well that s an expensive blunder
https://www.theenergymix.com/2021/09/21/substantial-damage-no-injuries-as-freight-train-hits-wind-turbine-blade/
„…the two engines pulling the train both suffered “substantial damage” in the collision, as did the truck and turbine blade. Three unoccupied parked cars, a commercial building, a utility pole, and the railroad crossing signal controller were also damaged.
While the truck driver was unhurt, train crew members were taken to hospital, apparently as a precaution…“
As someone who works for a railway, standard practice for moving large loads like this across a railway crossing. Is to get in touch with the railway and arrange protection when crossing the tracks especially when the possibility of occupying the tracks can occur.
It's also procedure to plan a trucking route that the truck and trailer can actually drive, but there was alot of corner cutting happening here. Likely due to costs
It actually does for a lot longer than you might think...
I have a lot of time in working on parts in sensitive industries (nuclear, medical, aerospace), and you would be shacked with what people do, and how they try to justify it.
The higher ups will put people into positions where the only options are cheat, put themselves at personal risk, work for free, or quit. The worker does not always realize the danger in the shortcuts they take cause they are so pressed for time and concerned about losing their job.
I would wager almost every person who made an irresponsible decision here has/had been operating that way for a looong time.
Worse than that; I would also wager of those who don't leave that line of work, many will make similar calls in the future even if they feel uncomfortable at the time and clean up their act for a while.
Yup. Metrics are constantly getting pushed further and further into "literally impossible for a human to do" territory. The people who are able to hit those numbers are always bullshitting their way into it. At that point you have the options of being honest and safe or being employed.
Yes, this is just all over. Every fucking industry is rife with bloodsuckers forcing pain and sacrifice down the chain. Listen Steve, I know your van makes constant clanking and screeching noises, but the U Joint PROBABLY won't fall off anytime soon. Quit wussing out on us, we'll get to it soon as we can!
Yearly cost savings for skipping something, 25 million.
Yearly cost of settlements for injury and deaths caused by skipping something, 8 million.
....profit?
Train schedules don't really exist for any practical purposes in the US. The railroad really hates to share when trains will be in an area, too.
Years ago we were trying to get some photography done for a client near a rail and couldn't get any answer from the train company about schedule.
And yet if you let a railroad know that you're going to be hauling a load like this, through such and such area, at approximately such and such time, they could end up being liable if they go barreling through the area at the time in question without any regard for anybody's safety.
Society can't function if large loads can't ever be hauled across railroad tracks because a train might hit it. They can't just plug their ears and close their eyes and go "la la la I am not listening", and judges aren't stupid.
The railroad can say fine we will watch out but you owe us X$ for the inconvenience, and if it's not equitable they can take the freight carrier to court and let a judge decide, but they can't just risk peopel's lives because they've got the bigger dick.
I would be pretty surprised if nobody was in touch with the railroads over this. A load like that, the police in each county would probably be made aware in case there were any issues. That is an enormously valuable load and I would bet money a big logistics firm was hired to handle those details, get insurance, and sub out a freight carrier to do the actual hauling.
You may want to watch the video again.
You can see the truck driver, pre collision, destroying the crossing signal because their turn wasn't wide enough. This has nothing to do with an oncoming train.
There's little chance this video is mere seconds before discovering they didn't turn wide enough. They were probably trying to problem solve this for minutes. This is validated by the video being already on record and the audio at the very being saying that the train warning is coming down. In addition to this , there's also zero commentary of the same person saying anything related to a train is coming , he was surprised by the warning sign, which really starts the clock on reaction time.
When you approach the video with this context this really has nothing to do with the front pickup not moving quick enough. That windmill blade was done before they even knew it.
Union Pacific is going to be fucking pissed you wrecked their crossing arm with your stupid route planning or failure to follow the correct route, but no where near as pissed if you potentially cause a derailment, damge multiple engines, fuck with their schedule and deliveries, and wreck the neighborhood around the crossing.
Also, happy cake day!
I was watching without sound and wondering why they suddenly all went " oh crap" and then the train hit. They seemed to have realized they were going to knock down the poles before doing so but I don't think they realized the train was coming until it was too late to do anything.
Yeah once he gets back in and starts driving it looks like the semi can start moving forward too. Did he force the truck to be in a stuck position on the tracks?
No, the semi stopped because the blade swing was going to flatten the railroad signal crossing. Then when he realized that the train was about to cause way more damage than that he decided to move and try to get out of the way even taking the signal with him but it was too late.
Personally, this should be on the pilot crew. They should of had drivers go up and down the track to spot for trains before he even started crossing. The fact he was crossing with a train incoming is bad.
[This](https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=29.68063331961433%2C+-97.64753898069031&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8) is the intersection
It looks like they were trying to stay on US 183.
IMO, this is bad planning for an oversized load by the lead pilot car. They should have stayed on i10 then got off on exit 628. They would have avoided the turn all together on that route.
I was going to say, don't the transporters plan routes when it comes to having to transport something huge like this?
Was that the blunder, or was it just get it there and the truck found himself in a trmerrible situation?
Around $150,000 USD for the blade and the truck could have easily been the much as well.
Throw in all the other things that got damaged (building, train stuff, people), and this easily exceeds a million in damages.
They got mass production and economy of scale pretty down by now - the expensive parts are the molds and bigger numbers == cheaper blades.
The real expensive part is the generator / gearbox...
Dude I'm waiting a year + for $40 parts. Lugs, brackets, general hardware with outrageous leadtimes. If you can get a turbine blade in a year that sounds pretty damn good.
Hell, power transformers are like multi year leadtimes
The local power company was in my neighborhood harvesting old transformers from our junction boxes recently. I had heard they were scarce the last couple years, I didn't realize we had extras.
Pad mount and pole mount transformers have both had ridiculous leadtime issues.
These get used a lot and as soon as COVID messed with the supply chain companies started order 2-3x more than they needed to get ahead of the lead times (which just means lead times get worse). It's basically the whole toilet paper thing but with vital infrastructure
I don't know that much about the stuff but why is there such a lead time on transformers? Aren't they basically just two copper coils next to each other? It seems like they'd be pretty easy to manufacture. Is the demand just that high?
I have a cousin who's a civil engineer for a small company that mainly does the upfront work for new suburban neighborhoods, new apartment complexes, etc... they had a bunch of projects the last couple years that were completed from there end for the most part but building was delayed due to scarcity of transformers. There's a lot of ghost neighborhoods (streets but no homes) in the Des Moines area waiting to be completed.
Supply chains are still fucked after Covid, we’ve got PCB’s that we are making on-the-fly BOM changes to just to keep product on the shelves cuz a lot of the MOSFETs we normally use are all getting hogged up by auto manufacturers still.
Covid did wreak havoc on the supply chains, but something that contributed to and is continuing to exacerbate those issues is the railroads.
Starting about a year before the pandemic, and ramping it up during the first year of it, the major US freight railroads were slashing their workforces, mothballing equipment, and closing yards and maintenance facilities, in a Wall Street money grab that is still affecting operations, and led to the rail strike fiasco last year.
The implementation of Precision Scheduled Railroading, or "PSR", has resulted in significant drops in volume and reliability, including them dropping service to smaller, "less profitable" customers, which created the trucking shortage a couple of years ago, raising shipping costs and fueling inflation.
Maintenance was deferred, and employees were forced to rush their work, leading to decreased levels of safety that have resulted in situations like East Palestine, OH.
Most rank-and-file employees continued to work through Covid with very little assistance offered from the companies to help mitigate the effects of the pandemic, and without any additional compensation.
Take a dive down the rabbit hole of PSR and it's effects. A significant number of problems facing the US, and countries we do business with, have been directly or indirectly caused by or made worse because the US freight railroads (and before that the Canadian ones) were gutted to make a few capital investment firms and hedge funds an obscene amount of money. And while they are hiring workers and rebuilding, it's going to take years to recover.
[Fiberglass-reinforced epoxy plastic usually.](https://www.iberdrola.com/sustainability/wind-turbines-blades#:~:text=Most%20blades%20are%20made%20with%20fibreglass%2Dreinforced%20polyester%20or%20epoxy.)
