Stacy Street Yard switch job having problems, 8-6-2010

BNSF 3436 (SW1500) pulls a string of empty well cars out of the Stacy Street Yard in Seattle.
Well, she tries to anyway. After stopping to line a switch, the air brake controller malfunctions leaving her stuck as the crew tries to get the controller to work and release the brakes. Takes a few tries, but they get it working and continue on.

[@SeattleRailFan]

The Blue Angels were in town for our annual Seafair celebration. They do an air show over Lake Washington during the hydroplane races that is one of highlights of the year for Seattle. That was one of their F/A-18's zooming by right above me. The sound of freedom!

[@SeattleRailFan]

@timboz1986 Those were shutters that close over the radiator grille. They're controlled by a thermoswitch. With the engine under load, water temp rises causing the switch to open the shutters and kick the radiator fan on. After sitting idle for a bit, water temp drops and the switch then closes the shutters and stops the fan. All this is to keep the engine at the correct operating temperature. Most newer cars have a similar thermoswitch-controlled electric radiator fan.

[@SeattleRailFan]

The Hazmat number on the containers is 3170, Aluminum Dross. Dross is the impurities that form on molten aluminum. It is skimmed off prior to casting and is shipped to recyclers that separate the aluminum from the impurities. Dross is a class 4.3 hazardous material "Hazardous When Wet". Wet dross in a confined container can create noxious amounts of ammonia & explosive amounts of methane & hydrogen. Dross in an enclosed container can also produce a thermite reaction with temps of 3000F (1648C).

[@circularlogic874]

Man...I never get tired of watching SW's doing their thing.  I grew up next to a large steel mill in OH that ran SW900's (maybe some 7's too). We'd sneek over to the yard to watch 'em whenever we could.

[@IanR1205]

I'm a BNSF engineer so I'm familiar with crew occupation titles. On yard jobs, for whatever reason, the conductor is called a foreman and the brakeman is called a helper.

[@coxsj]

Thanks, I enjoyed this. Normally, a long shot of the engine just sitting there would be boring but your commentary made the whole thing much more interesting. Keep the switching clips coming and continue to add the details about what is happening and why. I also like how you focus on details of the trains and right of way. Excellent reference material for modeling. If you can, some overhead shots would be excellent. Roof details is hard to find.Great stuff.

[@medichuey]

The crew was operating the locomotive using LCS Beltpak. After the air dumped the locomotive's horn continued to sound until the movement stopped which means that an emergency brake application was commanded by one of the beltpak's. The closing of the angle cock behind the engine is to speed up the recovery; after the pcs valve resets the main res needs to build up to 130psi and the flow needs to drop below 60cfm. With cars attached it would take significantly longer to recover.

[@Landaux]

That lil engine or 'Goat' is 40 years old! :-O I dont think its ever been rebuilt & has been through alot of course over the years. First it was Frisco's 351 .. Then BN's 56 ..and now today's BNSF 3436. So its SEEN THE WORLD! :-) But PLEASE DO-NOT-REPLACE THIS BABY WITH A GENSET!!

[@SeattleRailFan]

The Blue Angels were in town for our annual Seafair celebration. They do an air show over Lake Washington during the hydroplane races that is one of highlights of the year for Seattle. That was one of their F/A-18's zooming by right above me.

[@ozzyhead1985]

Nice to read a comment that actually shows real knowledge of what we see happening in the video!!

[@SeattleRailFan]

The air brake valve on each car has a "release rod". Pulling it dumps the air pressure out of the brake cylinders, which releases the brakes. Also, if a car has been sitting for some time, the air will have leaked out of the cars entire brake system, and thus the brakes would not be set.

[@SeattleRailFan]

I had my scanner tuned to the channel the crew was using and heard their conversations as they dealt with the situation.

[@cuzinitr]

Excellent video! What a great catch, they have trouble, get it going again, and it stop's again, with a great old SOO LiNE right in front of you. I liked the close up on the coupler when they started up. The jet's overhead were a real bonus. Cool! Count me as a new subscriber. Rich

[@mafarnz]

Great video. It's cool to see the kind of things that happen in day to day RR operations.

[@AlexBaldwin440]

I find it funny because he came in to hot and had to dump the air and somehow that is what caused the train to keep dumping. lol good video.

