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 Post subject: Re: Fire in Colorado D&S RR affected
PostPosted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 9:43 pm 

Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2004 12:37 pm
Posts: 448
Location: Missoula MT
Actually, thermal sensors on outriggers could be hung on a track car following the train. It would be a very lightweight design (looking for all the world like an oversize weed sprayer) but could detect hot spots upward of 25 feet from the track centerline (or more, depending on sensor capability).

Might be a worth while project for the C&TS or any steam road in the West.

Michael Seitz
Missoula MT


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 Post subject: Re: Fire in Colorado D&S RR affected
PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 12:56 am 

Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm
Posts: 6400
MargaretSPfan wrote:
-


I wonder if it would be practical to have a helicopter patrol the RioW behind ever train to look for wisps of smoke, including using thermal sensors to look for heat from fires the train might have caused? I know that would be very expensive, but it might be te best way to protect the forest near the RoW.

Just ideas, that is all.


Margaret - A drone would be cheaper, and probably more efficient. Don't know a heck of a lot about them, but they seem to be doing a lot of different things these days.


Les


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 Post subject: Re: Fire in Colorado D&S RR affected
PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 2:47 am 

Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2013 10:18 pm
Posts: 75
Les Beckman wrote:
MargaretSPfan wrote:
-


I wonder if it would be practical to have a helicopter patrol the RioW behind ever train to look for wisps of smoke, including using thermal sensors to look for heat from fires the train might have caused? I know that would be very expensive, but it might be te best way to protect the forest near the RoW.

Just ideas, that is all.


Margaret - A drone would be cheaper, and probably more efficient. Don't know a heck of a lot about them, but they seem to be doing a lot of different things these days.


Les


I was actually thinking that drones could be used for that, but AFA*I*K they have a rather limited amount of time they can be flown before their battery dies, but that problem could be solved by having a one-car train follow every passenger train, with people in that short train flying drones on both sides of the tracks. Those drones would be equipped with both high-res videocameas and thermal sensors, and that short train would have a number of charging stations for the drones, as well as extra batteries that are fully charged at the start of each day.

The fire department in my area has one drone they use for thermal imagine -- flyit above a burning structure and it gets and sends thermal mages to the firefighters on the ground, so they can know where the hot spots are without risking the lives of the people in their crews.

So, yes, drones could certainly be very useful and effective for fire patrols on the Silverton -- and on other RRs that operate steam locomotives in areas where fires can easily start.


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 Post subject: Re: Fire in Colorado D&S RR affected
PostPosted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 9:19 am 

Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2004 3:01 pm
Posts: 1730
Location: SouthEast Pennsylvania
Some fan trips have used a baggage car with open doors (and safety rails or chains) as the hanger and charging station for a fleet of chase drones. Not all of them air in the air at once.


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 Post subject: Re: Fire in Colorado D&S RR affected
PostPosted: Fri Jun 15, 2018 12:47 am 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 7:07 am
Posts: 737
Location: Philadelphia Pa
What about following in the Heeber Valley Railroad's footsteps and have a couple tank cars fitted with sprayers, either in train or following train, that spray down a large are of the ROW following the steam engine's passing? Seems most logical....45 miles would take a couple tank cars to really give a good dousing....but I'm sure it would be cheaper than potential law suits or shutting operations down for weeks/months at a time.

Sorry if this has been mentioned already.


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 Post subject: Re: Fire in Colorado D&S RR affected
PostPosted: Fri Jun 15, 2018 10:13 am 

Joined: Thu Feb 03, 2005 9:32 pm
Posts: 344
History repeats itself, from 1996…

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mawve_3NSj4


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 Post subject: Re: Fire in Colorado D&S RR affected
PostPosted: Tue Jun 19, 2018 12:29 pm 

Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2007 12:45 am
Posts: 1010
A Monday, June 18, 2018 Durango Herald article: D&SNG to offer bus service between Durango and Silverton


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 Post subject: Re: Fire in Colorado D&S RR affected
PostPosted: Tue Jun 19, 2018 4:04 pm 

Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2007 8:02 am
Posts: 53
Location: Albuquerque....
junior wrote:
What about following in the Heeber Valley Railroad's footsteps and have a couple tank cars fitted with sprayers, either in train or following train, that spray down a large are of the ROW following the steam engine's passing? Seems most logical....45 miles would take a couple tank cars to really give a good dousing....but I'm sure it would be cheaper than potential law suits or shutting operations down for weeks/months at a time.