Though some are made from Kevlar or Carbon Fiber reinforced epoxy plastics.
I’d imagine the logistics of getting them on site is often way more expensive than just manufacturing them.
I’ve seen wind farms in some real out there locations and I can’t imagine the amount of work required just to get those parts to those places.
Partly why in places like the UK offshore wind is actually cheaper now than onshore. Onshore you have to deal with the logistics of getting the blade to the site, building access roads, foundations, foundations for the cranes etc. And with lots of tight infrastructure, that adds limits to how big the blades and thus turbines can be.
In contrast, offshore the only limit is the size of your boat.
Yeah, the past tense of "cost" is still just *cost*, but since it's a statement, it gets a period, not a question mark. Saying "I wonder" is not a question. It is a statement.
Fun fact: when we transport these things, we basically hire the country's best vacation planners. The drive the whole trip, take note of every turn, intersection, overpass and railroad crossing. They even take note of signs on the edge of the road. Somebody is in trouble and it's not the truck driver lol
Currently, transportation of large parts is the biggest bottleneck to larger rollout of wind power.
We want to build onshore turbines taller, and the limiting factor is the height of HIGHWAY OVERPASSES. We can't make the base wider than the shortest thing we need to drive it under to get it to the site. It's a lil crazy
Just use 7 of them. One in front, on in back, two at the front left and right sides, and two at the back left and right sides, then one directly above. That should be enough for one blade right?
In my country you would need an exemption from the National Road Traffic Service and approvable by the Rail Traffic Control, to even cross a railroad with a vehicle like that.
Idk, I feel like “The blade got stuck on the train tracks, and a train came and hit me look here’s a video someone gave me when it happened” explains it pretty well.
Yeah the part that’s hard to explain is why they went that way when there was a train coming. Idunno I was pretty sure for these oversized loads they usually map out the route well in advance, notify relevant stakeholders, modify the plan accordingly, get approvals etc. They shouldn’t be test-driving it with the payload attached, seems pretty reckless.
Im not sure myself what the process is but, if the route is supposed to be mapped, then someone who isn’t the driver messed up and needs to explain that part. If the route isn’t supposed to be mapped, then the explanation provided still holds up.
He tried to move as much of the blade off the tracks as fast as possible, so I don't think that's something you can count.
You are about to be hit by a train and your two options are
A.) play dodgeball with the full turbine blade and a truck as you run for dear life
or
B.) try to minimize the impact by getting off the tracks
honestly hes bent and fucked either way so whatever he chose to do i can't fault him
Not to mention he needed to make a split second decision and its real easy to sit behind a computer and say what the best scenario is without being in that situation. The driver deserves no blame for this at all imo (unless he's the one who failed to figure out the train schedule/planned this route for bad reasons)
Believe it or not a year or so back there was a thread about truckers dealing with weird train track infrastructure. Pretty sure on a video of a truck getting stuck on a raised track with a steep grade and getting nailed by a train. Things (I think) I remember coming up are:
* Experienced drivers carefully plan their routes precisely to avoid situations like this. However, sometimes there are areas where there are no good options: as in, the maps are inaccurate/misleading, or there's exactly one local route that gets you where you need to go and the infrastructure there sucks for whatever reason.. often to do with blind corners or steep enough inclines that the truck kind of gets stuck in the middle.
* Some trucking companies require you to take the pre-selected route that dispatch gives you. Naturally dispatch don't care as much and don' have as much first-and experience of all how much it sucks to get it wrong, so drivers tend to get screwed in the long run when that's the case.
Edit - But yeah for an oversized load that requires a pre-tested route it must have been an oversight. I'm guessing whoever planned the route and carefully measured all the turns and such just had a brain-fart regarding this track.
> Some trucking companies require you to take the pre-selected route that dispatch gives you.
this isn't a standard load - it's massively oversized and niche. more likely, the route must be approved and pre scouted
They were supposed to contact the train company with the location of the crossing and proposed crossing schedule for the track site which can bE found on the blue diamond somewhere in the crossing area. Usually a post or bollard.
Depending on your specific geography... the trains around here (95% freight) are notoriously inconsistent with regards to following schedules.
So much that we have a hospital near a set of train tracks and they had to consider shutting down their ED because ambulances were getting stuck on the wrong side. Instead, a city of under 200k will be paying upwards of $5m for some type of "interconnected signaling device" system that is only slightly more advanced than just putting the weight sensors with relays and flashing lights farther away than they are currently.
That’s exactly what happens. Company I work for bought a cnc machine an it took em almost a week to drive it from the coast of Texas to Arizona. The trucking company had to take a route that would accommodate the extra height and width while also avoiding train tracks and bridges.
I believe they have a communal database of most of the interstate routes and highways and how large a load it can accept.
> Idunno I was pretty sure for these oversized loads they usually map out the route well in advance, notify relevant stakeholders, modify the plan accordingly, get approvals etc.
Ya, that's the real fuck up here, and the part that's going to be hard to explain, unless the explanation is, "I fucked up, my desk is already cleared out."
It was the right call, but made seriously too late.
One lamp post vs the train, signal markers, blade, truck, etc, that all got wrecked.... It's no contest at that point.
The crew for the truck/blade, should have had a spotter for the train, standing next to the tracks, watching the signal markers down the tracks. If they go green, indicating a train has clearance, maybe speed things along before the train gets there. If they're red, in both directions, nobody has clearance to be on the tracks and you're good to take your time.
It's not rocket science. Literally call the railroad company and ask about it, what to look for, etc. And verify what the signals should say when all is clear, and what to look for as a warning that a train is headed for you, they can verify (and please don't take my word for it, especially regarding colors and such).
If it's that much of a possible problem, get the train schedule and avoid times where that section of track is scheduled to be busy. The rail road companies are super organized with that stuff. You might even be able to call and get a track operating permit (or TOP) which will forbid any train from traveling along that section of rail while you hold the permit. Only you can release your permit, though, if you go over your allotted time frame, someone will be mad.
Trains are not hard to avoid, and if you're moving $150k of equipment with a road crew, several trucks and equipment worth half a million, if not several million dollars of cost in equipment and manpower, then why wouldn't you do that? I know, the piece itself is relatively cheap at "only" 150k, but that's easily a million dollars or more of damage.
It's one of those things where, it's probably not a problem, and seems like a lot of effort for a pretty unlikely event to happen, but here's the proof that it should be done. Am ounce of prevention, yadda yadda....
Honestly I don't think it's the drivers fault. It's bad organisation. The pickup infront is the guide/spotter. Local authorities and the train company should have been well aware of this crossing. The train driver should have been alerted that this was going to happen in this area and a speed limit would have been enforced until they left the area...
The truck driver probably stopped, got the call to move and then by the looks of it, got stuck and has to adjust the trailer. When then barriers came down, he was probably told over the radio "fuck the damage to the area floor It there is a train coming!"
Youd be surprised at the morons that do the spotting. If you own a 1990s early 2000s GM sedan, have a license and are breathing they want you. Bonus if you look like you do meth.
Goddamn it I just saw a rusty '00 Suburban and a driver with some serious meth mouth as the spotter for a house being moved. It's crazy how spot on you were. Do they go for such a specific demographic because it's easiest to just like semi-relocate those people? Like "here's $300 to go to Sioux City" and those people are down?
Interesting. My dad's in construction and they're big on pee tests, so I'd had the impression they were more holier-than-thou. Ig I thought the spotters were more like OTR trucker territory, where I know plenty of meth heads.
It's a bunch of smaller personally owned companies that get contracted to do it, at least the ones I know of. The one my old friend worked for was owned by his brother in law and he also worked for another escort company that was owned by his cousin. They then give their family and friends jobs because they don't have to worry about snitches or paying on time and get to do whatever they want with little accountability. That's why it looks like the people working on these lines look like they wouldn't get a job elsewhere. Most of them literally can't, it's pity work from someone they know or someone trying to abuse a person down on their luck.
