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Get Safety Advisories updates by e-mail  Get Safety Advisories updates by e-mail.

2008-02 Addresses Side Sill Failure of ACF Center Flow® Covered Hopper Cars.

2008-01 Addresses damage to intermediate air hose elbow connection on certain freight cars equipped with end-of-car cushion devices.

2007-04 Provides updated information to interested parties on the potential catastrophic failure of locomotive main reservoir tanks manufactured by R&R Metal Fabricators, Incorporated, and installed on General Electric Transportation System (GETS) locomotives.

2007-03 Recommends that owners of track carried on one or more railroad bridges adopt safety practices to prevent the deterioration of railroad bridges and reduce the risk of casualties from train derailments caused by structural failures of such bridges.

2007-02 Provides interested parties guidance on the proper application of existing statutory and regulatory requirements concerning self-propelled specialized maintenance equipment.

2007-01 Addresses the safety of shoving or pushing movements in yards, including those involving remote control locomotives. This advisory also addresses the behavior of employees on or about tracks.

2006-06 Provides interested parties information related to the potential failure (cracking and breakage) of the center sills on 89-foot flat cars carrying containers in municipal solid waste (MSW) service.

2006-05 Recommends that each railroad operating passenger trains assess the rules, instructions, and procedures used to ensure that a train will not depart a station until all passengers successfully board or alight from the train, and ensure compliance with such rules, instructions, and procedures.

2006-04 Recommends that owners of tank cars equipped with the ACF Industries, Incorporated (ACF) 200 stub sill design, inspect and enhance the underframes in accordance with the procedures contained in ACF's Maintenance Bulletin TC-200. Owners should contact ACF for a copy of Maintenance Bulletin TC-200 and for clarification of procedures and any additional information.

2006-03 Provides interested parties information related to the potential failure of the welded attachment of vertical load dividers on certain center beam lumber flat cars.

2006-02 Provides recommended practices for the testing, classification, and reuse of second-hand rail. The purpose of the safety advisory is to reduce the number of rail defects that occur when second-hand rail is used.

2006-01 Provides the industry additional information on the potential catastrophic failure of certain railroad freight car side frame castings manufactured by National Castings of Mexico's (NCM) Sahagun, Mexico facility and Buckeye Steel Castings' (Buckeye) Columbus, Ohio facility. The purpose of this safety advisory is to recommend that the rail industry carefully inspect these specific side frames when equipped freight cars are in shops or on repair tracks.

2005-04 Advises shippers, consignees, and railroads of the dangers of allowing cars of "time-sensitive" chemicals to remain undelivered beyond their anticipated date of placement and to recommend enhanced procedures to avoid such occurrences.

2005-03 Facilitates improved cooperation in the investigation of collisions at highway-rail grade crossings.

2005-02 Provides information on the potential catastrophic failure of locomotive main reservoir tanks manufactured by R&R Metal Fabricators, Incorporated, and installed on General Electric Transportation System (GETS) locomotives.

2005-01 Advising all railroads to review their operating rules and take certain other action necessary to ensure that train crews who operate manual (hand-operated) main track switches in non-signaled territory restore the switches to their normal position after use.

2004-04 Addresses suggested measures that railroads and employees should utilize to prevent work-
related errors and on-the-job accidents as a result of sleep disorders.

2004-03 Addresses the importance of clear, precise, unambiguous railroad safety procedures to ensure the safety of highway-rail grade crossing warning systems or wayside signal systems that are temporarily removed from service.

2004-02 Addresses the importance of having clear safety and response procedures for use in the event of reports of railroad signal system problems.

2004-01 Addresses recommended safety practices and reviews existing requirements for the protection of roadway workers from traffic on adjacent tracks and to heighten awareness to prevent the inadvertent fouling of track when on-track safety is not provided.

