Union Pacific SD40-2 Blows Dynamic Brake Fan
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- čas přidán 22. 05. 2009
- This Video was shot by my friend Tony Johnson on May 24, 1991 and here is the story on this video in his words.
"I as filming UP action there when I head this westbound approach with a sick horn. Right after the engineer blows for the road crossing, the dynamic brakes on UP3582 blows sky high with a loud bang. In the video I said "it looks like it blew it's turdocharger", but as UP3582 rolled past me I could see a hole and fire inside the dynamic brake grid with sparks and molten metal falling onto the walkway.
I mentioned that I thought the crew would call the fire department, but they didn't. I drove two miles itto Cozad and found the same UP local switching a local customer as if nothing had happen. the fire was out and the unit sounded normal.
At the time UP were running their trains like streetcars on the double track mainline. I was surprised when the UP dispatcher allowed the local to get back on the main line and continue west, which i also photographed. The train got about five miles out of town and UP3582 died on the main, tying up everything. The UP dispatcher was not pleased ." - Auta a dopravní prostředky
That horn is the saddest sound I've ever heard a train make. ._.
+fallingwater Sounds like an old Milwaukee road electric having a bad day
sad doot ;c
The horn is a leslie S3L.
@@Fullsenddiesel Leslie S3Ls don't sound like they're having a herniea after getting a colonoscopy
It’s a Leslie, they are pretty cool
I've driven a few locomotives that sounded like that. I'm in canada so It always makes me think of a depressed moose. Waaaaaaaaaaahhaa.
lmfao im dying
I’ve had a whistle freeze up on me. Failure in route, the tape showed I was blowing. Hiball!!!!
By Moose you mean Moose from " you can't do that on television" ? Yeah ? iiiiii heard that
That horn must be broken. It sounds like a cheap air horn I got at the auto parts store for $5
Compressor issue. Not enough air to get a higher pitch
Fouled horn... either it has oil contamination from the compressor, or it got something jammed in the bell end...
@@SeamusOR it's got enough air, the rubber gaskets that seal the horns so the air doesn't leak out dry rot and the air leaks out, that's what this is
Correct! And for those who dont know.... Diesel-electric locos use a diesel engine to move a generator to give electricity to the motors attached to the wheels. When driver chose to use the dynamic brakes, the motors turned to generators and produces electricity that goes to huge resistors usually on top of the loco. The resistors transforms the electricity to heat. To cool the resistors they use huge fans. Etc Etc. Hope i helped the beginners! Cheers from Greece!
Indeed. Think of it like this....a locomotive can reverse the polarity of its traction motors to actually help slow the locomotive down, this turns every traction motor into a miniature generator...all that power needs to go somewhere and that is the Dynamic Brake Grids which burn it off as heat just like you said.
@@steedm1093hey bro are you there
This comment section is so old fr
The fan that blew was indeed a dynamic brake grid cooling fan. EMD SD locomotives of that era had two cooling fans on the dynamic brakes and three on the engine cooling radiator with the exception of the SD-38 which had two on the engine radiator as well.
Look at the DB blister when the engine passes, there's a huge hole in the blister. I'm guessing that the fan slung a blade.
I'd get what remains of the fan and keep it as a trophy
Lol 🤣
0:20 anyone up for frisbee with the fan
Hell yeah!
Sure
Yeah!!
UP #3582 was last seen on 6/24/2010 in Ogden, UT.
It was probably sold during that locomotive auction in 2012/2013 in St. Louis. Nearly all of UP's retired locomotives were in that auction.
Dispatch should be regretting that decision to allow this train to go on without a checkup and have it die on the main line.
nah
Dynamic brakes are non-essential devices on trains. If the train still moves then the train still moves.
@@pootispiker2866 yeah but the train died on the main line sooooo
That's typical railroad mentality.
@@pootispiker2866 except it didn't move much longer the train died on the main later on.
What a sad sad horn.
