Dunno much about trains, but it's very common for semi trailer's brakes to catch fire and eventually light up their load, drivers will drive for quite awhile without knowing and by the time they find out it's too late. 20 miles seems excessive, but I've seen long trains where it's not impossible for the conductor to see what's going on and I have no idea how much actual electronics are involved to know if they have features that would identify if the cart's brakes are overheating. We've had trains decouple and run off the tracks multiple times where I'm at.
I know about brake fires from working in the towing industry. One of the worst ones we had to do was about 5 years ago, truck hauling egg goods (egg whites, eggs, and other egg related products), that shit haunted our yard long after it left. We don't deal with hazmat though, have to get government involved if something requiring that appears.
Flagged down a truck on the interstate two weeks ago for exactly this. He had just left a gas station. Brakes on his trailer were locked up and it was starting to catch fire.
I have no idea how much actual electronics are involved to know if they have features that would identify if the cart's brakes are overheating
I haven't read too much into this incident tbh, but I seem to remember this being a failed gearbox and not a brake issue. The end result can be the same, the wheels lock and drag along the steel rail, heating the wheels and anything nearby. Working in passenger rail I can tell you this will happen very fast.
Dunno much about trains, but it's very common for semi trailer's brakes to catch fire and eventually light up their load, drivers will drive for quite awhile without knowing and by the time they find out it's too late. 20 miles seems excessive, but I've seen long trains where it's not impossible for the conductor to see what's going on and I have no idea how much actual electronics are involved to know if they have features that would identify if the cart's brakes are overheating. We've had trains decouple and run off the tracks multiple times where I'm at.
I know about brake fires from working in the towing industry. One of the worst ones we had to do was about 5 years ago, truck hauling egg goods (egg whites, eggs, and other egg related products), that shit haunted our yard long after it left. We don't deal with hazmat though, have to get government involved if something requiring that appears.
Flagged down a truck on the interstate two weeks ago for exactly this. He had just left a gas station. Brakes on his trailer were locked up and it was starting to catch fire.
I haven't read too much into this incident tbh, but I seem to remember this being a failed gearbox and not a brake issue. The end result can be the same, the wheels lock and drag along the steel rail, heating the wheels and anything nearby. Working in passenger rail I can tell you this will happen very fast.