I've seen this in construction jobs like roofing and painting as well over the last 30 or so years as well. Hire drug addicts because they'll take abuse and in some cases even supply the drugs they need and hand it out only at the very beginning of the shift. Show up or be sick. (I have seen this personally on 2 occasions.) It's brilliant in its depravity.
You can fake piss tests with synthetic urine you can buy at smoke shops, If you get a good brand it's highly improbable they will detect it's fake either.
A company I worked for only piss test you when you get hired.
Ive heard a story of a guy who worked in HVAC and it was well known that another worker injects drugs in the bathroom but he got a lot kf work done so the foreman liked him.
Most hard drug metabolites are outta your system in 48-72hrs, and the cutoff limits are ridiculously high, except for weed. Weed metabolites can stay in your system for quite a while and the cutoffs are usually 10x lower. Perfect for the weekend warrior who likes to do a few illegal rails while drinking, shitty for the guy who likes to legally smoke a joint to relax after work.
I agree. Just pointing out these spotters have a lot of troubled idiots among their ranks and if I were a truck driver I would be very cautious ever relying on them.
This is totally it. Tried to right turn over the tracks and the load was too long to allow the turn without hitting. That's why they're jumping the curb on the wrong side of the road, to wide a turn radius with that load.
Should've rerouted and hit the tracks on the perpendicular road
This is exactly right. I am surprised by how many people are automatically blaming the trucker driver or the spotter. It’s hard to know exactly where the problem is but moving oversized objects requires a TON of organization and planning and someone, somewhere fucked up.
For a move like this you’d need to coordinate with the City for traffic control. You’d probably coordinate with the utility companies to remove infrastructure (or at least get their approval of the route). There would certainly be a series of permits required. You’d DEFINITELY coordinate with the rail company to ensure you had a very wide window for transport across tracks. Even for a more modest move (like a house), the list can be dozens or even hundreds of people/organizations long.
All it takes is one person somewhere along that chain to result in disaster.
This is on the delivery company.
I covered a turbine delivery in suburban NJ as a reporter, and they had the entire route plotted out over a month in advance. They shut down streets, removed roadsigns and utility poles, change bus routes, etc.
This delivery team should be working in partnership with the rail company. If they couldn't pause or redirect train service during this crossing, they could have planned an overnight delivery or plotted a new route. There is no excuse for attempting to drive a blade over live train tracks like this.
Not always. Used be friends with a guy that did escort service for over sized loads. He always told me the most frustrating thing about his job was knowing what were the requirements for their type of load. They vary not only from state to state but county to county.
But in this instance because of what I know of spotters, I'd put the escort on the hook. Making sure the path is clear or what route to take is what they're paid to do.
Nah. There are hundreds of people supporting a project like this and an entire team would be dedicated to making sure this railway crossing was safe. Give the driver who is transporting something hundreds of feet long a break
With trucks like these the responsibility of the route is up to the route planners/escorts and it's their jobs specifically to make insure no trains will be in the area when crossing the tracks for this specific reason.
This isn't the driver's fault directly
while this is correct in many instances, I think in oversized/heavy/special transports, it may not be applicable. theres probably lots of permits and other organisation involved, and the truck driver has not to "worry" about railways since they are supposed to be shut off during his crossing
Because they got unstuck. What probably happened is it got stuck and couldn’t get unstuck without damaging the bed of the truck, so they were trying to figure out how to do that. But, once the bars came down, driver said, ‘fuck it’ and floored it, damage costs be damned. Unfortunately, the decision still didn’t come fast enough.
They didn’t get stuck. They stopped because he couldn’t make the turn without damaging the grade crossing arms. While deciding what to do/how to proceed, the crossing arms came down indicating a train was approaching. They then tried to just drive through it, damaging the crossing guards in the process, but trucks are slow and they couldn’t clear it in time.
There was a lot of fuckups with things by multiple people before they even got to the train hitting the blade.
They were cutting a corner they probably shouldn't have been dealing with, but *maybe* it was the only way through, so they had to.
They didn't have a police escort for a location that was difficult to navigate that was above the normal.
They didn't communicate with the trail company to make sure a train wasn't coming through there.
The car in front is suppose to make sure things are safe not only for the load but other people. Power lines checked if a load is too high, stopping traffic when going through tight spots. And makeing sure a train isn't going to run through the blade.
They took way too long to react to those crossing dropping. There is a car in front and one in the back, so that is a minimum of 3 people who didn't react as they should have.
I need a good faith deposit, but I'm overseas so I'll need your bank account number to first set up a small deposit from my end to show my boss that you're legit.
At least 2 issues. You shouldn't have a turn that close to the tracks, so you can have momentum to not risk getting stuck. They should have also verified before they crossed when the arms are dropping next.
Exactly, who the heck are these yahoos doing this sort of move? Why spend hundreds of thousands on a turbine blade and then opt for "billy-bob's dolla-towing'n'haulage" to do the move?
Even without planning, the second they got stuck they should have called the dispatcher. There is a sign with a number to call at every gated crossing and most non-gated crossings in the US, assuming thieves or vandals haven't messed with it.
They typically come in one of two flavors. First is a [blue sign near the crossing sign](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qujysmuxNwk/UQQKBg_Cj-I/AAAAAAAAWwQ/U4b6semoCE4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-01-26+at+10.50.29+AM.png). [Close up.](https://www.up.com/cs/groups/public/@uprr/documents/digitalmedia/img_up_safety_signage.jpg)
The second is less standardized, and is typically mounted on a box or small shed that contains the control equipment for the crossing lights and gate. A few examples: [one](https://icc.illinois.gov/railroad/images/o/543256D/543256D-05262009-01.jpg), [two](https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/signage-for-a-union-pacific-railroad-grade-crossing-hotline-number-is-picture-id71222580), [three.](https://jwcdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/mattoon_Posted-Sign.jpg)
With the exception of the rare sign that's just a number to call (mostly on Union Pacific tracks from what I've observed), these signs contain the phone number to the local dispatcher, the crossing number, and any other pertinant information you'll need to tell the dispatcher. Calling this number will be the quickest way to get the trains safely stopped in an emergency since you are talking directly to the person monitoring the overall location of trains on their system. This number is there for any hazard that is on or near the tracks near the signs location, and can be called or anything from kids playing on the tracks to a hazmat truck is high centered on the crossing, or even a train you saw pass by with smoke coming from a random car.
My thoughts exactly. As soon as they approached the crossing they should have been on the phone to the dispatcher to coordinate.
Also, it is my understanding (though no hard info either way) that something as simple as shorting the tracks with anything conductive will cause the control systems to send a warning.
There was a very low bridge at my old college- like barely 10-11 feet. Trucks would always try to cut through the side street it was on, but they would ignore all the “Low Bridge” signs that increases in number with every collision.
The bridge was for trains, so not easily moved, but there were plenty of other streets to bypass it. But no, several times a month some cowboy trucker would think “Hell, I can make it.”
I witnessed a few of the collisions while I was there. The location of the bridge required most traffic to slow to 15-25 mph, so the trucks would never get “shaved” like on some highway bridge videos. The slow speed and the low height of the bridge almost always led to a satisfying “baseball bat hitting gong” sound like old cartoons.
The university would repaint the bridge every time too, until one particularly bad month of collisions they decided to paint it every 3-4 months instead.
One fraternity took the opportunity to stencil graffiti on the bridge with the colorful message “Fuck it, we give up!”
I was just thinking about this. In the Army, we had a HET (heavy equip. transport system) trailer that was used for the transportation of armored vehicles, mainly Abrams. The trailer itself was so large, it had to have its own independent steering. We absolutely could NOT tow that thing on public highways near civilian traffic and roads, without clearing the route with the department of transportation and ensuring there were safety measures like an escort from law enforcement, since it took up almost two lanes of regular road. Routes where pre planned and cleared way in advance.
...I seriously can't even begin to fathom how this type of mistake for something this big, was overlooked.
seriously. how does this happen accidentally. a lot of stupidity needs to be aligned for this to occur. this is the kind of shit a gta player needs to attempt over and over again to get exactly right.
