Slippery When Wet

Middletown, Pa. on the Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad with locomotive Ex CN. No. 91.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Middletown
• &
• Hummelstown
• Railroad

[trainboy911]

i'll admit, wheelslips make some nice footage, but its bad on the engine. still nice video.

[Conrail6370]

trainboy911 , It's not bad on the engine, it's bad on the tracks. It wears down the head of the rail and make flat spots.

Len.

[maz323se]

That engineer has no feel for the throttle at all. He would be gone in a heart beat if he was on our railroad. Thats no way to run equipment. And the whistle is distorted due to the quality of the film.

[Conrail6370]

It had just rain, the rails were wet. and its a slight gade there into the yard. and theres nothing wrong with the filming its the whistle.

Len.

[NWRRSteamPower]

IS that locomotive a class O-9-a? because it sure looks like it. It looks much like No.7312.

[Conrail6370]

It's a sister locomotive to Strasburg No. 89.

Len.

[BigBoyCarlos]

@TheStrasburg90 Matt and I have worked on steam locomotives so if you need to listen, listen to us we don't know everything but enough to know what where talking about so if you want to listen to your foamer friends then do it if you don't want helpful advise, that will get you no where in the railroad world. Plus wired shit happens all the time on steam locomotives so you can't explain everything unless your there to figure it out.

[traindude109]

@TheStrasburg90 First off, yes it did happen, although quite rare. Secondly, the tires are not on fire, they are heated to a very high temperature to where it expands and is fitted over the casting and as it cools it forms a shrink fit. So if you have the drivers slipping violently for a long period of time they can heat up to a point where they lose their fit. This causes a heat buildup due to metal on metal friction. A perfect example of this is rubbing your hands together very quickly.

[TheStrasburg90]

@traindude109 While they install the tires, the tires are practically on fire. Steel is incredibly hard and doesnt expand at the drop of a hat.so unless fire was shooting from the tires, i highly doubt that.

[traindude109]

@TheStrasburg90 Actually yes they can and it has happened. Charles F. Steffes says in his book "Life & Times of a Locomotive Engineer" he was the engineer of a train on the SP out of Indio. He was on a long uphill grade going slowly and he fell asleep, but when he woke up the drivers were spinning so violently for a period of time they became red hot and the tires actually became displaced on the casting. The engine had to be towed back, So while not a common occurrence, no impossible either.

[TheStrasburg90]

@traindude109 I dont think they heat up THAT much...

[traindude109]

@Conrail6370 Actually yes it is bad for the locomotive. If you spin to much and/or to fast you can heat the tires up to the point where they will lose their fit on the wheel.

[TheStrasburg90]

Sorry, correction. 5 or 6 times.

[TheStrasburg90]

I like how the bell is rang so hard it actually swings 360 degrees twice. Rather ecstatic if you ask me. I also agree with maz323se on their point- the engineer obviously had no feel for the trottle.

[maz323se]

@csx5400 lol, way to bring it back from the dead. Never said a crewmen could be fired for slipping wheels, but he can be disciplined for abusing equipment. Just watching a light locomotive breaking loose as easily as this one was, seemed a little over the top. BUT it wasnt until it was pointed out to me that they where on a grade + the wet weather that I caught my mistake in judgement. Like I said almost a year ago, I jumped to conclusions too danm fast.

[csx5400]

@maz323se Since when do engineers get fired for slipping the wheels bro? I want to know because i'm an engineer myself. A diesel engine with traction motors and steam engines are two different types of locomotive. A steam locomotive operates under steam pressure and can slip at anytime under wet weather conditions, it has nothing to do with throttle control. Are you sure you're a railroader?