen a regular passenger train since World War II or before. On one of these trips, we went south to Lakeland and ran through a freight yard to reach the line going up to Rainbow Springs. I was standing in the rear door of the caboose (We couldn't ride on the platform) and as we rocked and rolled slowly along, the brakeman pointed to a rail we had just rolled over. The rail bounced up and down like a see-saw, being held only by the fish-plates at each end. What few solid ties there were underneath did little more than support, with the spikes being of little use. The brakeman shook his head and said he was waiting for the day it gave way.

[@charlesjordan8364]

Went on the last Ramble to Rainbow Springs. Great experience!

[@johngallagher2313]

Heading to the mountains to do a little walking around. Sixties here too before we hit another long wet spell. That rail was hopping around like a grasshopper in a hot skillet. Just a matter of time until they get on the ground if they do not make some repairs.

[@nashguy207]

Man i could see it a lot better in this video that piece of track is really jumping up and flexing a lot. I'M going to be staying around the house still recovering from surgery. Thanks for sharing Jason. Have a great weekend!

[@carlfalt174]

That is scary to see a rail jump like that! It's only a matter of time before it snaps and causes a derailment

[@frankrodriguez6998]

If it's that bad you should report it to department of National Transportation because I think if it's left alone any longer like that there is going to be a major derailment in the making.

[@lolas_bolas3566]

Yep

[@frankrodriguez6998]

@@lancemichaletz7248 Why don't you mind your own business and stop worrying about telling other people what to do because if you're going to let a comment that wasn't even directed at you bother you then you need to get over it and just move on and stop being a angry person who's trying to get everybody riled up because you're probably having a bad day.

[@PalpatineExOrder66]

Wrong organization

[@jasonasselin]

Major? Unlikely.. Better chance they park a few cars for a day or two.

[@jasonasselin]

Need some tissue bro?

[@kevincroley4282]

My plan is to sit on the dock and try for some pre spawn walleye in the Stiles area on the Oconto River!!! Have a great weekend Jason

[@jasonasselin]

Sounds great!

[@fogdan]

Great Job Jason!!! Thanks for posting!!!

[@jasonasselin]

Thanks for watching!

[@donaldhaywardjr.638]

Jason you do such a great job with pictures of a unique railroad !!!!!!!!

[@Wildstar40]

When you see improperly maintained rails like this it makes one wonder what else is being neglected.

[@lairdcummings9092]

A call to the NTSB would not be out of order. Also: I expect the engineer is sweating the safety of these un-maintained rails.

[@alexandermckay8594]

Also noticed that the rails aren't lining up at the far crossing. 501 took a strong lateral once he crossed the roadway. They basically need to rip up that whole section between the two roads, rebed and put new ties and rails on.

[@erikmcc804]

awewsome Jason ELS AKA PENN CENTRAL JR

[@AMPProductionsVideo]

Nice catch with the 501 leading, hopefully they'll do some work on that track/ties

[@jasonasselin]

I hope so too

[@TheEagle2688]

NTSB needs to know about this. Els has been told and not doing anything next step needs to be done.

[@erict5234]

Ntsb has nothing to do with this UNTIL there is an accident / derailment... This is the FRA's responsibility to enforce the Code of federal regulations regarding railroad operations... But, For those of you who watch these videos and talk about safety... the unfortunate reality is that this railroad probably IS operating under the minimum requirements of the CFRs... This may look bad, but it isn't cheap to keep a fleet of cars and locomotives maintained, tracks and bridges is good condition and signal systems operating. I was told once that it costs 1 million dollars per mile to maintain track to Class 4 conditions (70mph passenger, 40mph freight) This railroad is class 1 and FRA excepted track.

[@tuxitalk4-tuxipolitixpage772]

That is nuts! Sooner or later that track will be tossing and turning and a derailment is coming. Going to do some Spring Housecleaning and I advise the railroad to do the same on that track!

[@michaelwood5202]

That short bit of rail is what we called A dutchman. I f they are going to keep it there they need to weld it. MA Wood

[@Burgersman]

Nice video again jason .the track is more bent like the positions. You thought they repair it as you reported it .

[@railfanowen9372]

That rail will eventually turn sideways, and that’ll cause a wreck

[@TeimonKauppa739]

So they need track crew to fix. I have a friend that is track crew. I learnt a lot of railroads.

[@railfanowen9372]

@@TeimonKauppa739 yep, they need a rail replacement, or new joint

[@Mike-su8si]

Well it's what they want or they'd fix it before that even happens but those tracks been looking like shit for a long time now All they gotta do is lay some new pine tree limbs down

[@chasboomer2588]

Thanks for the video Jason. I'll be thinning some irises and replant some and sharing some with family and friends. Plenty of main railways here in Toledo Ohio.