Sorry if this has been mentioned already.


One of the problems with the water cars is that they actually promote growth of the fuels that help start the fire.

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William Diehl


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 Post subject: Re: Fire in Colorado D&S RR affected
PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 7:25 pm 

Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2007 12:45 am
Posts: 1010
There is a press release circulating that says the D&SNG will start "three daily diesel locomotive excursions to multiple locations, starting Fri. June 22 and continuing through Tues., July 3."

The press release also says the D&SNG is planning to resume "traditional summer season steam train passenger service to Silverton on Wed., July 4".

Link: D&SNGRR Launches Diesel Locomotive Passenger Service to Multiple Locations Starting Fri., June 22


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 Post subject: Re: Fire in Colorado D&S RR affected
PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 8:18 pm 

Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2007 12:45 am
Posts: 1010
A June 21 Durango Herald article, with several informative quotes from the Harpers:
Durango train to offer limited service beginning Friday


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 Post subject: Re: Fire in Colorado D&S RR affected
PostPosted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 5:09 pm 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 1:51 pm
Posts: 11481
Location: Somewhere east of Prescott, AZ along the old Santa Fe "Prescott & Eastern"
"Voluntary Non-Use of Steam" now extended to at least July 12th:

http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/20 ... ry-weather


Last edited by Alexander D. Mitchell IV on Thu Jun 28, 2018 8:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Fire in Colorado D&S RR affected
PostPosted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 7:07 pm 

Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2007 12:45 am
Posts: 1010
Alexander D. Mitchell IV wrote:
Steam ban
It is not a ban. The railroad is choosing not to run its steam locomotives.


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 Post subject: Re: Fire in Colorado D&S RR affected
PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 12:41 pm 

Joined: Fri Mar 05, 2010 3:41 am
Posts: 3911
Location: Inwood, W.Va.
D&S holding off on steam until July 12, hoping for better weather by then.

A personal note. . .the lead photo, with a diesel, says much about the challenge of getting passengers on one of our heritage roads without steam, which is such a natural for us.

It's just not the same.

https://durangoherald.com/articles/229530#slide=0


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 Post subject: Re: Fire in Colorado D&S RR affected
PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 1:21 pm 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 7:19 am
Posts: 6399
Location: southeastern USA
Gotta wonder if it's having diesel that's limiting headcount or having well publicized fires to blame. Given the scenery, does what's at the head end matter much at D&S? I'd like to think so, and there's a certain element that would base a visiting decision on steam, but how much of an impact if no fire or other variable were involved seems unproven to me.

Anybody else notice that according to the headline the D&S is steam fired?

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“God, the beautiful racket of it all: the sighing and hissing, the rattle and clack of the cars over the rails. These were the sounds that made America the greatest country on earth." Jonathan Evison


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 Post subject: Re: Fire in Colorado D&S RR affected
PostPosted: Sun Jul 01, 2018 2:02 pm 

Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2016 1:15 pm
Posts: 1477
Dave wrote:
Given the scenery, does what's at the head end matter much at D&S?


If people just want to look at the scenery, there's equally thrilling views all around Durango. I'm certain that some people care about motive power when they buy a ticket, and I'm certain that some people don't. I think that the majority of the D&S customers care about the entire package... the history, the scenery, the "old train" (that definition in itself may or may not include the locomotive), the novelty.

Durango, along with Strasburg and a few others, have built their brand around Steam. When I tell people I like trains, I'd say half of the people I meet have asked "have you ever ridden that old steam train in Durango?"


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