[@louislokuta2463]

PS: Robertgift......First, you cannot fine a railroad for blocking a road due to a mechanical problem. Secondly, the railroad has 15 minutes from the moment a wheel stops turning to legally block a road for a non-mechanical breakdown reason. And, every time that wheel turns again, the clock resets. You should use the following logic: "Don't want to get stuck by a train? Don't drive by the tracks". After all, the tracks were there long before you.

[@GEES44DC]

+Louis Lokuta Are you sure about that? In Canada you have 5 minutes once the train stops to clear the crossing.

[@SeattleRailFan]

Yup. This was one of my earlier videos. I've since learned to leave the longer captions on screen for a longer time.

[@mandm339]

Not trying to be a smartypants but on the RR I work for it looks like the first guy off was the conductor, second guy off was a conductor in training due to the high vis hat, the engineer never left the cab

[@nostromo42670]

Sounds like F-18s were flying overhead. No 787s sounds like that.

[@SeattleRailFan]

The Blue Angels were in town preparing for their annual air show at Seafair. They take off and land at Boeing Field, just a mile or so south of this location.

[@Maine_Railfan]

SeattleRailFan cool

[@SeattleRailFan]

I beg to differ, but I have a scanner and listen to the crews talk. On BNSF road trains here in the Seattle area, the term "conductor" is used. On local jobs, instead of conductor, the term "foreman" is used. If they have a brakeman on the crew, the term "helper" is used for that person. Their official job titles may be brakeman, or switchman but they don't use those terms on the radio.

[@enr3870]

It appears to be under Beltpack/RCO(check the control box that the switchman has on his vest), the brake handle in the cab would be cut out. When an engine is in beltpack mode it thinks it's a trailing unit to the beltpack computer. Beltpack doesn't like it when you dump the air and I think someone needs to have a talk with that helper about plugging it to stop for a switch in non main track(yellow targets) instead of being prepared to stop short of a switch not properly lined.

[@WeldinMike27]

Lovely stuff then. Thanks very much for the quick reply and excellent info.

[@robertgift]

Interesting catch! Have text remain on the screen longer so that we can read without pausing.

[@SeattleRailFan]

@Railfan19960 Yup. Boeing Field is just to the south of Stacy Yard so you'll get low-flying jets on final approach right over your head all the time. That might've been one of the 787 test planes, they were all over Seatlle last summer.

[@treos17]

this is why remotes suck, bring back engineers

[@enr3870]

Beltpack can be very tempermental. I personally have had to try and recover emergency 4 or 5 times before it did anything.

[@SeattleRailFan]

@skyraiderjet I believe it's a Leslie S-25. Not 100% sure. Some railfans are so into train horns that they can tell the make and model of a horn just by listening. I'm not one of those...

[@SeattleRailFan]

@SEllis05 Well, they're empties so it wasn't that much tonnage. Those little SW1500s can pull quite a bit more. I was at Stacy Yard where one of them was pulling 57 loaded wells, probably 3-4,000 tons. Full throttle, sounded great!

[@ERA3733]

If you keep watch in the locomotive as it passes the camera, you will see a blast of air that shows that the locomotive "Dynamited", which means that - most likely - the Gladhand between the Locomotive and the first car either parted, or developed a hole. In any event, the brakes had an emergency application.

[@silviowanderleimaieski]

Realmente um movimento muito intenso pela ferrovia, viaduto e espaço aéreo. Vagões diferentes aos do Brasil, igual somente os hopper. Os USA é de fato um país gigantesco. Abraço.

[@SeattleRailFan]

@mafarnz Yeah, it was pretty exciting as it was the first time I've caught an engine having problems. Less exciting for the cars and trucks stuck at the crossing for nearly 25 minutes.

[@mrbloodlett1461]

lot of cars for such a small engine

[@baronjutter]

That's some amazing hair

[@SeattleRailFan]

Could be. I've only heard the crews on local jobs around here use the terms "foreman" and "helper" to refer to themselves. Some may be in training or students, but I don't know if they wear different clothing/hats to mark that status.

[@TrainTrackTrav]

Nice sounding RS31 she has. God bless!

[@WeldinMike27]

Do you know what those green boxes/ containers are, the ones with all the chemical warning labels on?

[@chichi41]

I have never understood how they keep the train from stringlining at the turnouts when they have very light cars at the head end and heavy cars farther back.