[@jasonasselin]

Tulips are creeping out, thats it here.

[@9-44CW]

The rail is alive

[@williamexmormon3792]

Nice video brother 👍👍👍👍👍

[@jasonasselin]

Thanks for the visit

[@leonardovalladares4315]

low to mid 70s in socal trying relax but gotta keep trucking. dang that rail not good a derailment waiting to happen

[@АлексейТарасенко-д7ч]

Sorry for my bad English, but that is realy madness... Motorman have of steel eggs, take for my respect!!!

[@spiderkidLarry]

Looking back at these older videos I can tell how much better youve gotten at filiming. But they are still good.

[@lukenolts4]

The ties are in bad shape and need to be replaced. They can lately hold in the spikes to keep the trails down

[@1topfueldrag]

that’s some rough looking rail. Rail co doesn’t believe in picking up their ties.

[@shadetreeforge]

Oh my! Just be careful! If EL&S wont fix it, call DOT or the FRA and be ready with the camera! At a safe distance of course!

[@erikg.2666]

I am amazed that this railroad is operating a 6 axle unit like the SD40-2 on such poor track! With the extra weight, it is no wonder that the rail is almost rolling over when the locomotive passes over it!

[@zyglo9826]

Looks like one of those two-bit little local railroads where the track hasn’t seen routine maintenance since it was laid and trains are restricted to 5-10 mph. We have a few of those outfits here in MN as well. Derailments waiting to happen.

[@Davidshawlands]

This randomly cam up on my feed. I’ve literally never seen track like tha tin the UK. Not even disused track like that in the UK. Damn, they must have some lax safety standards.

[@raymondbundy8140]

What's keeping the track from laying over and detailing the train??????

[@georgeadams1853]

That looks like the track CR inherited from PC in the 1970s. I recall waiting at a grade crossing on the NY-Chicago main line, and watched a rail joint move up and down at least 6 inches as the train passed over it. It made me wish I had stopped about 30 yards farther from the tracks. With apologies to John Huston et al., "Spikes? We don't need no stinkin' spikes."

[@gravelydon7072]

The railbanked CSX track down here is in better condition than that except in one lone spot.

[@Kathrynyoder-x2j]

I see a derailment in the future. My plans is getting outside and get my gardens ready for spring planting.

[@nancyleopold9003]

Does the engineer wave to ya? Yes it’s the seem train. The way he rings that bell you’d think he was the ice cream guy. Nel

[@seanmcbain7097]

That's the worst looking stretch of railway I've ever seen. Great video!!!

[@steiger256]

Nice to see a ex old Milwaukee Road SD40-2 still kicken.

[@cristopherlove3865]

Ex milwaukee road SD40-2! The shorter fuel tank gives that away!

[@williamoleschoolarendt7016]

Reminds me of Louisiana tracks! Hwy 23 in southeast LA. going down through Belle Chase and Port Sulfur and Empire have some of the worst tracks I've ever seen! That stretch has had multiple derailments and I keep waiting for the fix and it never happens! The crazy thing is that the railroad and New Orleans keep fighting over who is responsible for the tracks and in the meantime we have very toxic chemicals coming out of Chevron Chemicals and Sulfur train cars coming down those tracks! I keep praying that we don't have a derailment where the train cars start leaking because we have people who live all up and down that stretch of hwy including many farmers and their crops! The only locomotives allowed are small switchers and they only pick up 5 cars at the most and they only run about 5 mph down the tracks! If you stand by the tracks watching the train coming towards you you can see the engine and cars dancing all over! Smdh

[@vernonmatthews181]

Track maintenance sure looks pretty 3rd world jumping up & down like that. Makes you wonder what the criterea is to warrant some action being taken. Thanks Jason for keeping us all posted. 😎👌👍

[@everybuddy5924]

It depends on the classification of the line. Main lines are well maintained. This is a short line that sees little rail traffic and I would bet it is the same engine when the line does get used. These types of railways are private businesses that do industries the main railways no longer handle themselves. We had such a line in Northfield MN. We would take the cars to a side track that a private railway would get the cars from and they would leave the return cars for us to get to take back to Northfield.

[@jamesfarmer6648]

In Oct 1973 I went to work for a small local railroad called Lake Superior Terminal and Transfer Railroad. Every where we went the tracks were as bad or worse than this.

[@scottwilson937]

jawtooth has many examples of this especially after katrina !