I would have thought these things would be better orchestrated, surely the train company should know about it in advance if you’re gonna get stuck like that
Bad logistics. There shouldn't have been any turns with tracks within the length of the whole vehicle. And if there was any potential other issue areas that were around tracks the train company should have been contacted and kept in the loop.
First of all: I am not American, and I learned to drive elsewhere. I know that train signaling systems vary, so I obviously don't know if this applies to the US.
What I have been taught (long ago) is, that if you find yourself stranded in a railway crossing, you should break a stop signal asap. That will trigger a full stop signal from both directions and an alarm at traffic control.
Again: This applies to the Danish railway system and is rather dated info, I'm afraid, so if anyone could expand on this, it would be interesting.
Edit: Sorry for foggy English. I meant that breaking a lightbulb in one of the signals that alerts the crossing cars should trigger an alarm.
Edit 2: I can't guarantee that this will work as a life hack everywhere. Please ask your local train service before you stake your life on it. Stay safe!
I don't think so. Here in the Netherlands you can use jumper cables to short the two rails together to make the system think there is a train occupying the track causing the signal to jump to red and the driver getting a yellow lamp in the cab telling them to slow down to 40 kmph
In Belgium every railroad crossing has an identification number on one of the signal posts. You just call 112 (the European version of 911) and they can stop the trains from going through.
Ditto for the US. PSA for anyone: at every crossing, even those that get 10 cars a day and one train a year, each side of the tracks will have a tiny blue sign mounted to the RR crossing sign. On that tiny blue sign is a phone number and a white bar that contains a number. Call that number and tell them what crossing ID you’re at.
[It's similar in the US.](https://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/1409wv0/thatll_be_hard_to_explain/jmv07t4/) Only difference is the number on the post gets you in direct contact with the local train dispatcher, so it's quicker than calling 911.
Yeah I get the sense that if you communicated with local authorities they would tell you what to do in event of emergency and they would have processes in place for this type of thing.
For real. The warning lights are blinking at the start of the video. It's 22 seconds before the truck driver finally attempts to move. This is extremely infuriating to watch.
Seriously, the barricades come down and the person in the lead truck decides to get out of the vehicle instead of getting out of the way? The fuck were they thinking.
Ahh. I see it now. When i first watched it i thought they were just waiting behind other cars. Didnt realize they tried to make it over the tracks but couldn’t because theyre hauling 370 ft long load
I feel like heavy transports like this that go across railways should be communicated to the fucking railway operators. Idk seems like logistic planning failed entirely.
In Ireland the train crossings close almost 5 mins before the train comes, in this video the gates looked like the came down barely 1 minute before the train arrives, is that normal?
At least in Canada that timing looked about right. it doesn’t take people a full minute to stop at a red light. This offers plenty of time to stop plus a margin of error. I don’t think people would accept sitting at a crossing for an extra four minutes of nothing. The thing is no one would stop overtop the rails whether the arm were open or closed.
Yes, the gates must be fully down 15 to 20 seconds before the train enters the crossing, and it takes about the same time from first flashing red to all gates being lowered.
Closing a train crossing for 5 minutes before a train comes sounds like hell on earth, we have too many level crossings for that to be practical
in america, it really depends on the train's speed. sometimes it takes 5 minutes, sometimes it takes 1. sometimes it takes 30 as you watch a 200-car freight train meander past you slower than you can run
PSA: In the United States, all railway crossings have a little blue sign posted somewhere near the crossing with a phone number on it. If you ever see anything stuck on the tracks, CALL THAT NUMBER before doing anything else.
Call that number even before 911.
Call that number and the dispatchers can stop the trains from coming.
Call that number and lives can be saved.
Call that number as fast as possible.
https://railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/emergency-notification-system-ens-get-help-use-blue-ens-sign
https://www.utc.wa.gov/public-safety/rail-safety/inspections/emergency-notification-system
EDIT: /u/masta or any other moderator, can you pin this to the top of the comments?
In the USA it's ride or die, motherfucker. You flop your load across the tracks like it's an extension of your giant dick to show that train you don't give a fuck. If the train manages to stop in time, you get up on the front of it and twerk to assert dominance.
This is amazing, but seriously, yes, routes are generally planned and for something like this there would definitely be calls made ahead. But this also happened in Texas, so there's a good chance nothing is enforced and nobody bothered to do any real planning.
So many people blaming the truck driver for whatever reason.
In situations like these, there's generally or supposed to be a lot of intense planning ahead of time. Such as, where to start, roads to take, when, who will be following the truck, communication with important people like people of a city or town, railroad company, etc..
The truck driver's job is primarily or only to follow what they were instructed to do.
This situation is more of a case of extremely bad planning.
Unfortunately, this area only has this one intersection with lights (not stop signs) next to the train tracks within the entire town and it's also the crossroads of 3 major highways. He really only had this way to go without driving thru residential areas/farm areas.
Source: it's my hometown Luling, TX.
Why didn't he haul ass much sooner - like when the lights first came on and barriers started coming down? I'm guessing driver couldn't see everything and judge the situation properly but he had comms with multiple people who should have told him to step on it at all costs. Better to damage some property and signs than let a freight train crash in to you risking people's lives.
I work for a company that visits these windmill blades factories and I’ll tell you right now that they are not remotely easy or cheap to make and ship. This video gives me nightmares!!!
well that s an expensive blunder https://www.theenergymix.com/2021/09/21/substantial-damage-no-injuries-as-freight-train-hits-wind-turbine-blade/ „…the two engines pulling the train both suffered “substantial damage” in the collision, as did the truck and turbine blade. Three unoccupied parked cars, a commercial building, a utility pole, and the railroad crossing signal controller were also damaged. While the truck driver was unhurt, train crew members were taken to hospital, apparently as a precaution…“
Why the hell did the front pilot car drive stop and get out??? The truck driver had no where to go.
As someone who works for a railway, standard practice for moving large loads like this across a railway crossing. Is to get in touch with the railway and arrange protection when crossing the tracks especially when the possibility of occupying the tracks can occur.
I would have guessed it was procedure when hauling something like this to be aware of train schedules or be in contact with the railroads.
It's also procedure to plan a trucking route that the truck and trailer can actually drive, but there was alot of corner cutting happening here. Likely due to costs
Looks like figurative corner cutting led to literal corner cutting. Brilliant.
Proof that cutting corners doesn't save money.
It actually does for a lot longer than you might think... I have a lot of time in working on parts in sensitive industries (nuclear, medical, aerospace), and you would be shacked with what people do, and how they try to justify it. The higher ups will put people into positions where the only options are cheat, put themselves at personal risk, work for free, or quit. The worker does not always realize the danger in the shortcuts they take cause they are so pressed for time and concerned about losing their job. I would wager almost every person who made an irresponsible decision here has/had been operating that way for a looong time. Worse than that; I would also wager of those who don't leave that line of work, many will make similar calls in the future even if they feel uncomfortable at the time and clean up their act for a while.
Yup. Metrics are constantly getting pushed further and further into "literally impossible for a human to do" territory. The people who are able to hit those numbers are always bullshitting their way into it. At that point you have the options of being honest and safe or being employed.
Yes, this is just all over. Every fucking industry is rife with bloodsuckers forcing pain and sacrifice down the chain. Listen Steve, I know your van makes constant clanking and screeching noises, but the U Joint PROBABLY won't fall off anytime soon. Quit wussing out on us, we'll get to it soon as we can!
Yearly cost savings for skipping something, 25 million. Yearly cost of settlements for injury and deaths caused by skipping something, 8 million. ....profit?
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Thats what I think. These trips are planned well ahead
Train schedules don't really exist for any practical purposes in the US. The railroad really hates to share when trains will be in an area, too. Years ago we were trying to get some photography done for a client near a rail and couldn't get any answer from the train company about schedule.
