06-26-2017, 10:01 AM
A neat article about the derail at Willow St.
Derail switches installed to protect Ion infrastructure from oversized freight trains
Derail switches installed to protect Ion infrastructure from oversized freight trains
Quote:WATERLOO — A derail switch has been installed in uptown Waterloo along a stretch of the Ion line shared with freight trains to safely stop an oversized car before it reaches light rail infrastructure.
The derail switch installed by GrandLinq as part of the Ion system is part of a "multi-step" safety system to prevent a serious crash in the unlikely event a freight train that is too big gets onto the joint use section of the Spur Line through Waterloo, where there will be light rail platforms and overhead wires on poles.
[...]
Then there's a "high and wide" detector ahead of the derail switch that remotely measures a train's dimensions.
If a train is flagged as too high or wide, then a signal down the track will turn red to tell the operator to stop the train. Once stopped there, the oversized car would need to be addressed before the train could proceed.
If the operator fails to respond to the red, the derail switch is activated.