I think it was more likely that the "explosion" was the fan not the turbocharger, and the cameraman just assumed it was the turbocharger.
I get so much satisfaction out of watching this video...
Please tell me someone went and got the fan. That would be awesome on your wall.
+Roland Anderson I was thinking the same thing.
Roland Anderson
Your wall wouldn't support it
My wife and I looked, but we could't find it.
That poor SD40-2 seen better days.. Rest In Peace UP 3562
3582*
Holy s*** imagine if this happenedwhile passing through a crowded town! that metal blade could hurt someone!
It is known.....entire power assemblies have launched themselves out of the engine block and out of the carbody. Its a safety violation to inspect for leaks and spills on an AC4400 or EVO above N3 during an outbound check.
This video would be a good case for warning people not to get too close to railroad tracks. Objects can be kicked up or otherwise propelled off the train and hurt someone who is in the vicinity. Railroading has inherent dangers even for those who are properly trained in safety procedures and are appropriately equipped.
@@1575murray life is full of dangers bud
@@1575murray your chances of getting hit by a car are greater than getting hit by a turbocharger fan.
@@steedm1093 COUGH COUGH Erie built shitbox trash 9
Great shot! That's on in a million kid! That unit just got released from our shops and given an ok.
The poor fan was trying to escape in shame from the embarrassment of that sick horn.
I was waiting for the grids to start melting down and sure enough you could see the sparks and slag.
What a awesome catch buddy😂 thx for sharing🇺🇸
Sd40-2 the backbone of both Union Pacific and Burlington Northern during the late 70's and 80's.Very dependable engines still used today Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have rebuilding programs going on at Altoona and North Little Rock
Well, so much for those dynamics
I've been "in the field" since 1972 with some time off for college. You Mr. ONRR, I get it. I'm proud of what I do and what the railroads in North America (US, CN, MX) do. That includes my friends back east on CSXT. The amount of traffic they haul safely and efficiently and profitably is incredible. Maybe salute them for it rather than cast juvinile barbs.
Happened to me the other day. Lost a grid while in dynamics. Blue/white ball of arcing and sparks.
@BNSF5608 The engine rev's up to provide additional cooling air to the TM's, considering on this type of EMD, the TM blower is driven by the the engine. The electrial demand to the DB fan's is not an issue, for instance, the same Aux Gen can power 3 radiator fans without reving up the engine. New EMD's and GE's on the other hand, with thier electrically driven compressor's, blowers and what not, they do rev up depending on the electrical demand.
That had to generate all kinds of ground relay alarms.
What the heck? Man, this is an awesome catch! You got to see it happen, people driving must have been thinking "WTF?" when they saw that piece of metal fly into the air.
The horn is fouled, the Dynamic brakes exploded, and they somehow still thought this engine was fit for service?! What did they honestly expect was going to happen next? Did they think a repair crew was going to magically pop out of one of the hoppers, and fix everything on the fly??? Of course it died shortly after that! No engine is going to survive being pushed harder after something like that! My previous computer sounded fine after I spilled coffee on it, but was still fried beyond salvage because of it (minus the hard drive, which was thankfully spared!) Just because a machine "sounds" okay after a potentially catastrophic incident, doesn't mean everything is still "hunky-dory," UP! As for the dispatcher: I'd be upset too in their shoes, upon realizing I'd probably just lost my job - all because I didn't use common sense, or was not given enough information to know how serious the situation was! Seriously, why didn't dispatch insist the crew wait until the engine was inspected, and verified as either operationally sound, or a lawsuit waiting to happen? Was the UP just that stringent in the 90's? If so, I think I actually like them even less now...