[@albertringshauser5805]

Great to see you again. Hope to see more soon!

[@thomasabramson100]

Its getting warm here too FINALLY but everything still closed

[@Bill-dw5wk]

Hello Jason 👋 They need more than ties or spikes, they need new Ballast under the rails. I'm Staying in this weekend. It was in the 80s today only 51🥺 Safe Buddy.👍👍👌

[@jamesmclaughlin6886]

You know what will happen, they'll put it on the ground and blame railfans like you for making it happen! Be careful out there bud!

[@Ryan-yo4dg]

That makes no sense 🤦

[@williamkaczmarek3996]

I like your new camera Jason. It really has some nice resolution.

[@syrblazer35]

WOW!!!

[@StefanMX]

Here in Europe this would be absolutely impossible. No rail track would be allowed to be used in this condition ever here.

[@josephcarroll2824]

Bad ties in time the rail will bend over major derailment

[@TonyVRailfanning]

That’s terrible maintenance of that area. Have you thought of reporting it to the railway?

[@jasonasselin]

You must not have seen the video before this one..

[@Tigerhawk1981]

yup they need to replace those rails

[@libby5335]

Doesn't even look like the rail is attached to the tie very well. Weather here in north Idaho is supposed to be good so we will be out playing logger to start cleaning up downed trees from the last wind storm.

[@jasonasselin]

Fingers crossed!

[@TheKuptis]

To be fair that whole section from the road you're filming from to the places they switched the cars at need completely redone: road bed, ties, and rail all need replaced.

[@larryhall2805]

There was a mile long industrial spur off the Conrail Akron secondary that was so poor that some of the train crew would walk on the times preceding the locomotives to keep it on the rails. I sure miss that track, though.

[@trainjunky247]

Bike riding and train hunting !! 🤣🚴🚂

[@paulsmith5398]

Someone needs to call the FRA, that track is just too dangerous to run trains on!

[@josephcarroll2824]

They won't fix it until something happens

[@stripervince1]

Just go to the nearest train yard and ask to see the track dept foreman and show him the video. They'll send a crew the next day. That can be fixed with one tie plate and two spikes. Not major at all

[@feliciascott6874]

A number of years ago the city of Portsmouth, NH sued the railroad for numerous derailments of propane tankers coming through town on raggedy, unmaintained rails and ties like are shown in this video. The derailments were terribly dangerous and blocked access to the town from the interstate highway. Portsmouth won the suit and the lazy railroad was ordered to make significant repairs before the propane shipments were allowed to continue. The town hosting this mess filmed by Asselin should sue before they end up like Lac Megantic.

[@cmphighpower]

Don’t you dare miss a train. Can’t wait to see it derail

[@yumpinyiminy963]

The warped track and ties are nuts. I know the cost for a short line vs transport is limited but really?

[@spockb1186]

Old Fashioned Railroad. Nice to see a GM Engine than BN, SF or UP.

[@clevelandrailfan9776]

Those tracks are absolutely in terrible shape thx for sharing

[@KB-gs8zi]

Sir Jason !!! Better watch out as the RR will turn their loyal ""MATT"" on you !!HAHA NO Fooling ,,that is only gona get worse !!! Seems like the Conductor or Engineer would pickup on that as surly they can here it when the engine hits that spot !! MOWING LAWN THIS WEEKEND IN SC ..!!! ""KEEP IT SAFE ""!!! What's the Lake doing ???

[@bbt305]

Thats insane!

[@JPER-cv2lq]

OLD American rail , what a disaster.

[@Kurt1968]

Wow. Tank cars too...let's have a derailment and a huge toxic waste spill. Richest country in the world and our tracks look like they belong in the third world.

[@dermotmcglinchey282]

Kurt the rail system is third world, India is continuously upgrading its system and I watched a KZbin video of their new double deck freight trains , containers double stacked..Take a quick look at how they and China are powering ahead, just amazing..

[@lilfur]

Watching that rail & tie flex is terrifying.

[@railfanlondonwhaley9521]

I enjoyed that video👍👍

[@tireguytireguy5214]

like watching paint dry

[@covrace]

Home of the only two Baldwin sharks.

[@waynelkohrjr.8557]

The ties need replace too.

[@pdalko]

Nasty looking track

[@alphakiller2269]

As a train engineer who drives these beasts I drove over tracks like that n derailed Bc of the track buckled under pressure

[@jimwilloughby]

I knew the rail in your neighborhood was bad, but OH Jayzus. One day, soon< if that doesn't get fixed you may get to video a railcar laying over, and staying over.

