Thursday, July 25, 2013

Vibration. There is exaggerated vibration in a machine this large when it changes speed.

That vibration can be controlled. It is when it gets out of control that it is a problem. It is impossible to remove vibration from any mechanism. Vibration is caused by friction and overcoming it; to move or stop.

The vibration is caused when parts both stationary and moving interact. That is the same for jets and planes, except, the air friction is more fluid and less reliable. Damn it.

I think air fluidity has to enter the picture with high speed rail as well. External forces acting on 'the system.' There is also the issue of heat and rail competency. Warping. Expansion gaps. It was as bright sunny day.

The engineer might have been going to fast, but, what acted on 'the system' to make this such a huge gap in safety?

By Joshua Schneyer and Cezary Podkul
Thu Jul 11, 2013 4:46pm IST

...The railroad initially blamed (click here) the catastrophe on the failure of the train's pneumatic airbrakes after an engine fire, but the company acknowledged on Wednesday that the train's engineer did not apply an adequate number of handbrakes to hold the train in place, and failed to comply with regulations.

A Reuters review of Canadian and U.S. regulations found that rail operators are given considerable leeway to decide how many handbrakes are sufficient for any given train, depending on track conditions and the weight of the cargo.

Operators are only required to apply enough of the handbrakes - one is found on every railcar - to ensure the train will not move even if other safety features, such as air brakes, falter.

The issue of handbrakes is likely to prove central to how blame is apportioned for the deadliest North American railroad disaster in at least two decades, experts said. The Canadian authorities have launched a criminal investigation, and Quebec police inspector Michel Forget has said criminal negligence is one lead they are looking into....