Union Pacific Disaster: “Rules Are Rules”

Good news: It was a normal day in  Sharon Springs , KS when a Union Pacific crew boarded a loaded coal train for the long trek to Salina.
 
The Bad news: Just a few miles into the trip a wheel bearing became overheated and melted, letting a metal support drop down and grind on the rail, creating white hot molten metal droppings spewing down to the rail.
 
The Good news: A very alert crew noticed smoke about halfway back in the train and immediately stopped the train in compliance with the rules.
 
The Bad news: The train stopped with the hot wheel over a wooden bridge with creosote ties and trusses.
 
The crew tried to explain to higher-ups but were instructed not to move the train! They were instructed Rules prohibit moving the train when a part is defective!

But….rules are rules!

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Trains are life for avid ‘railfans’

Source: CNN.com

By Stephanie Chen – CNN
 

FOLKSTON, Georgia (CNN) — Rain or shine, 80-year-old Cookie Williams plops himself on the wooden viewing platform perched over double train tracks.

On this warm May afternoon, a patient Williams sits slouched, legs crossed and arms relaxed, donning his vintage CSX railroad company cap littered with miniature train pendants.

He is waiting for a train.

A scanner, listening for oncoming train signals, crackles in the background as it picks up some conductor chatter.

He waits some more.

“A lot of people in this town thought I was on the kooky side,” said Williams, who is retired from the paper and pulp industry. “But I love it. I’ve loved these trains ever since I was a kid.”

Folkston, Georgia, where Williams lives, is one of many train hot spots nationwide. Here, the blasting train noises are jokingly called “Folkston music.” With up to 60 trains crawling loudly through the quaint town each day, it’s become an attraction for fans eager to collect train images and sounds.

In 2001, Williams, who grew up by a train track, pushed town officials to construct a viewing platform with picnic tables, wireless Internet and a scanner to detect oncoming trains. The Southeast Georgia town reports that at least 12,500 visitors from all over the world visit the platform to watch trains each year.

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