(Update: more landslide or boulder caused derailments: Fraser Canyon, BNSF by the Mississippi River, BNSF derails in mountain canyons. I don't know how you can detect a barge over the tracks.)
This route was part of the Northern Pacific.
When the track is wedged between a bluff and a river, just getting that many excavators on the site has to be a challenge.
It looks like that was a slide within a slide. I put a red rectangle around what appears to have been the original slippage.
An example of a landslide fence doing its job in Glenwood Canyon, CO.
This route was part of the Northern Pacific.
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| safe_image for Landslide blocks BNSF railway near Miles City A landslide occurred around 10 p.m. Wednesday covering about 800 feet of railway that’s located 10 miles west of Miles City, according to BNSF public affairs and regional director Maia LaSalle. The landslide triggered slide fence sensors along the railway located in the company’s Forsyth subdivision along the Yellowstone River and notified BNSF’s network operations center. LaSalle said the railway should be open again Friday morning after crews continue to remove the dirt Thursday evening. [This article has links to articles about coal train derailments putting 40 and 39 coal cars on the ground. But those derailments happended in Jan 2019 and 2018. (paycount)] Ethan Hall I give it a day - day 1/2 tops they’ll run a train over it. George Johnson This is the fourth day and their still digging... Rodney J Bollack What is track speed there. Are there any curves before it? I’d sure hate to run around a corner and see that. That would be time to leave your grip and bail out the door and do an outstanding P.L.F. Blake Shaw Rodney J Bollack That's why they have slide fences to warn a crew if there is a problem before they get there. I believe track speed there is 50 MPH. Fernando A Gomez Neglecting the maintenance. Mike Monroe Fernando A Gomez how so? How can you prevent landslides? Enlighten me. Fernando A Gomez Mike Monroe I was track inspector, there is always signs that a person can recognize, so be attentive, you can see the slow gradual movement, until it breaks away. Be attentive, observe. Recognize what is taking place, it will prevent a disaster. My opinion from those years of service in that subdivision. Michael Decker Mike Monroe The way they did it down here in Wyoming was to cut back the slopes so that the Bentonite had someplace to go before it got to the track. Paul Pierson You can have cuts that are stable for decades suddenly break loose with just a bad combination of conditions . Rodger Hartley Looks like there is a lot more there to give way ! Allan MacDonald Problem is "they go cheap" quite often. They will build an embankment that is close to the angle of repose for the material the hillside is made from and not even properly reinforce it. "You can't fool mother nature!" Brendan J Dock shared Dennis DeBruler I haven't seen any more information on this landslide. https://billingsgazette.com/.../article_55c20049-9237... |
When the track is wedged between a bluff and a river, just getting that many excavators on the site has to be a challenge.
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| 3D Satellite |
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| above safe_image plus Paint |
Another title I thought of is "USA is Getting Soggy." Derailments by CSX in Kentucky and BNSF in Idaho and Wisconsin show what can happen when a landslide fence has not been installed along a river bluff. A landslide fence is simply a fence placed between the river bluff and the tracks that is hooked into the railroad's signalling system. If any earth slides down the bluff, it will break the fence, which will turn signals red and stop trains before they reach the landslide. I'm sure a broken fence will also produce a relevant display on a dispatcher's screen. And now days, text messages will probably be sent to the appropriate people.
But how many times do you clear off the tracks before it is cheaper to cut back the top of the hill and/or build a retaining wall? I learned just a couple of weeks ago that BNSF knows how to do both. When they cut through the west bluff of the Missouri River (3D Satellite) to make room for the second track across their second bridge across the river, they built a tall retaining wall and then did a stepped removal of land above that wall.
Another detector measures track slump if an embankment becomes saturated with water. "We use ground-movement detectors, similar to a level, that measure the cross-level of the rail."
But how many times do you clear off the tracks before it is cheaper to cut back the top of the hill and/or build a retaining wall? I learned just a couple of weeks ago that BNSF knows how to do both. When they cut through the west bluff of the Missouri River (3D Satellite) to make room for the second track across their second bridge across the river, they built a tall retaining wall and then did a stepped removal of land above that wall.
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| Screenshot |
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| safe_image for MUD, ROCK, WATER AND SNOW: DETECTORS HELP BNSF RESPOND TO SLIDES AND FLOODS When mud, rock, water and snow find their way onto our tracks, we need to know about it promptly so we can resolve it and get trains moving again. Here’s how we use technology to alert our employees, now in Rail Talk. Russ Huelle: I believe that is the Fallbridge sub in the Columbia River Gorge between Wishram and Pasco. Nikki Granum-Yothers: Russ west of Roosevelt. Kevin Agarpao: Shows how important signal maintainers are and you should finish our new agreement. |
This is a high-water detector. Given the induction coils at the bottom, I assume the water changes the impedance when the coils become submerged in water. Judging by the size of the conductors, it must use a lot of current, but very little voltage. Although their article says water shorts out the electrical current.
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| BNSF |
Another detector measures track slump if an embankment becomes saturated with water. "We use ground-movement detectors, similar to a level, that measure the cross-level of the rail."
Snow slide detectors generate an alarm when heavy snow tilts the poles. These help mitigate the damage caused by avalanches. Are they also used to measure the impact of blizzards?
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| BNSF |
"LiDAR radar is being tested to scan for objects on top of the track."
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| BNSF |
"Fiber optics are also being tested, by installing buried fiber along the tracks. When a rock falls, it causes an imperfection in the system to be detected, providing an exact location of the event." [BNSF]
Sometimes they had a fence, and sometimes they didn't.
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| Bishop Archer posted Joe Dockrill shared |
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| Bishop Archer commented on his post [I don't see a fence. But evidently someone caught it in time because I don't see a wrecked loco.] |
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| Aleksander Akbashev commented on Bishop's post [I don't see a fence. But the rock may be competent enough that nothing falls off.] |
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| Philip Peters commented on Bishop's post About 1996 |
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| Philip Peters commented on Bishop's post |
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| RC Anno commented on Joe's share Thats not a rock slide. This is a rock slide. |
An example of a landslide fence doing its job in Glenwood Canyon, CO.
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| DeBruler |
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