Re: NNG: Finger Lakes Railway locomotive rolls over after striking portable derail placed to protect track workers

Dan Robirds Wrote:
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> On main track under the control of a dispatcher
> (not within yard limits), the use of a portable
> derail is usually not required.
>
Depends entirely on RR policy (not required by 214), but on every RR I've worked with and heard told, the rule was absolutely no use of derails on main tracks. The main reason was almost always given as possible/probable human error - i.e. sooner or later a track crew will forget to remove one of the derails for one reason or another resulting a a mainline derailment at track speed.

As for the FGLRR incident, unless they've (highly unlikely given the illustrated track conditions) upgraded the track status, the Watkins Glen Industrial Track has been other than main track (hence Restricted Speed) for at least 30 years now (furthest back I looked was my '92 timetable). So the blame will likely ride on the engr as a violation of Restricted Speed, but I have to ask for a more root cause, given the location of the track work and derailment vs. loco's reason for being there.