Short documentary on oil by rail

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Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I had no idea crude oil was so explosive.

Crude oil is NOT explosive by itself. But if oil vapours is mixed with air it can become an explosive mixture.



At those accidents in the video, the crude in the tanks was heated till they burst and then boiling crude was kinda "sprayed" into an existing big fire.. and then BOOM.

It seems that this is all about the MONEY - all the involved companies want maximum profit NOW, don't care much about safety and the environment(spills from accidents), and don't want to much on rail-road maintenance....
 
To be blunt, while the safety of railcars is important and is presently an issue, the bigger issue here is the regulatory environment that continually delays construction of the pipelines to carry this crude oil so it wouldn't be on the rail network in these quantities in the first place.

And, no, that does not mean the Keystone pipeline, though that is emblamatic of the current situation faced by pipeline operators.

There are several pipeline projects in the works through Minnesota. Most of them are being held up by all sorts of objections, many on the basis that if we don't let them build the pipeline, there won't be a market for this crude. The current railroad issues should demonstrate the folly of that logic.

Can we do better with railroad safety? Yes. Is that the real issue here? No.
 
Thanks for sharing.

As soon as I was finished watching, I looked to my right while sitting at my desk and a freight train went by with a few oil tankers
crazy2.gif


I am surprised though how often they do rail maintenance outside the window though... Every other week it seems they are dropping new ballast, replacing ties, rail, etc... Pretty impressive machinery they use, which is cool to watch!

I like having the trains right outside the window... Some cool stuff goes by and its something to watch when work is slower.
 
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Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
Originally Posted By: rjundi
Very explosive stuff:
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/fires-...uebec-v19319414

Careless engineer did not properly park nor secure the train when he slept away in a motel I believe. Train ran away sadly into a small town.


I believe the problem here isn't crude oil being carried by trains, it is the carelessness of employees.
I read the locomotive was running poorly, so they shut it down, air pressure dropped, rolled downhill. Not sure why only one locomotive was capable of running overnight, it was a screwup for sure. Feel sorry for the innocent victims, & the insurance company, which is going to be hit hard on this one.
 
The incident in Canada is an example of all the holes in the swiss cheese lining up. Ultimately though, the failure to set enough hand brakes to hold the train in the event the locomotive stopped running to provide air pressure for the brakes was the deciding factor. Per the engineer, he only set the brakes on the five engines and two other cars. Railroad proceedure would have required 11 cars. The agencies investigating the accident concluded that between 17 and 26 cars should have had their hand brakes set.

Again, the real question is why does all this oil have to be shipped by rail? Yes, supply came online fast. However, delays in permitting pipelines are a major culprit.
 
Originally Posted By: MNgopher
To be blunt, while the safety of railcars is important and is presently an issue, the bigger issue here is the regulatory environment that continually delays construction of the pipelines to carry this crude oil so it wouldn't be on the rail network in these quantities in the first place.

And, no, that does not mean the Keystone pipeline, though that is emblamatic of the current situation faced by pipeline operators.

There are several pipeline projects in the works through Minnesota. Most of them are being held up by all sorts of objections, many on the basis that if we don't let them build the pipeline, there won't be a market for this crude. The current railroad issues should demonstrate the folly of that logic.

Can we do better with railroad safety? Yes. Is that the real issue here? No.


thumbsup2.gif
 
Originally Posted By: xBa380

I am surprised though how often they do rail maintenance outside the window though... Every other week it seems they are dropping new ballast, replacing ties, rail, etc... Pretty impressive machinery they use, which is cool to watch!


True that! As a whole, the physical plant throughout the industry is in MUCH better shape today than it was in, say, the 1970s when many Eastern railroads were bankrupt (remember the Penn Central?) and even the "profitable" western railroads were struggling to haul new traffic sources (like Wyoming coal) across a network of tracks that had been largely unchanged since about the 1920s. Oh, and in the 1970s there was no 12-hour maximum workdays like there is today - it was 16 hours and later changed to 14.
 