2003-03 Additional information on the potential catastrophic failure of 100-ton truck bolsters manufactured by National Castings of Mexico's (NCM) Sahagun, Mexico facility with Association of America Railroads (AAR) Identification Numbers B-2410 and B-2409 and National Patterns 52122 and 52202, respectively, used in 263,000 pound and 286,000 pound gross rail load freight cars.

2003-02 Advising all persons involved in loading and unloading products from railroad tank cars that they cannot rely on internal excess flow valves to stop the flow of product except under the limited conditions for which these valves were designed and installed

2003-01 - Addressing the importance of the hazardous materials offeror's requirement to verify the compatibility of all packaging components, such as valves and gaskets, in the event a change is made to the chemical constituents of a hazardous material in a railroad tank car. This action is being taken to improve the safety and reliability of hazardous material shipments in transportation.

2002-03 - Addressing potential catastrophic failure of 100-ton truck bolsters manufactured by National Castings of Sahagun, Mexico with Association of American Railroads' (AAR) Identification B-2410 and National Pattern 52122 used in 286,000 pound gross rail load freight cars.

NOTE: No Safety Advisory was issued under number 2002-02.

2002-01 - Importance of Clear Safety Procedures - Highway-rail grade crossing warning systems.

2001-03 - In-service failures of railroad airbrake system trainline angle cocks manufactured by Ellcon-National.

2001-02 - Structural integrity of cast steel draft sills, manufactured by American Steel Foundries, and installed in certain covered hopper cars.

2001-01 - Recommended minimal guidelines for the operation of remote control locomotives.

2000-03 - Safety practices to reduce the risk of serious injury or death both to railroad employees engaged in switching operations and to the general public.

2000-02 - Addressing recommended replacement of certain components in Harmon Industries' "Electro Code 4"' and "Electro Code 4 Plus" intermediate signal units.

2000-01 - Safety concerns involving Model B1 relays, manufactured by General Railway Signal (GRS), between the years 1960 and 1985, and their potential to stick and remain in the energized position. ALSTOM Signaling,Inc., which has acquired GRS, estimates that approximately 2,000,000 relays are affected worldwide.

NOTE: No Safety Advisory was issued under number 99-2.

99-01 - Safety practices related to the lifting or jacking of railroad equipment in order to remove trucks or repair other components on a piece of railroad equipment which require individuals to work beneath railroad equipment while it is raised.

98-03 - Safe use of prescription and over-the-counter drugs by safety-sensitive railroad employees.

98-02 (not available) - Safety practices to reduce the risk of casualties caused by failure to activate the available two-way end-of-train telemetry device (two-way EOT) to initiate an emergency brake application beginning at the rear of the train when circumstances require an emergency application of the train airbrakes.

98-01 - Vision standards of certified locomotive engineers in order to reduce the risk of accidents arising from vision impaired engineers.

97-03 - Safety practices to reduce the risk of accidents arising from the authorization
of train movements past stop indications of absolute signals.

97-02 - Safety practices to reduce the risk of casualties from runaway locomotives, cars, and trains caused by a failure to properly secure unattended rolling equipment left on sidings or other tracks.

97-01 (Safety Advisory) - Safety practices to reduce the risk of casualties from train derailments caused by damage to tracks, roadbed, and bridges resulting from uncontrolled flows of water and similar weather-related phenomena. This was amended on November 14, 1997, by revising the recommendation concerning the transmission of flash flood warning to train dispatchers or other employees controlling the movement of trains.

97-01 (Safety Bulletin) - Recommended safety practices for certain locomotives equipped with emergency MU fuel line cut-off devices located inside the locomotive control compartment at a location which enables the cut-off device to be activated unintentionally.

97-01 (Safety Directive) - Safety practices to evaluate the integrity of all railroads’ program of operational tests and inspections and to ensure that safety-critical information is accurately conveyed and acknowledged for operations in Direct Train Control (DTC) territory.

Safety Bulletin Unnumbered (Issued 12-3-96) - Recommended safety practices for Direct Train Control (DTC) operations.

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