Baffled rant, and all humor aside: Am I wrong in thinking the correct response should have been the DB explosion immediately sending the whole train into emergency - with the damaged locomotive being shut down, hauled out of the way, and a new unit then taking its place? Did the crew downplay the severity of the problem, or was this truly a scenario that would normally warrant a "keep calm, and carry on" response? The thing was spitting sparks and chunks of slag out of a gaping hole post-explosion, which (to me,) seems like more than enough reason to bring everything to a screeching halt. If your car suddenly had something explode - ripping a hole through your hood, and causing sparks/hot metal chunks to start flying off it, you wouldn't keep driving - even if it sounded/looked okay afterward, would you? At least, I'd hope not. I'm not saying anyone involved should have necessarily lost their jobs, either. I personally don't think that's really the correct solution here - as no one was hurt or killed, nor any bystanders put in immediate danger (beyond the obvious risk a seriously damaged engine would generally pose, that is.) Without knowing the full story, the end result could easily have been caused by a miscommunication/misunderstanding for all I know. It's all just very... confusing.
Fairside2020 calm down..... Just because a horn is fouled doesn't mean that it has any huge problems, the dynamics going just happens every now and then.
I blew a turbocharger in my transport tractor. That was on Hwy. 401 in Ontario. I was able to crawl at 60 kph to the off ramp and into a truck repair shop. I could only crawl after it was blown. It made a muffled, but noticable boom sound.
Aarre Peltomaa
Did you slip over to the side of the tracks, and find the parts !! Awesome ! Aarre Peltomaa
It was taped at Cozad, Nebraska. The next day I ended up taping more UP trains as a tornado touched down 5 miles from us, although I didn't know it at the time.
It's all in the timing right! Nice catch. That thing took off like a rocket. Liked it!
DAMN those locomotives are tuff!!!!!
A fire going on in side them and they are still halling those heavy train cars.
They run the locomotives in pairs and sets for a reason. Extra horsepower and also in case of one of the locomotives failing as in this case.
"hmm, I'm speeding up again. better give it more dynamics."
Think of the cooling required to launch a massive fan that far into the air, then immediately remove the cooling while maintaining the same heat output on the dynamic brake grids. No wonder it was spitting out metal bits almost immediately.
Yea You would think the crew would at least stop the train and check it out...Great video! 5*****! Most impressive footage and rare catch!
SD40-2 having a bad day...
It's VHS tape, in case you don't know. That is standard on all VHS tapes, you're probably too young to know what VHS tapes are, though.
That's to funny, parts are flying off this thing and they just keep right on rolling along like nothing happened.😂🤣😋🤗
Most know, it takes quite a while for a train to come to a complete stop. Most ...
They didn't even hit the brakes at all
Yes, it is. The diesel engine on board is used to generate electricity for the electric motors mounted on the axles. Going downhill, power to them can be shut off and they can be connected to resistor grids mounted below the dynamic brake fans, since motors and generators are the same thing. Straight electrics do the same thing, excpet they feed the electricity generated by the wheels back into the overhead wire or third-rail.
Wow, i have replaced a lot of grids and fans. But never saw that before.
Same here...
LOL. Good catch. That was actually the grid exploding & taking the top of the fan/carbody with it. I was on a UP SD-90 that did the same thing & yes it sounds like a shotgun going off inside the cab. The dynamic brake grids handle massive amounts of heat & energy, so when they go, they go with a BANG !! Nice old video. I wish it had sound !
one of UP's finest lol
i would have retrieved that fan after the train had passed.
Wow. That's a bit of a pyrotechnic display with the sparks.
Looks like the resistor grids are melting.
*****
No cooling air over them, yeah they will melt.
+Timothy Brummer Would they heat up that quick after losing the fan? I think it's the explosion that caused the arcing afterwards. Guess on a older locomotive, it'l continue dynamic braking even if the resistor pack is melting, no temeperature sensor or no safety cutoff.
+danwat1234
You could be right I didn't think about shorting caused by the explosion.
Oh good, at least they have a fan failure sensor. The newer locomotives must have a temp sensor for that system, would be stupid not too since the loco is digital already.
What if there is long downhill section of track and your dynamic braking has failed ? Won't the mechanical brakes be toast by the time the train descends ?