[@SeattleRailFan]

Not sure. I didn't see a blast as the loco passed me. There was a small one as she braked to a stop. Distance from me to where she stopped was like 8-9 car lengths. I would think in emergency the train would have stopped much quicker. A "dynamite" situation results in a bang, bang,bang sound as each car goes into emergency in order. I didn't hear that. Also, the crew closed the angle cock on the loco and the problem continued, thus the issue was with the brake stand not one of the cars.

[@hifijohn]

my guess all the cars are empty-the tracks arent deflecting very much.

[@richardmoses1686]

Interesting. In your area, BNSF uses one (1) diesel for switching cars. Out here in my area, Wichita, KS, all 3 of the railroads which work and go thru Wichita, use two (2), or three (3) diesels for switching. All three railroads are: BNSF; UP; and SK&O. BTW - any chance of getting a video of the container cranes being used?

[@SeattleRailFan]

Probably depends on the weight of the cars being moved. At Stacy Street Yard, I've seen single SW1500s, GP38s and SD40s switching. Sometimes 2 SW1500s will be MU'ed together. At other yards I've seen 1 or 2 locos on switching jobs. As for shooting the container cranes around Stacy in action, there really isn't a great vantage point to do so. The yard is hemmed with with lots of commercial property. I'll look around, might be able to get some footage somewhere.

[@lailasalas]

Fortunately no fatalities. Everybody in the train and surrounding areas are alive.

[@TheOneAndOnlyFink]

What kind of jet flew over at 5:30? It sounded mean.

[@joshw1687]

Nice catch of this move, btw it was funny to see the birds take flight at 1:03 lol

[@A_Rotisserie_Chicken]

ya your right do they ever get anoyed by it

[@brainerdrebel]

Triple Value stuck, it could be on a car or on the engine. It happens when the engineer makes a brake app.

[@MikeSnow9]

Excellent video Todd......Mike

[@SouthShoreTrain]

Cool, at 3:20 the radiator shutters close

[@iggyjill]

Neither is the engineer the loco is remotely controled if you notice at 2 mins the conductor after lining the switch slightly looks down to operate the loco.

[@irelandbloke]

Awesome videos

[@GEES44DC]

I don't think there is an engineer here. It's a Beltpack assignment.

[@SeattleRailFan]

I don't' think stringling is an issue at yard speeds or on a turnout. I think it's mostly an issue at higher speeds, on a curve and especially on an uphill grade when the locos are pulling hard at full throttle.

[@Maine_Railfan]

nice

[@bogoto247]

Engine provides air pressure. Pressure releases car breaks, loose pressure breaks set on. How is it individual cars can be "kicked" with no air pressure the car breaks would be set

[@Phibes525252]

Why do they have remote controls on a two man crew?

[@GEES44DC]

+Phibes525252 Why wouldn't they? That's how we do it in Canada. This would be a 3 man job if there was an engineer.

[@ozzyhead1985]

The guy put the train in emergency because he wasn't gonna be able to stop for the switch. That's all that happened here folks. Anyone with real railroad operations knowledge, especially in Beltpack mode, will tell you the same thing.

[@garlandward7184]

3:26 - Beam me up, Scotty!

[@NS9045]

Awesome video!!

[@aidanrose8419]

How come the rad is glowing when the video clips back on @3:28

[@SeattleRailFan]

+Aidan Rose What you're seeing there is the radiator shutters closing. The shutters are painted orange, so it does look a bit like they are "glowing". The shutters open and close automatically to keep the engine water temp in the correct range. If the loco sits idle for a bit, they close to keep water temp from falling too low. Once the loco starts pulling, they'll open to keep the water from getting too hot.

[@SeattleRailFan]

That was one of my earlier videos and I tended to leave all text on screen for my editing programs default of 5 seconds. I've gotten better in later videos, leaving single lines of text on for 5 sec and text that is 2 or 3 lines on for longer.

[@felixbaxter]

Looks like the brakeman at about 3 minutes stops to light a splif.

[@MD88Pilot]

what is that noise at 3:27

[@bettyboop65340]

awful long train for a switcher.is this near an airforce base?

[@SeattleRailFan]

bettyboop65340 No.. The airplanes you hear overhead are taking off and landing at Boeing Field, which is just a mile down from this location. On this day, the Blue Angels were in town for our annual Seafair celebration and you can hear them overhead.

[@HugDeeznueces]

Do you listen to their comms when you film these?

