New and looking for information

[chris7800]

Good Afternoon,
I'm new here and looking for information and hoping that all of you can help me out. A little about me and why I'm here. I'm developing a firefighter class dealing with persons trapped under a train. What I'm looking for is if anyone can point me in the right direction to get info on the following:
. The weight of specific trains
The different components of the train:
A. components of the truck assembly
B. components of the train assembly
C. how the trains are connected/disconnected
D. emergency brake locations

Looking for info on both commuter and freight trains. Thanks.

[aussiesteve]

G'day Chris,
Try you FRA dot gov mob for specifications.
https://railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/i...ize-compendium
There would also be specifications for passenger cars, and locomotives.
Steve.

[chris7800]

Thank you.

[aussiesteve]

G'day Chris,
Your training scenario for recovery of somebody trapped under a train would generally not be a pleasant experience.
This all depending upon the type of equipment and situation involved.
There is not much clearance between the bottom components of locomotives and the ties (sleepers).
A probable scenario might be a high level platform where a person falls down inbetween the carriage and platform.
This can occur on curved platforms where there is a larger gap between the carriage and edge of the platform.
This occurred to a work colleague of mine many years ago.
Sadly he was crushed when the train started to move and he didn't survive very long.
But, I know of incidents involving kids who have survived this situation.
Steve.

[Beeyar Wunby]

Hi Chris

As an ex-volunteer firefighter and train driver, I would suggest you could try contacting the railway itself.

Whilst the Managers might give you a cool welcome initially, most train crews would be happy to communicate with you. Each side has much to learn from the other. For example, whenever we had 'accident scenario' training on my railway, the instructors never told us drivers (sorry, Engineers ) to seek out the Fire/Rescue Crew commander and identify ourselves as the Driver/Person in Charge. If we did, we could then quickly assure them that all passengers were removed, and traction current was off, and show them the systems they needed to see. Or on freight, we could tell the Firefighters whether our load was dangerous, and where it was in the consist. We had a long list of tasks to perform at a Fire/Collision/Person Under etc, but identifying ourself to the Fire Commander wasn't on it - Crazy!

Originally Posted by Chris

What I'm looking for is if anyone can point me in the right direction to get info on the following:
A. components of the truck assembly
B. components of the train assembly
C. how the trains are connected/disconnected
D. emergency brake locations

Whilst knowledge is a wonderful thing, we really don't want unqualified people splitting trains or isolating brakes themselves. Unless you have a good working knowledge of how EACH PARTICULAR train works, you're gonna crush someone or start a runaway!

If you already had a good rapport with the relevant rail people on your 'patch', you could work with them at an incident. Of course if it's a SCBA incident, then we'll have to move away and your guys will have to do all of it, but if you already had contacts to call up on the Rail side things would work far more smoothly as they could quickly give you the info you needed.

It would be even better if you got the rail operators to show you their trains, or even get to do some training/drills with them.

You might meet opposition when you you first try, we sure have our share of Shi**y managers on the Iron Road, but it would be worth it.

Anyway I hope I haven't come across as a Snotty Brit. I fully agree that you guys should have this knowledge, I just think the best way is by talking directly to the folk who work those trains. I might sound naive to some, but I do know that Communication is the key to a successful operation.

Just my 2c.

Keep safe, BW.

[Master Cutler]

Hi Chris, welcome to RF.
It may be worth checking out the Euro Tunnel web sites for technical links.
I recall attending a talk by The Institute of Materials back in the 90s about the flame retardant paints and polymers that were developed specifically for the Tunnel rolling stock.