After the brake fan explosion it looks like engineer might be calling for help as a fire looks imminent.
Wooo, good thing you weren't standing closer, on the opposite side of the right-of-way.
So, the locomotive just completely quit and died on the main? Dang, what a shame.
That show's EMD's kick ass lol
🎵Another one bites the dust!🎵 😂😂😂😂
Part 2-- (Think of this as having a 4x4 with the motor running, but that transmission is in neutral, and the transfer case is in 4LOW. You have some holdback, but you'll still need to use the regular brakes while rolling down steeper hills.)
"Youll never catch me, Not once I shift into maxmum overdrive! HIYAH! 0:20
worst horn ever
So?
No, the tugboat whistle that was on the GB&L #12 on the George Town Loop in 2004 was. Though it might have been on the 40. I don’t remember.
It was so sad.
No, the electric motors are doing the braking. By turning a switch to convert them to generators, they put drag on the axles they are mounted on. When the dynamic brakes are activated, the diesel engine itself just idles, producing only enough power to not stall itself out. It's completely disconnected from the electric motors mounted on the axles when the dynamics are on, and just along for the ride at that point.
We refer to them as foamers. I began railroading in 1972 as a conductor / trainman. Went on to become engineer, yardmaster, trainmaster, road foreman and supt. Currently working for BNSF in Los Angeles. I have a few years on you. I have nothing against railfans. I myself am a fan of muscle cars, guitars, and photography and I understand loving a hobby. This is why when I see ignorant individuals like yourself blaming crews with little or no evidence I point out how silly you are.
I did this at night in a snow storm (in Montana) and it looked like lightening was coming from the side of my head motor. It was lighting up all the snow flakes. was a cool sight, but was a bit worried about my train.
And as far as that horn sound goes, that can be ice in the winter, or a dead bird in the summer.
That was straight out of a cartoon
What a classic
Awesome catch
wow, without the fan to cool down the dynamic braking unit, that things glowing red hot!!!!!! he wont get too far with his dynamic brakes too high.
"Smelled like an old hairdryer..."
Wow, that's impressive watching the fan blades just rocket up like that. Did you recover the part?
The horn its so scary!!!!
Epic.
@GEES44DC Ya well, the CN Units also have teapots and refrigerators. And nice seats too. If you go into dynamics on a UP machine, you are risk of blowing up the whole locomotive.
Did you go over and video the fan lying on the ground?
Did the brakeman look back and see the sparks?
Since TWO engines, why did they "die" on the main line?
Thank you.
guess he didnt give a crap
Often times when a turbo charger blows on a locomotive it smokes like crazy and the smell is revolting, but the fire department usually doesn't have to worry about it because you can turn of the locomotive and hose it down. The locomotive should make it to its designation depending on route length.
Wow...blew that grid like a stick of dynamite.
I didn't know the UP had helicopters...
It doesn't look as though the crew was in any hurry to stop and check out the damage. I'm willing to bet an exploded dynamic fan and the resulting molten resistor grid would lead to more problems under the hood if left unchecked.
"Railroading: It's not a job, it's an adventure..."
As you can see, ALOT OF PEOPLE DO! It's a hobby...
danger to the manifold!
i think the irony here is that unit has an extended duty dynamic brake grid too...
@RMSTitanicWSL Not quite, the engine may run its self up higher to provide more power to the electric Dynamic brake fan(s). Its different how fast they run depending on load on the Acc. Generator.
How could it get past the fan grill? And how did it even shoot out in the first place, I mean what propelled it?
It is highly unlikely that is is the fan. In DBRs the fan is at the bottom, fan motor in between and then the grids on top. Since the fan blows air bottom up, the reaction will cause the fan blades to be pushed downwards. this configuration results in a compact arrangement. The motor sits in the dead zone of the fan. Heat from the grids is directed upwards. it is nearly impossible to have the fan motor on top due to the intense heat.