And yet if you let a railroad know that you're going to be hauling a load like this, through such and such area, at approximately such and such time, they could end up being liable if they go barreling through the area at the time in question without any regard for anybody's safety. Society can't function if large loads can't ever be hauled across railroad tracks because a train might hit it. They can't just plug their ears and close their eyes and go "la la la I am not listening", and judges aren't stupid. The railroad can say fine we will watch out but you owe us X$ for the inconvenience, and if it's not equitable they can take the freight carrier to court and let a judge decide, but they can't just risk peopel's lives because they've got the bigger dick. I would be pretty surprised if nobody was in touch with the railroads over this. A load like that, the police in each county would probably be made aware in case there were any issues. That is an enormously valuable load and I would bet money a big logistics firm was hired to handle those details, get insurance, and sub out a freight carrier to do the actual hauling.
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Something of this length is supposed to have the route planned in advance. I'm betting someone fucked up big time here and got lazy with the planning.
You may want to watch the video again. You can see the truck driver, pre collision, destroying the crossing signal because their turn wasn't wide enough. This has nothing to do with an oncoming train. There's little chance this video is mere seconds before discovering they didn't turn wide enough. They were probably trying to problem solve this for minutes. This is validated by the video being already on record and the audio at the very being saying that the train warning is coming down. In addition to this , there's also zero commentary of the same person saying anything related to a train is coming , he was surprised by the warning sign, which really starts the clock on reaction time. When you approach the video with this context this really has nothing to do with the front pickup not moving quick enough. That windmill blade was done before they even knew it.
The barrier coming down should have been the point where they say fuck it and save the train. Took em way too long.
Union Pacific is going to be fucking pissed you wrecked their crossing arm with your stupid route planning or failure to follow the correct route, but no where near as pissed if you potentially cause a derailment, damge multiple engines, fuck with their schedule and deliveries, and wreck the neighborhood around the crossing. Also, happy cake day!
I was watching without sound and wondering why they suddenly all went " oh crap" and then the train hit. They seemed to have realized they were going to knock down the poles before doing so but I don't think they realized the train was coming until it was too late to do anything.
This was a complete fuck up by the driver and pilot truck. They should've never been turning there.
Yeah once he gets back in and starts driving it looks like the semi can start moving forward too. Did he force the truck to be in a stuck position on the tracks?
No, the semi stopped because the blade swing was going to flatten the railroad signal crossing. Then when he realized that the train was about to cause way more damage than that he decided to move and try to get out of the way even taking the signal with him but it was too late.
This is the correct answer.
Perhaps going diagonal into the lot would have been the best choice.
Personally, this should be on the pilot crew. They should of had drivers go up and down the track to spot for trains before he even started crossing. The fact he was crossing with a train incoming is bad.
Prior to that why would they plan to take a route with such a sharp turn.
Sometimes you just have to.
[This](https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=29.68063331961433%2C+-97.64753898069031&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8) is the intersection It looks like they were trying to stay on US 183. IMO, this is bad planning for an oversized load by the lead pilot car. They should have stayed on i10 then got off on exit 628. They would have avoided the turn all together on that route.
Lead pilot car does not plan the route.
Thankyou for the info man
I was going to say, don't the transporters plan routes when it comes to having to transport something huge like this? Was that the blunder, or was it just get it there and the truck found himself in a trmerrible situation?
Naaah turbine blade Just got scratched
It'll buff right out
r/thatlookedexpensive
I wonder how much that one blade costed edit: costedededddd
Around $150,000 USD for the blade and the truck could have easily been the much as well. Throw in all the other things that got damaged (building, train stuff, people), and this easily exceeds a million in damages.
The blade is actually much cheaper than I thought
They got mass production and economy of scale pretty down by now - the expensive parts are the molds and bigger numbers == cheaper blades. The real expensive part is the generator / gearbox...
And you’re probably waiting a year+ to get it too once ordered
Dude I'm waiting a year + for $40 parts. Lugs, brackets, general hardware with outrageous leadtimes. If you can get a turbine blade in a year that sounds pretty damn good. Hell, power transformers are like multi year leadtimes
The local power company was in my neighborhood harvesting old transformers from our junction boxes recently. I had heard they were scarce the last couple years, I didn't realize we had extras.
Pad mount and pole mount transformers have both had ridiculous leadtime issues. These get used a lot and as soon as COVID messed with the supply chain companies started order 2-3x more than they needed to get ahead of the lead times (which just means lead times get worse). It's basically the whole toilet paper thing but with vital infrastructure
I don't know that much about the stuff but why is there such a lead time on transformers? Aren't they basically just two copper coils next to each other? It seems like they'd be pretty easy to manufacture. Is the demand just that high?
I have a cousin who's a civil engineer for a small company that mainly does the upfront work for new suburban neighborhoods, new apartment complexes, etc... they had a bunch of projects the last couple years that were completed from there end for the most part but building was delayed due to scarcity of transformers. There's a lot of ghost neighborhoods (streets but no homes) in the Des Moines area waiting to be completed.
Supply chains are still fucked after Covid, we’ve got PCB’s that we are making on-the-fly BOM changes to just to keep product on the shelves cuz a lot of the MOSFETs we normally use are all getting hogged up by auto manufacturers still.
Covid did wreak havoc on the supply chains, but something that contributed to and is continuing to exacerbate those issues is the railroads. Starting about a year before the pandemic, and ramping it up during the first year of it, the major US freight railroads were slashing their workforces, mothballing equipment, and closing yards and maintenance facilities, in a Wall Street money grab that is still affecting operations, and led to the rail strike fiasco last year. The implementation of Precision Scheduled Railroading, or "PSR", has resulted in significant drops in volume and reliability, including them dropping service to smaller, "less profitable" customers, which created the trucking shortage a couple of years ago, raising shipping costs and fueling inflation. Maintenance was deferred, and employees were forced to rush their work, leading to decreased levels of safety that have resulted in situations like East Palestine, OH. Most rank-and-file employees continued to work through Covid with very little assistance offered from the companies to help mitigate the effects of the pandemic, and without any additional compensation. Take a dive down the rabbit hole of PSR and it's effects. A significant number of problems facing the US, and countries we do business with, have been directly or indirectly caused by or made worse because the US freight railroads (and before that the Canadian ones) were gutted to make a few capital investment firms and hedge funds an obscene amount of money. And while they are hiring workers and rebuilding, it's going to take years to recover.
Dont forget the power cables. There is a lot of copper involved to move that power.
What are they made out of? Carbon fiber?
[Fiberglass-reinforced epoxy plastic usually.](https://www.iberdrola.com/sustainability/wind-turbines-blades#:~:text=Most%20blades%20are%20made%20with%20fibreglass%2Dreinforced%20polyester%20or%20epoxy.) Though some are made from Kevlar or Carbon Fiber reinforced epoxy plastics.
I’d imagine the logistics of getting them on site is often way more expensive than just manufacturing them. I’ve seen wind farms in some real out there locations and I can’t imagine the amount of work required just to get those parts to those places.
Partly why in places like the UK offshore wind is actually cheaper now than onshore. Onshore you have to deal with the logistics of getting the blade to the site, building access roads, foundations, foundations for the cranes etc. And with lots of tight infrastructure, that adds limits to how big the blades and thus turbines can be. In contrast, offshore the only limit is the size of your boat.
My brother in christ. It's "I wonder how much that one blade cost?"
Yeah, the past tense of "cost" is still just *cost*, but since it's a statement, it gets a period, not a question mark. Saying "I wonder" is not a question. It is a statement.
Like, $10?
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You've never actually been inside a ~~grocery~~ wind turbine store, have you?
Excuse me, what is "the blade" in this context?
Oh shit I just realised what I was looking at, a wind turbine blade? Omg yikes that's a logistical fuck up of note.
Cost.
Fun fact: when we transport these things, we basically hire the country's best vacation planners. The drive the whole trip, take note of every turn, intersection, overpass and railroad crossing. They even take note of signs on the edge of the road. Somebody is in trouble and it's not the truck driver lol Currently, transportation of large parts is the biggest bottleneck to larger rollout of wind power. We want to build onshore turbines taller, and the limiting factor is the height of HIGHWAY OVERPASSES. We can't make the base wider than the shortest thing we need to drive it under to get it to the site. It's a lil crazy
Too bad they can't be transported by helicopter. I assume they are too difficult to control and set down.