[@mattalbrecht7471]

And it hasn't buckled from metal fatigue? Wow

[@bclawson72]

Typical attitude if it ain't broke, no need to fix it. Nobody has died yet so they are good.

[@sysghost]

If the rails looked like that in Sweden, They'd shut down the whole line right away. Then a lengthy investigation would start to find the culprit of why it was even allowed to degrade to such a low level.

[@ebbeollman1198]

Swedish railway maintenance is nothing to whiteboarden home about: Svenskt järnvägsunderhåll är väl inte toppkvalitet alla gånger?

[@brucebird133]

All railroads should be like that - stop - repair - investigate - kick someones arse.

[@sysghost]

@@ebbeollman1198 I guess you got better inside information than Banverket does.

[@everybuddy5924]

This isnt a main line any more. It used for picking and setting out at industries. It is also most likely a privately owned railway and they may have a yard track that they are switching cars into/off of. When I worked on the railroad we had such a private railway. They switched the industries, set the cars out on a siding track for the Northfield MN yard crews to pickup. The industries on these lines receive too few cars a week for the main railroads to bother with. Besides the major railways are more interested in the long haul rather than some of the local work.

[@Memphisdoug]

Is there something missing on the undercarriage of that engine? There seems to be a big gap between the front truck and the fuel tank.

[@brycehale3576]

No, the Milwaukee Road ordered all of their SD40-2's with shortened fuel tanks. Reason why escapes me atm.

[@gravelydon7072]

@@brycehale3576 Because of the lightweight rail branches. Remember MLW had the SDL39 models which were really light.

[@brycehale3576]

@@gravelydon7072 I thought that might've been the reason, just wasn't sure. Thanks for clarifying!

[@iliyaramadanovic8588]

you should see the track on the pan am portsmouth branch

[@rayzzer1953]

Very awesome

[@truckfump-no45]

How is that even possible? That is nuts

[@williamdecamp7343]

1st off, that’s not mainline track, it’s bolted rail just like in most yards and the train going back and forth leads me to believe the conductor is kicking a car and while I’m not familiar with the location, it appears to be near an industrial area and the rail line (spur) in question might not be owned by railroad using it. Notice the locomotives slow speed? It’s slow because of the tracks condition. Mainline track wouldn’t have all that debris and junk cuz most Road Masters wouldn’t have it near the track like that. All tracks owned by railroads are inspected daily not so with private owned tracks.

[@maxrshelltrack7443]

This is a class 3 RR I believe the tracks pretty much all look like that with small railroads.

[@davenelson9253]

I would not want to be the engineer that had to run them rails !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@indowneastmaine]

!

[@DavesTrainsAndAutomobiles]

I want to get that General Motor's number 501 locomotive in G scale 👍 Awesome video thanks..

[@rjonline5018]

When are you going to video the pan handlers

[@jasonasselin]

When they show up. They don't live here.

[@michaelstone3093]

It doesn't look like track maintenance is much of a priority

[@SWITCHMASHER]

Comeon joe, get this fixed!

[@minkendall940]

Wow. The E&LS is looking like the Milwaukee road in the 80s.

[@gotherecom]

Are they insane? Or just greedy for deferred maintenance? WHEN an oil car goes over and the town burns down and people die, the RR will just say "Oops, we didn't know there was a hazard there."

[@charlesevans1872]

Most short line railroads are on life support. If they lose one customer they often go broke. Not much money left over for maint once you pay for fuel and labor. The Federal government used to subsidize small railroads but I think they stopped. The big railroads sold a lot of short lines off when the subsidies stopped.

[@Mokhas45]

How is this possible?

[@timidema6374]

That track needs some tlc fast or train will leave the track, now I see why train tryed 4 times to move. Me going to see a Christian concert in Neptune Indiana.

[@ScotchIrishcelt]

Hopefully they won,t be carrying chlorine gas when they derail

[@airsearch1]

I think after the train backed up and came back, I would have shown the video of the tracks jumping like that to the engineer.

[@jasonasselin]

They watch. I know that for a fact. lol

[@lovepapers1802]

The US of A in the 1700’s was far better. What a shame when politicians invoke American “exceptionalism”!

[@jasonbrunault7902]

Isn't that the spot where they always derailed in past videos?

[@jasonasselin]

This whole section really..

[@jasonbrunault7902]

@@jasonasselin they must love derailing their own trains

[@ewpfaffly]

Yes, I did. Good eye friend. I am sorry but I wouldn't use our Railroad infrastructure until it is upgraded.

[@wendyharper9454]

Too weird for a Limey to understand !!

[@eddieo9424]

Thanks wendy