Delays on the NEC due to heat wave (July 2022)

[AmtrakBlue]

https://abcnews.go.com/US/us-heat-wave-force-delays-amtrak-service/story?id=86664902

 

[MARC Rider]

"Heat wave?" I was only 87 degrees F this afternoon in Baltimore, according to the temperature sensor in my car, and clouds blocked the sun most of the afternoon.

How do the Italians and Spanish manage to run high speed rail in the summer?

 

[west point]

According to previous posts Amtrak has heat slow orders depending on section. Believe the temps are higher than say CSX?? .The first would be the neutral temp for rail in any section.. Also rate of change of rail temp is a factor for some rail lines but do not know if applies to Amtrak. CAT has a different value with the lowest on prior PRR variable tension. Cannot confirm but the Constant tension has different max temp limits depending on which constant tension system used??

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

I don't know the specifics, but Metra definitely slows my line in both extreme heat and cold - especially prolonged runs of each. It's the sag in the heat and brittleness in the cold.

 

[amtrakpass]

Temporary heat restrictions are one thing there is no uniform standard for. Could be none for one railroad and one in effect for an adjacent railroad in the same city all in the same weather conditions.

 

[BlackDiamond]

How do the Italians and Spanish manage to run high speed rail in the summer?

They do not have the temperature extremes that North America has specifically cold weather so I imagine that they can prestress their rails optimally for the higher temperatures which North American railroads could not as they have to factor in lower winter temperatures

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Don't know if these incidents were heat related but there was a downed wire between PHL and WIL yesterday and this early this morning a downed wire between NYP and NWK.

 

[BlackDiamond]

This is not just a problem here. The UK is having temperature extremes with heat kinks and slowdowns as a result. Add to that the unions randomly striking against the Railways and it's a mess

 

[City of Miami]

Don't know if these incidents were heat related but there was a downed wire between PHL and WIL yesterday and this early this morning a downed wire between NYP and NWK.

Oddly both of those affected (way late) the new VA trains, 151, 66 & 67.

 

[west point]

Don't know if these incidents were heat related but there was a downed wire between PHL and WIL yesterday and this early this morning a downed wire between NYP and NWK.

Both of those sections are old PRR style variable tension CAT. Maybe a PAN snagged the CAT wire that was sagging? Another problem not often noted is that if a very old insulator holding the CAT wire breaks because of the heat then CAT can have a suport length of up to 360 feet. That can be quite a distance.

 

[John819]

I don't know the Amtrak rules. Before Metro North put constant tension CAT on the New Haven line, the operating rule was that whenever the ambient temperature was over 90 degrees (or under 20 degrees) there was a 50 mph speed restriction to protect the wire. Still had a lot of downed wires / broken pantographs!

 

[MARC Rider]

I don't know the Amtrak rules. Before Metro North put constant tension CAT on the New Haven line, the operating rule was that whenever the ambient temperature was over 90 degrees (or under 20 degrees) there was a 50 mph speed restriction to protect the wire. Still had a lot of downed wires / broken pantographs!

Don't know. why the bother with that rule. Trains on Metro North, including the Acela, rarely go more than 50 mph anyway.

 

[John819]

Don't know. why the bother with that rule. Trains on Metro North, including the Acela, rarely go more than 50 mph anyway.

A goodly amount of MN track has 60 mph speed limits. There is no really long stretch other than New Rochelle to Pike interlocking with that, however, because of the curves, bridges, and yards.

 

[Amtrak57]

I got caught in a heat wave coming back from NC on the Palmetto last week. As explained by the station staff and train crew, CSX requires all trains to operate 20 mph under the speed limit if the temperature reaches 85 degrees or over. (i.e. 79 mph now becomes 59 mph and so on)

 

[daybeers]

The heat restrictions have always seemed a bit arbitrary to me sometimes, especially with the differing levels between neighboring railroads. I imagine a lot has to do with how much each railroad cares to fund their maintenance program.

 

[Ryan]

Different railroads (or the same railroad in different locations) lay the rail at different neutral temperatures, which would necessitate different restrictions at different temperatures.

Also completely unsurprising that different companies will have different risk tolerances and different policies born out of their different philosophy and experiences.

 

[MARC Rider]

On Tuesday July 19, when I went to Washington, it was 90 degrees outside, but it seemed like there were no heat restrictions, we were doing 125 in both directions, and both trains arrived early.

On the other hand, my Acela ride a couple of weeks ago, it was in the mid to high 80s in Central New Jersey, there were heat restrictions, and we were only doing 100 mph through that section that was recently upgraded to 150.

 

[daybeers]

Maybe it has more to do with the wet bulb temperature? No idea.

 

[jis]

On Tuesday July 19, when I went to Washington, it was 90 degrees outside, but it seemed like there were no heat restrictions, we were doing 125 in both directions, and both trains arrived early.

On the other hand, my Acela ride a couple of weeks ago, it was in the mid to high 80s in Central New Jersey, there were heat restrictions, and we were only doing 100 mph through that section that was recently upgraded to 150.

My understanding is that speed restrictions on the NEC are triggered by actual rail temperature and not ambient temperature. The actual rail temperature may apparently be very different depending on whether it is a cloudy day or sunny day, among other factors.

 

[west point]

If you think rail temps on the NEC are high just look at Dallas.

https://www.rtands.com/track-mainte...las-hit-150-forcing-dart-trains-to-slow-down/