[@SeattleRailFan]

I always have my scanner on when railfanning. It's invaluable for determining if a train is approaching me and to generally figure whats going on in front of me.

[@HugDeeznueces]

SeattleRailFan what kind of scanner do you have? I want to get one.

[@SeattleRailFan]

Robert Fern I have a Uniden BC-125AT. About $130 new, eBay has used ones for under $100. The stock antenna isn't tuned to the frequencies railroads use, so I use a "5/8 wave Slim Duck" antenna from Smiley Antenna. They tune the antenna to work optimally with various frequencies, mine is tuned for 160Mhz. It improves reception over the stock antenna. I also have a 1/4 wave Larson antenna on a magnetic mount, also tuned to work optimally at 160Mhz. That gets mounted to the roof of the car. It really helps pull in signals from far away. In the city, the slim duck antenna works fine. Any scanner that receives FM frequencies in the 159-162Mhz range will pick up railroad traffic. Search Google for "railroad frequencies" to get a list of the frequencies that correspond to each railroad channel. I've programmed my scanner with all AAR channels from 2-97 so I can listen to any channel I want to. Then Google for info on which channels are used by the railroads you want to listen to. There will likely be multiple channels to monitor - in my area there are thee main dispatchers covering various territories plus each yard uses it's own channel. One thing to watch for is that railroads have recently switched to "narrowband" transmissions. On older scanners, the signal may be slightly weaker. Not a big deal if you are listening to close signals, more of a big deal if trains are far away from you. Look at the manufacturer's site for acronyms like "NFM" for Narrowband FM.

[@duxberry1958]

what was the jet at 05:27

[@ERA3733]

First of all, Diesels do NOT have "Controllers". Only Electric Engines and MUs have Controllers. Diesels have a Throttle and a Brake Stand It was the Brake Stand that malfunctioned. Second of all the Helper is NOT a Helper, he is a Brakeman. On a Railroad, a Helper is a Locomotive that assists a train over grades.

[@freightuk]

Good grief, fancy getting held up at railroad crossing for 15 minutes or so at a time while these lengthy trains crawl by, must be worse than a busy supermarket checkout!

[@bk5593]

is that the whooshing sound at 2:04?

[@ttrainmixx]

Nice video !

[@robertgift]

After 02:11, what was that blast of air?

[@SeattleRailFan]

+Robert Gift I assume that was the air system dumping air pressure. On a train air brakes, full normal pressure (90psi, I think) in the brake pipe results in brakes being released. Lower than 90psi results in brakes being applied. The blast of air coincided with the brake system malfunctioning and stopping the train.

[@robertgift]

SeattleRailFan Yes. I saw that only from one car. (Would be from all cars if full brake release.) Looked like brake hose separation.

[@patf03]

Yea no engineers they are RCOs remote control operators .. Switchman

[@fredbaumann4472]

Nice job!

[@jayfine01]

thats a strong little sucker

[@k9noseknows]

Need to let explanations be on screen a touch longer.

[@louislokuta2463]

All idiots at the end; multiple tracks, flashers still going and people just driving through. That guy at 13:50 should lose his CDL license.

[@bmcutty]

The guy you called a foreman was actually a student conductor hence the hat he was wearing

[@henryvesala6835]

nice Movie-love it

[@Sambro333]

Great vid, explanations need to be a bit longer,

[@Gloria33fontan]

Well done.

[@jmslakings]

3:20 Helper lights up a smoke...its going to be a while

[@trainzaholic]

that is a very bad horn on that thing.

[@gravelydon7072]

+via6444 The ALCO S-2 I ran also had a single note. They are both loud and obnoxious. And that means you get idiots at the crossings attention. So they do their job well.

[@bettyboop65340]

thanks

[@robertgift]

What a shame to impede traffic so long. Railroad can be fined for that.

[@brakie44820]

All in a railroaders work day..

[@mariusz07100]

Polska !!!!

[@mariusz07100]

fajny pociąg Amerykańskie najlepsze !!!!

[@A_Rotisserie_Chicken]

at 1:03 stuip birds

[@SeattleRailFan]

Yup. This was one of my earlier videos. I've since learned to leave the longer captions on screen for a longer time.

[@skyraiderjet]

@SeattleRailFan Do you know what kind of horn 3436 has, it sounds like a horn used on a boat.