Um, are you kidding? With a fan this size, there is a LOT of kinetic energy! It could easily tear through the grill.
My guess is that someone didn't tighten the bolts down enough, or the shaft fractured for whatever reason (too much mechanical stress and heat from a faulty bearing?).
Turbochargers in locos will do the same thing sometimes if the central part of the turbine disk fractures and comes apart.
I feel a little dumb, but bringing that to light it makes sense, if the shaft were to shear it could propel the fan outward. Although I thought that the grill would have been sturdy enough to hold the fan from flying out, but as I can see that it can.
You're kidding, right? The things you see sparking are the grids, the fans are in the shrouds above them. Each fan is, hub assembly notwithstanding, directly below its respective grate. What you saw shoot out was the exact size and thickness as the fan disc... ergo, it's probably the fan disc. This is consistent with the grids sparking and glowing from the lack of air flow, as well as the bang and sudden end to the fan noise...
Actually these units can throw the fan quite easily. GPs and SD40s the grids are alongst the sides in the "wing" directly above the engine with the blower nestled between them. Through hack job modifications, it makes it nearly impossible to do preventive maitenence on these piles of s*** because the brushes are a b**** to get to. Bad brushes leads to an unhappy commutator, and grounds occur. In this case, looks like the fan literally flew apart by having a blade suddenly fly off or bearing failure. SD70Macs, Aces, MACE's all have the "pie" grid config. Grids above the blower, blower sucks air in from sides and pushes it out the top.
with the fan gone those grids are gonna get mighty hot before they melt down
@BARRIEMOREBARLOW most likely it did pick up ground relay. Ground relay has to pick up four times to lock out the generator. it is possible for a grid to blow open (open circuit) and not ground out, but i doubt this was the case. Ground relay wont shut down the diesel, just keep it from loading.
Damn that horn sounds sick........
Electric locos have a similar system but the produced electricity returns to the power lines so there is some safe of energy. In most cases modern electric locos use blended braking system, dynamics+air brakes in the same time so there is energy to returned every time the train brakes. :-)
X stands for leasing like CEFX which is why it is CSXT. T=Transportation
the horn is actually something like a S3L or a Prime 920.
not only what a smell, what an explosion.
It is possible that They may have been told by the dispatcher to keep the train moving until they get to the nearest yard where they can swap out the lead unit.
I think I woulda went and picked up the giant frisbee that it launched out in that field!!! Pretty cool failure!
You would lose your wager on the pants thing. It's more of an "ahhh shittt" moment than anything that scary.
Great catch!
Did thengineer knowhat happened?
Did he inform the dispatcher and they thought thathengine merely lost some power?
Did you video the part which blew off?
How heavy? Could it have caused injury had it fallen on an automobile waiting at a grade crossing?
Thank you.
Amen my Gpa works for NS noe and he said he has never seen anything like that while he worked for BNSF or NS
nice video mate
this fall to spark dynamic brake driven by her driver
Like how TTX has the "X" in it.
what if your obituary said "died due to flying and exploding dynamic brakes off of SD40-2"
"there she goes folks airbourne"
6 dynamic brake fans hate this videos.
AWESOME CATCH!!
that sounds very similar to the desert victory horn and sounds
I wonder if the microprocessors in those SD40z picked that up ?? Did not seem to use any more train brake to stop ? HMMMMM Awesome footage ha ha that fan blade cleared 5 stories EASY!!!!!!
The little engine that couldn't. So sad- sounding
Actually this is an EMD.s issue I work for a fire department that has responded to several loco fires and with EMD is the Dynamic brake grids failing you can see the sparks coming from the grid. GE loses turbo chargers...
@TheJackiechan512 Im pretty sure those were sparks from the dynamic brake grids but Im not sure.
That probably has around 120V going through it at least. That looks like a fun way to get set on fire.
luv when something blows it really blows
These Kids on here don't realize that EMD hasn't made a good, reliable locomotive since the SD70. GE is making the future of Locomotives.