In 1890 the first patent for a diesel engine was issued. Over the next century, more and more industries incorporated this type of engine in equipment and vehicles. One of the main reasons for its popularity was that diesel engines were more energy efficient than engines that ran on gasoline. Diesel fuel releases less CO2 carbon emissions than gasoline fuel. […]
Health Hazards of Working Around Diesel Engines
Rail Accidents Have Declined 55% in Montana in Past Decade
Railroad accidents, derailments and fatalities have declined in Montana and other parts of the country in the past 10 years, according to data from the Federal Railroad Administration. The FRA reports that the decline is a reflection of efforts to enhance safety and by efforts in Montana specifically to communicate better with federal regulators, and to detect any trends. According […]
DOT Urges Railroads to Implement Automatic Braking By End of 2018
The Department of Transportation stated this month that railroads must act urgently to meet a Dec. 31, 2018 deadline to adopt automatic braking technology. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao made the statement in a letter she sent to 47 of the nation’s railroads in early January. Chao’s urgent call to action came a few weeks after an Amtrak train derailed Dec. […]
US Government to Investigate Growing Length of Freight Trains
US Congress will be investigating the safety of freight trains that are growing increasingly longer operated by CSX, Union Pacific, and other major railroads to increase profitability, according to the US Government Accountability Office. As of 2017, train length is unregulated in the United States. Any effort to add rules to restrict train length will face strong railroad industry opposition […]
Virginia Rail Express Adding Safety Technology to Rail Lines
Work is continuing in Virginia to install Positive Train Control (PTC) onto railroad tracks that experts say could have prevented many recent, fatal train accidents, such as in Hoboken, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Virginia Rail Express (VRE), a popular commuter rail line in the state and in the metro Washington DC area, stated in early March 2017 that it […]
BNSF Railroad Pleads for US Government to Pay for Life Saving Train Technology
A leading freight railroad has been urging Congress to pay for passenger railroad companies to install positive train control or PTC on all passenger trains. BNSF Railway has been one of the leading companies promoting the use of PTC, a technology that will slow a train down automatically that is going over the speed limit. PTC will eventually be required […]
Exiting FRA Chief Hopes Technology Will Save More Lives
Ex-Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Chief Sarah Feinberg was in the job for only weeks in 2015 when a commuter train slammed into an SUV stopped on the tracks just north of New York City. Six people died in the train crash. That Feburary 2015 train crossing accident highlighteed a problem that has been with the railroad industry for more than […]
Long Island Train Traveled at Double the Speed Limit Before Crash
A Long Island Railroad commuter train that crashed in Brooklyn on Jan. 4 was traveling at double the speed limit when it slammed into the train station. More than 100 people were hurt, according to federal investigators. The train was going more than 10 miles per hour when it smashed into the end of the tracks at Atlantic Terminal in […]
Deadly Arkansas Train Collision Caused by Engineer Fatigue
A fatal crash and derailment between two Union Pacific trains in Arkansas on Aug. 17, 2014 was the result of a tired engineer and conductor who were likely both asleep on at least one of the trains, according to federal investigators this month. The dual train crash happened in Hoxie, Arkansas, and the NTSB reported that it could have been […]
Hoboken NJ Train Engineer Had Undiagnosed Sleep Disorder
The engineer running a New Jersey Transit train that slammed into Hoboken Terminal in September had a undiagnosed sleep disorder, according to his attorney this week. The engineer, Thomas Gallagher, recently discovered that he had severe sleep apnea. The test results that confirmed the disorder were sent to federal authorities on Oct. 31. Gallagher stated that he did not remember […]