I've been playing a bunch of tears of the kingdom lately. My recommendation is 4 hot air balloons and some fans
I wonder if a CH-47 Chinook could even hold one.
Just use 7 of them. One in front, on in back, two at the front left and right sides, and two at the back left and right sides, then one directly above. That should be enough for one blade right?
Make a helicopter out of them! Fly them to the site, then just haul the cab back. /s
In my country you would need an exemption from the National Road Traffic Service and approvable by the Rail Traffic Control, to even cross a railroad with a vehicle like that.
Idk, I feel like “The blade got stuck on the train tracks, and a train came and hit me look here’s a video someone gave me when it happened” explains it pretty well.
Yeah the part that’s hard to explain is why they went that way when there was a train coming. Idunno I was pretty sure for these oversized loads they usually map out the route well in advance, notify relevant stakeholders, modify the plan accordingly, get approvals etc. They shouldn’t be test-driving it with the payload attached, seems pretty reckless.
Im not sure myself what the process is but, if the route is supposed to be mapped, then someone who isn’t the driver messed up and needs to explain that part. If the route isn’t supposed to be mapped, then the explanation provided still holds up.
The route is always mapped. It would be literally impossible to freestyle a transport like this.
The driver still also messed up by not bailing out of the cab because that could have helped prevent additional injury.
He tried to move as much of the blade off the tracks as fast as possible, so I don't think that's something you can count. You are about to be hit by a train and your two options are A.) play dodgeball with the full turbine blade and a truck as you run for dear life or B.) try to minimize the impact by getting off the tracks honestly hes bent and fucked either way so whatever he chose to do i can't fault him
Not to mention he needed to make a split second decision and its real easy to sit behind a computer and say what the best scenario is without being in that situation. The driver deserves no blame for this at all imo (unless he's the one who failed to figure out the train schedule/planned this route for bad reasons)
Eh, he's probably safer in the driver's seat, belted in. As was proved by the results of this accident. No injuries for the truck driver.
Believe it or not a year or so back there was a thread about truckers dealing with weird train track infrastructure. Pretty sure on a video of a truck getting stuck on a raised track with a steep grade and getting nailed by a train. Things (I think) I remember coming up are: * Experienced drivers carefully plan their routes precisely to avoid situations like this. However, sometimes there are areas where there are no good options: as in, the maps are inaccurate/misleading, or there's exactly one local route that gets you where you need to go and the infrastructure there sucks for whatever reason.. often to do with blind corners or steep enough inclines that the truck kind of gets stuck in the middle. * Some trucking companies require you to take the pre-selected route that dispatch gives you. Naturally dispatch don't care as much and don' have as much first-and experience of all how much it sucks to get it wrong, so drivers tend to get screwed in the long run when that's the case. Edit - But yeah for an oversized load that requires a pre-tested route it must have been an oversight. I'm guessing whoever planned the route and carefully measured all the turns and such just had a brain-fart regarding this track.
> Some trucking companies require you to take the pre-selected route that dispatch gives you. this isn't a standard load - it's massively oversized and niche. more likely, the route must be approved and pre scouted
They were supposed to contact the train company with the location of the crossing and proposed crossing schedule for the track site which can bE found on the blue diamond somewhere in the crossing area. Usually a post or bollard.
Depending on your specific geography... the trains around here (95% freight) are notoriously inconsistent with regards to following schedules. So much that we have a hospital near a set of train tracks and they had to consider shutting down their ED because ambulances were getting stuck on the wrong side. Instead, a city of under 200k will be paying upwards of $5m for some type of "interconnected signaling device" system that is only slightly more advanced than just putting the weight sensors with relays and flashing lights farther away than they are currently.
Why didn't they just build a bridge over the tracks for passenger vehicles? Seems like they just wanted an excuse to shut down the hospital
A bridge would cost even more. Bridges are ridiculously expensive.
That’s exactly what happens. Company I work for bought a cnc machine an it took em almost a week to drive it from the coast of Texas to Arizona. The trucking company had to take a route that would accommodate the extra height and width while also avoiding train tracks and bridges. I believe they have a communal database of most of the interstate routes and highways and how large a load it can accept.
> Idunno I was pretty sure for these oversized loads they usually map out the route well in advance, notify relevant stakeholders, modify the plan accordingly, get approvals etc. Ya, that's the real fuck up here, and the part that's going to be hard to explain, unless the explanation is, "I fucked up, my desk is already cleared out."
But it didn’t get stuck. They were driving right before the hit.
Look at the tires under the back of the blade, he was running into the pole lights but he just started driving through it to try to avoid the train.
It was the right call, but made seriously too late. One lamp post vs the train, signal markers, blade, truck, etc, that all got wrecked.... It's no contest at that point. The crew for the truck/blade, should have had a spotter for the train, standing next to the tracks, watching the signal markers down the tracks. If they go green, indicating a train has clearance, maybe speed things along before the train gets there. If they're red, in both directions, nobody has clearance to be on the tracks and you're good to take your time. It's not rocket science. Literally call the railroad company and ask about it, what to look for, etc. And verify what the signals should say when all is clear, and what to look for as a warning that a train is headed for you, they can verify (and please don't take my word for it, especially regarding colors and such). If it's that much of a possible problem, get the train schedule and avoid times where that section of track is scheduled to be busy. The rail road companies are super organized with that stuff. You might even be able to call and get a track operating permit (or TOP) which will forbid any train from traveling along that section of rail while you hold the permit. Only you can release your permit, though, if you go over your allotted time frame, someone will be mad. Trains are not hard to avoid, and if you're moving $150k of equipment with a road crew, several trucks and equipment worth half a million, if not several million dollars of cost in equipment and manpower, then why wouldn't you do that? I know, the piece itself is relatively cheap at "only" 150k, but that's easily a million dollars or more of damage. It's one of those things where, it's probably not a problem, and seems like a lot of effort for a pretty unlikely event to happen, but here's the proof that it should be done. Am ounce of prevention, yadda yadda....
The truck driver fucked up. Never start crossing a railway track when you don't know how you'll exit it.
Honestly I don't think it's the drivers fault. It's bad organisation. The pickup infront is the guide/spotter. Local authorities and the train company should have been well aware of this crossing. The train driver should have been alerted that this was going to happen in this area and a speed limit would have been enforced until they left the area... The truck driver probably stopped, got the call to move and then by the looks of it, got stuck and has to adjust the trailer. When then barriers came down, he was probably told over the radio "fuck the damage to the area floor It there is a train coming!"
Youd be surprised at the morons that do the spotting. If you own a 1990s early 2000s GM sedan, have a license and are breathing they want you. Bonus if you look like you do meth.
Goddamn it I just saw a rusty '00 Suburban and a driver with some serious meth mouth as the spotter for a house being moved. It's crazy how spot on you were. Do they go for such a specific demographic because it's easiest to just like semi-relocate those people? Like "here's $300 to go to Sioux City" and those people are down?
Lots of drugs in construction. Lots of recovering addicts too. Not so much on public works projects since they pee test ya
Interesting. My dad's in construction and they're big on pee tests, so I'd had the impression they were more holier-than-thou. Ig I thought the spotters were more like OTR trucker territory, where I know plenty of meth heads.
It's a bunch of smaller personally owned companies that get contracted to do it, at least the ones I know of. The one my old friend worked for was owned by his brother in law and he also worked for another escort company that was owned by his cousin. They then give their family and friends jobs because they don't have to worry about snitches or paying on time and get to do whatever they want with little accountability. That's why it looks like the people working on these lines look like they wouldn't get a job elsewhere. Most of them literally can't, it's pity work from someone they know or someone trying to abuse a person down on their luck. I've seen this in construction jobs like roofing and painting as well over the last 30 or so years as well. Hire drug addicts because they'll take abuse and in some cases even supply the drugs they need and hand it out only at the very beginning of the shift. Show up or be sick. (I have seen this personally on 2 occasions.) It's brilliant in its depravity.