I can work 18 hrs in a 24 hour period as long as the 1st shift is not over 10 hours. 12 hrs is the max for any one shift.
I packed it in 6 months ago with 11,329 shifts in 39 years.

The ND Bakken, Manitoba and Saskatchewan crude is as volatile as gasoline.
The Gulf Coast refineries don't want it, so the crude is shipped in relatively small quantities by train to various locations.
I'm not aware of any east-west pipeline discussions, so we are stuck with CBR.
 
Originally Posted By: UrS4
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I had no idea crude oil was so explosive.

Crude oil is NOT explosive by itself. But if oil vapours is mixed with air it can become an explosive mixture.



At those accidents in the video, the crude in the tanks was heated till they burst and then boiling crude was kinda "sprayed" into an existing big fire.. and then BOOM.

It seems that this is all about the MONEY - all the involved companies want maximum profit NOW, don't care much about safety and the environment(spills from accidents), and don't want to much on rail-road maintenance....



The environment takes a back seat to profit. Which is why I am opposed to any pipeline from middle canada to the BC coast.
A single spill on those coastal regions will destroy valuable ecosystems and threaten many people's way of life.
Many of those coastal natives have no need for money. They live off the land and sea,in partnership with the earth,not imposing their will on it.

I saw a couple of documentaries on this guy named Weibo. Look him up. They call him an Eco-terrorist because he fought big oil when sour gas started killing his animals and the women in his family commune began having 3rd trimester miscarriages.
As far as I'm concerned he's a hero. Big oil doesn't care about people they care about profits.
I've never been a tree hugger but I certainly see the point they are trying to make.
 
I think you pretty much summed it up Clevy

We have west coast natives that live in communes,
live off the land and have no need for money.

Now what do they call that??
Hollywood stereotyping and fantasies of the master race.

Nothing to do with a major court victory recognizing
indigenous rights and land claims in BC.
 
Originally Posted By: used_0il
I think you pretty much summed it up Clevy

We have west coast natives that live in communes,
live off the land and have no need for money.

Now what do they call that??
Hollywood stereotyping and fantasies of the master race.

Nothing to do with a major court victory recognizing
indigenous rights and land claims in BC.



And I'm glad the courts see that there is a bigger picture here,that cares not about an economy,or whether we have gasoline to drive wherever.

I'm not some idiot living in a fairy tale where big oil is the enemy and along with the wicked witch will cut down the enchanted forest. I am a realist.
However I do feel that all people have the right to live. How they live is a choice. Whether they live off the land in a hunter gatherer type way,or live off the land farming with GPS guided tractors. All humanity has the right to clean air and water.
So yes in most of our lives we need the big evil that is oil. And we as stewards of the earth should care more about how it's extracted and how we use it.
Conservation is very important.
For example guys running 3000 mile intervals when in reality they can go 10000 miles. I see this as an active shot at Mother Earth. Consuming for consumings sake. Sure the oil is cheap but that's not the point. The point is the engine can use the oil for 3 times as long yet people ignore the truth because they are to dumb to absorb reality,today's reality anyway.
Think of it on a massive scale. 3 times more oil changes,per vehicle over its lifetime. Now multiply that over that owners lifetime.
And they somehow think they are enabling their engines to live longer.
Forget the engine,how about future people's and animals.
Typical first world waste.
I'm not a tree hugger here. But I do hate waste for waste sake.
Now if a used oil analysis showed an engine requires 3000 mile intervals then of course follow that routine.
But if you've got a forum of owners with used oil analysis that prove a 3000 mile interval is absurd,yet the person ignores the data then not only are they stupid and unable to learn,but they are poor stewards and I hope their children,and grandchildren bathe in the waters of their excess.
I'm not saying that everyone should follow a 10000 mile interval. In some cases it is too long.
What I am saying is think about it. We have data. We have used oil analysis. We have experts in the field.
Listen to them.
 
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