V/Line Train runs out of fuel

[Mr Fixit]

Your not going to believe this one, but here goes.

Driving to work before 7am this morning the news and traffic reports were talking about a V/Line country passenger train that had run out of fuel.

The V/Line operated country passenger train service [VIctoria, Australia] was headed into Melbourne, and aparently ran out of fuel whilst on a shared part of the system and so was obstructing the fluid movement of the morning peak hour rush services to and from the Western suburbs of Melbourne.

"I dont believe it", I groaned, shaking my head, thinking of all the ensuing transport and traffic chaos to follow, thankful that I was headed away from the trouble going to the final day of a basic scaffold ticket course work had sent me on.

Here is an article from the Herald Sun [Melbourne] about the trouble.

UPDATE 9.10am: RAIL passengers in Melbourne's west are facing delays of up to an hour after a country train ran out fuel.
The V/Line train was on its way to the city from Marshall on the Geelong line when it came to a halt at Footscray about 5.45am.
A Metro spokeswoman said delays of up to an hour were expected on the Williamstown and Werribee lines in both directions this morning.
The knock-on effect is also causing delays of up to 20 minutes for Craigieburn services, while Sydenham line commuters should brace for delays of up to 10 minutes.
"Metro apologises,'' the spokeswoman said. "We are doing our best to recover the services.
"But it will cause delays across the morning and we hope to have things back to normal for the afternoon.''
A V/Line spokeswoman said the driver of the diesel locomotive had checked an outside fuel gauge before departure and it appeared there was enough fuel.
There was no gauge inside the cabin to give any indication of a problem.
"Now it is up to us to work out why the gauge didn’t correspond to the fuel in the tank," the spokeswoman said.
Services on the Geelong line are returning to normal after earlier delays.
"It’s an awful thing to happen," the spokeswoman said.
"I apologise unreservedly for this morning and we are looking into it."
A Metro train is being used to shunt the problem V/Line train to Flinders Street Station.
So far at least 10 Metro morning services have been cancelled.

Mark

[MasonJar]

I have a friend who did a lot of work on railways around the world, including the UK and South America. He once told me a story about a train in Argentina or Chile that purposely set out without enough fuel. The crew explained to him that 1) it was not their job (i.e. engineer and brakeman) to fuel the engine, and 2) it was easier to get the company to pay for the breakdown train to rescue them than it was to get the engine properly fueled in the first place...

Something to do with how the company was organized and competing departments - the loco department could keep fuel costs low by forcing the works department to rescue them, or something like that...



Andrew

[MountainMan]

Sounds more like a union beef - "it's not my job to fuel the engine."

[Mr Fixit]

I have a friend who did a lot of work on railways around the world, including the UK and South America. He once told me a story about a train in Argentina or Chile that purposely set out without enough fuel. The crew explained to him that 1) it was not their job (i.e. engineer and brakeman) to fuel the engine, and 2) it was easier to get the company to pay for the breakdown train to rescue them than it was to get the engine properly fueled in the first place...

Something to do with how the company was organized and competing departments - the loco department could keep fuel costs low by forcing the works department to rescue them, or something like that...



Andrew

To quote Charlie Brown "Oh Good Grief", that sounds like bean counter madness gone too far.

Mark

[Russ Bellinis]

Sounds like the Union Pacific for the first 6 months after the S.P. takeover. Their sidings were full of trains to the point of almost shutting down the entire railroad. When they put a train on a siding to wait for space at the destination, they left the locos idling because they are so hard to start from cold. Unfortunately they took so long to long to get space cleared for the trains, that crews would be sent out to pick up the trains and find the locomotives had run out of fuel and shut down!

[Mr Fixit]

Sounds like the Union Pacific for the first 6 months after the S.P. takeover. Their sidings were full of trains to the point of almost shutting down the entire railroad. When they put a train on a siding to wait for space at the destination, they left the locos idling because they are so hard to start from cold. Unfortunately they took so long to long to get space cleared for the trains, that crews would be sent out to pick up the trains and find the locomotives had run out of fuel and shut down!

Nett result, even greater difficulties in re-fuelling the locos and greater delays. I am assuming that the modern locos are equipped with shut-down capabilities that prevent the starvation of the fuel lines of diesal fuel which would require the bleeding of the fuel lines prior to restarting once refuelling has been completed. I am also assuming that the sidings were located in places where refuelling trucks could have safe access to the locos.

Why do I suspect that I have assumed waaaay to much and that Murphy and his Law as well as human nature and SNAFU factors will upset this apple cart.

Mark

[shaygetz]

Can you imagine how big the gas can has to be?

Letting a diesel engine run out of fuel is not a smart move either, the whole system has to be re-primed.