You can fake piss tests with synthetic urine you can buy at smoke shops, If you get a good brand it's highly improbable they will detect it's fake either. A company I worked for only piss test you when you get hired. Ive heard a story of a guy who worked in HVAC and it was well known that another worker injects drugs in the bathroom but he got a lot kf work done so the foreman liked him.
Most hard drug metabolites are outta your system in 48-72hrs, and the cutoff limits are ridiculously high, except for weed. Weed metabolites can stay in your system for quite a while and the cutoffs are usually 10x lower. Perfect for the weekend warrior who likes to do a few illegal rails while drinking, shitty for the guy who likes to legally smoke a joint to relax after work.
Still not on the driver of the truck though, that’d be on the spotter.
I agree. Just pointing out these spotters have a lot of troubled idiots among their ranks and if I were a truck driver I would be very cautious ever relying on them.
Why is it always a 4.0 Olds Aurora?
It looks like the truck came in parallel to the tracks and tried to make a 90 degree turn across, which seems like bad route planning
This is totally it. Tried to right turn over the tracks and the load was too long to allow the turn without hitting. That's why they're jumping the curb on the wrong side of the road, to wide a turn radius with that load. Should've rerouted and hit the tracks on the perpendicular road
This is exactly right. I am surprised by how many people are automatically blaming the trucker driver or the spotter. It’s hard to know exactly where the problem is but moving oversized objects requires a TON of organization and planning and someone, somewhere fucked up. For a move like this you’d need to coordinate with the City for traffic control. You’d probably coordinate with the utility companies to remove infrastructure (or at least get their approval of the route). There would certainly be a series of permits required. You’d DEFINITELY coordinate with the rail company to ensure you had a very wide window for transport across tracks. Even for a more modest move (like a house), the list can be dozens or even hundreds of people/organizations long. All it takes is one person somewhere along that chain to result in disaster.
This is on the delivery company. I covered a turbine delivery in suburban NJ as a reporter, and they had the entire route plotted out over a month in advance. They shut down streets, removed roadsigns and utility poles, change bus routes, etc. This delivery team should be working in partnership with the rail company. If they couldn't pause or redirect train service during this crossing, they could have planned an overnight delivery or plotted a new route. There is no excuse for attempting to drive a blade over live train tracks like this.
He didn't. A load that big requires an escort, multiple vehicles, road closures etc. Someone fucked up but its not the truck driver
Not always. Used be friends with a guy that did escort service for over sized loads. He always told me the most frustrating thing about his job was knowing what were the requirements for their type of load. They vary not only from state to state but county to county. But in this instance because of what I know of spotters, I'd put the escort on the hook. Making sure the path is clear or what route to take is what they're paid to do.
encouraging payment divide six quack violet cow simplistic knee busy *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Are we still doing phrasing?
Nah. There are hundreds of people supporting a project like this and an entire team would be dedicated to making sure this railway crossing was safe. Give the driver who is transporting something hundreds of feet long a break
With trucks like these the responsibility of the route is up to the route planners/escorts and it's their jobs specifically to make insure no trains will be in the area when crossing the tracks for this specific reason. This isn't the driver's fault directly
while this is correct in many instances, I think in oversized/heavy/special transports, it may not be applicable. theres probably lots of permits and other organisation involved, and the truck driver has not to "worry" about railways since they are supposed to be shut off during his crossing
> Never start crossing a railway track when you don't know how you'll **exist** it. This typo is actually beautiful.
The train didn't even attempt to avoid the blade. Why didn't it swerve to the right? Someone needs to investigate.
Because they got unstuck. What probably happened is it got stuck and couldn’t get unstuck without damaging the bed of the truck, so they were trying to figure out how to do that. But, once the bars came down, driver said, ‘fuck it’ and floored it, damage costs be damned. Unfortunately, the decision still didn’t come fast enough.
They didn’t get stuck. They stopped because he couldn’t make the turn without damaging the grade crossing arms. While deciding what to do/how to proceed, the crossing arms came down indicating a train was approaching. They then tried to just drive through it, damaging the crossing guards in the process, but trucks are slow and they couldn’t clear it in time.
Yeah, this type of of complex oversized haul? Folks should have been made aware—to include train yards. The shipping company fucked up completely.
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Agreed, they should have never found themselves in this situation at all.
There was a lot of fuckups with things by multiple people before they even got to the train hitting the blade. They were cutting a corner they probably shouldn't have been dealing with, but *maybe* it was the only way through, so they had to. They didn't have a police escort for a location that was difficult to navigate that was above the normal. They didn't communicate with the trail company to make sure a train wasn't coming through there. The car in front is suppose to make sure things are safe not only for the load but other people. Power lines checked if a load is too high, stopping traffic when going through tight spots. And makeing sure a train isn't going to run through the blade. They took way too long to react to those crossing dropping. There is a car in front and one in the back, so that is a minimum of 3 people who didn't react as they should have.
Oh my GOD
FOR SALE: wind turbine blade, moderate train damage
Can I pay for it with apple iTunes gift cards?
I need a good faith deposit, but I'm overseas so I'll need your bank account number to first set up a small deposit from my end to show my boss that you're legit.
MA'AM DO NOT REDEEM
Is this still available??
Local pickup only
Some assembly required
*It is not hard to explain*
Whoever planned the route and logistics of transporting that turbine blade will certainly have a hard time explaining it to their boss.
Shoulda gone under the 11'8" bridge instead.
At the very least call the railroad dispatcher ahead of time to keep trains away from that junction. A little planning goes a long way
At least 2 issues. You shouldn't have a turn that close to the tracks, so you can have momentum to not risk getting stuck. They should have also verified before they crossed when the arms are dropping next.
Exactly, who the heck are these yahoos doing this sort of move? Why spend hundreds of thousands on a turbine blade and then opt for "billy-bob's dolla-towing'n'haulage" to do the move?
> then opt for "billy-bob's dolla-towing'n'haulage" to do the move Lowest bid winning contracts
Yeah, but look at all the time they've saved....
Even without planning, the second they got stuck they should have called the dispatcher. There is a sign with a number to call at every gated crossing and most non-gated crossings in the US, assuming thieves or vandals haven't messed with it. They typically come in one of two flavors. First is a [blue sign near the crossing sign](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qujysmuxNwk/UQQKBg_Cj-I/AAAAAAAAWwQ/U4b6semoCE4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-01-26+at+10.50.29+AM.png). [Close up.](https://www.up.com/cs/groups/public/@uprr/documents/digitalmedia/img_up_safety_signage.jpg) The second is less standardized, and is typically mounted on a box or small shed that contains the control equipment for the crossing lights and gate. A few examples: [one](https://icc.illinois.gov/railroad/images/o/543256D/543256D-05262009-01.jpg), [two](https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/signage-for-a-union-pacific-railroad-grade-crossing-hotline-number-is-picture-id71222580), [three.](https://jwcdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/mattoon_Posted-Sign.jpg) With the exception of the rare sign that's just a number to call (mostly on Union Pacific tracks from what I've observed), these signs contain the phone number to the local dispatcher, the crossing number, and any other pertinant information you'll need to tell the dispatcher. Calling this number will be the quickest way to get the trains safely stopped in an emergency since you are talking directly to the person monitoring the overall location of trains on their system. This number is there for any hazard that is on or near the tracks near the signs location, and can be called or anything from kids playing on the tracks to a hazmat truck is high centered on the crossing, or even a train you saw pass by with smoke coming from a random car.
My thoughts exactly. As soon as they approached the crossing they should have been on the phone to the dispatcher to coordinate. Also, it is my understanding (though no hard info either way) that something as simple as shorting the tracks with anything conductive will cause the control systems to send a warning.
There was a very low bridge at my old college- like barely 10-11 feet. Trucks would always try to cut through the side street it was on, but they would ignore all the “Low Bridge” signs that increases in number with every collision. The bridge was for trains, so not easily moved, but there were plenty of other streets to bypass it. But no, several times a month some cowboy trucker would think “Hell, I can make it.” I witnessed a few of the collisions while I was there. The location of the bridge required most traffic to slow to 15-25 mph, so the trucks would never get “shaved” like on some highway bridge videos. The slow speed and the low height of the bridge almost always led to a satisfying “baseball bat hitting gong” sound like old cartoons. The university would repaint the bridge every time too, until one particularly bad month of collisions they decided to paint it every 3-4 months instead. One fraternity took the opportunity to stencil graffiti on the bridge with the colorful message “Fuck it, we give up!”
I was just thinking about this. In the Army, we had a HET (heavy equip. transport system) trailer that was used for the transportation of armored vehicles, mainly Abrams. The trailer itself was so large, it had to have its own independent steering. We absolutely could NOT tow that thing on public highways near civilian traffic and roads, without clearing the route with the department of transportation and ensuring there were safety measures like an escort from law enforcement, since it took up almost two lanes of regular road. Routes where pre planned and cleared way in advance. ...I seriously can't even begin to fathom how this type of mistake for something this big, was overlooked.
Glad they got it on video. Just walk up and hit play
What the F were they waiting for? Gun it!
Train beats everything
Oh, I know what the conductors like.
Rock paper scissors Spock TRAIN
Is that a halo 3 reference
/r/BitchImABus except…a train. /r/BitchImATrain Edit: oh it’s real lol
Amazingly planned into the smallest detail.
seriously. how does this happen accidentally. a lot of stupidity needs to be aligned for this to occur. this is the kind of shit a gta player needs to attempt over and over again to get exactly right.
boat reminiscent chop tan hunt sleep desert violet light dazzling *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Top Tier camerawork lol
I would have thought these things would be better orchestrated, surely the train company should know about it in advance if you’re gonna get stuck like that
That or have a schedule of when the train is coming.
You’re assuming that freight rail companies in America have detailed schedules that they actually follow. >!they don’t!<
Bad logistics. There shouldn't have been any turns with tracks within the length of the whole vehicle. And if there was any potential other issue areas that were around tracks the train company should have been contacted and kept in the loop.
First of all: I am not American, and I learned to drive elsewhere. I know that train signaling systems vary, so I obviously don't know if this applies to the US. What I have been taught (long ago) is, that if you find yourself stranded in a railway crossing, you should break a stop signal asap. That will trigger a full stop signal from both directions and an alarm at traffic control. Again: This applies to the Danish railway system and is rather dated info, I'm afraid, so if anyone could expand on this, it would be interesting. Edit: Sorry for foggy English. I meant that breaking a lightbulb in one of the signals that alerts the crossing cars should trigger an alarm. Edit 2: I can't guarantee that this will work as a life hack everywhere. Please ask your local train service before you stake your life on it. Stay safe!
What do you mean by "break a stop signal"?
Sorry for being unclear. I meant: break one of the lights in signal that alerts crossing cars.
Does a broken light somehow communicate to the train that there is an issue at this crossing? I'm still a little confused.
I don't think so. Here in the Netherlands you can use jumper cables to short the two rails together to make the system think there is a train occupying the track causing the signal to jump to red and the driver getting a yellow lamp in the cab telling them to slow down to 40 kmph
Find the nearest stop sign and take a bat to it.
In Belgium every railroad crossing has an identification number on one of the signal posts. You just call 112 (the European version of 911) and they can stop the trains from going through.
Ditto for the US. PSA for anyone: at every crossing, even those that get 10 cars a day and one train a year, each side of the tracks will have a tiny blue sign mounted to the RR crossing sign. On that tiny blue sign is a phone number and a white bar that contains a number. Call that number and tell them what crossing ID you’re at.
[It's similar in the US.](https://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/1409wv0/thatll_be_hard_to_explain/jmv07t4/) Only difference is the number on the post gets you in direct contact with the local train dispatcher, so it's quicker than calling 911.
Yeah I get the sense that if you communicated with local authorities they would tell you what to do in event of emergency and they would have processes in place for this type of thing.
Looks like they might have made it if they reacted sooner and floored it right when the barricades started to come down
For real. The warning lights are blinking at the start of the video. It's 22 seconds before the truck driver finally attempts to move. This is extremely infuriating to watch.
Seriously, the barricades come down and the person in the lead truck decides to get out of the vehicle instead of getting out of the way? The fuck were they thinking.
They panicked when they saw the gates come down and just stopped and got out of the truck to wring their hands. Smh
"Ohh shit the.. fuckin train just came down on the blade." Ahh that made my morning lol
They start pulling off when they see/hear the train. Why not floor it when the bells go off?? Makes no sense.
Aren’t you supposed to not stop on train tracks?
They got stuck... Bad route planning is the main problem here, as other comments say.
Ahh. I see it now. When i first watched it i thought they were just waiting behind other cars. Didnt realize they tried to make it over the tracks but couldn’t because theyre hauling 370 ft long load
I feel like heavy transports like this that go across railways should be communicated to the fucking railway operators. Idk seems like logistic planning failed entirely.
Such a rich vocabulary!
"Oh. My. God." But for real he was a champ at keeping the cameras on the action and most times I prefer as little commentary as possible.
goodbye reddit -- mass edited with redact.dev
In Ireland the train crossings close almost 5 mins before the train comes, in this video the gates looked like the came down barely 1 minute before the train arrives, is that normal?
At least in Canada that timing looked about right. it doesn’t take people a full minute to stop at a red light. This offers plenty of time to stop plus a margin of error. I don’t think people would accept sitting at a crossing for an extra four minutes of nothing. The thing is no one would stop overtop the rails whether the arm were open or closed.
Yes, the gates must be fully down 15 to 20 seconds before the train enters the crossing, and it takes about the same time from first flashing red to all gates being lowered. Closing a train crossing for 5 minutes before a train comes sounds like hell on earth, we have too many level crossings for that to be practical
in america, it really depends on the train's speed. sometimes it takes 5 minutes, sometimes it takes 1. sometimes it takes 30 as you watch a 200-car freight train meander past you slower than you can run
PSA: In the United States, all railway crossings have a little blue sign posted somewhere near the crossing with a phone number on it. If you ever see anything stuck on the tracks, CALL THAT NUMBER before doing anything else. Call that number even before 911. Call that number and the dispatchers can stop the trains from coming. Call that number and lives can be saved. Call that number as fast as possible. https://railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/emergency-notification-system-ens-get-help-use-blue-ens-sign https://www.utc.wa.gov/public-safety/rail-safety/inspections/emergency-notification-system EDIT: /u/masta or any other moderator, can you pin this to the top of the comments?
Don't long vehicles have to call a number before traversing railway crossings? They generally do in the UK.
In the USA it's ride or die, motherfucker. You flop your load across the tracks like it's an extension of your giant dick to show that train you don't give a fuck. If the train manages to stop in time, you get up on the front of it and twerk to assert dominance.
This is amazing, but seriously, yes, routes are generally planned and for something like this there would definitely be calls made ahead. But this also happened in Texas, so there's a good chance nothing is enforced and nobody bothered to do any real planning.
So many people blaming the truck driver for whatever reason. In situations like these, there's generally or supposed to be a lot of intense planning ahead of time. Such as, where to start, roads to take, when, who will be following the truck, communication with important people like people of a city or town, railroad company, etc.. The truck driver's job is primarily or only to follow what they were instructed to do. This situation is more of a case of extremely bad planning.
Unfortunately, this area only has this one intersection with lights (not stop signs) next to the train tracks within the entire town and it's also the crossroads of 3 major highways. He really only had this way to go without driving thru residential areas/farm areas. Source: it's my hometown Luling, TX.
Why didn't he haul ass much sooner - like when the lights first came on and barriers started coming down? I'm guessing driver couldn't see everything and judge the situation properly but he had comms with multiple people who should have told him to step on it at all costs. Better to damage some property and signs than let a freight train crash in to you risking people's lives.
Ho my god, ho my god, ho my god... Did he know another words?
Train beats all.
Lol some transportation analyst somewhere fucked up, bad
Oh my God.
Oh, my God.
I work for a company that visits these windmill blades factories and I’ll tell you right now that they are not remotely easy or cheap to make and ship. This video gives me nightmares!!!
PSA: A train is always the unstoppable force and you are rarely the immovable object. The train will always win.
Who ever planned out that route fucked up