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Straight
Track #62 FRA's Notice Of Safety Advisory
Concerning Angle Cocks
Hoey
& Farina
Email:
info@felahfd.com
Tel Toll Free: 1-888-425-1212
As we have stated in the past, one of the goals of our free
weekly newsletter Straight Track is
to keep railroaders informed of the latest news and information on safety
issues. With that in mind, we'd
like to share with you the Federal Railroad Administration's "Notice
of Safety Advisory: 2001-03"
concerning the failure of railroad airbrake system trainline angle cocks
manufactured by Ellcon-National.
If
you come across any safety issues you believe would be beneficial to share with
your fellow railroaders, please email the information to us at info@felahfd.com
for consideration in future Straight
Track articles.
----------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
[FRA Docket No. 2001-9473]
Notice
of Safety Advisory
Agency:
Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), DOT
Action: Notice of Safety Advisory:
2001-03
SUMMARY:
FRA is issuing Safety Advisory 2001-03 addressing the
in-service failures of railroad airbrake system trainline angle cocks
manufactured by Ellcon-National. The manufacturer notified the Association of
American Railroads (AAR) of failures of Model 7000 Thread-to-Thread and Model
7270 Thread-to-Flange Angle Cocks. To date, no derailments, collisions, or
injuries have resulted from these failures; however, closed angle cocks
occurring en route may lead to insufficient braking and in the worst case could
result in runaway trains on grades. FRA recommends that all railroads and
private car owners obtain a copy of AAR’s Early Warning EW-177 (C-9296) issued
on March 29, 2001, and review the document’s extensive listing of cars which
had the subject angle cocks installed as original equipment. FRA also recommends
that cars found with the original angle cocks still installed have the angle
cocks replaced, at both ends, or be retrofitted with a handle assemble torque
kit in accordance with AAR’s guidance. AAR has applied Severity Code “MG”
which means “See Early Warning Letter for Instructions.”
SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION:
Recently, FRA was informed by the Association of American
Railroads (AAR) of several in-service failures of Ellcon-National angle cocks,
Model 7000 Thread-to-Thread, and Model 7270 Thread-to-Flange. No injuries or
fatalities resulted from these incidents which involved several car types, but
some of the subject angle cocks have been found to have rotated partially or
completely closed due to en route vibrations of the train. This undesired
rotation of the angle cock has been identified by crew members in several
instances on trains while operating en route and in one case, necessitated the
need to activate an emergency brake application from the two-way end-of-train (EOT)
device.
The AAR issued Maintenance Advisory MA-65 on September
13, 2000, regarding these angle cocks, and then upgraded their concern by
issuing Early Warning EW-177 on March 29, 2001. The AAR’s Braking Systems and
Equipment Engineering Committees have determined that the angle cocks without
the latest friction disc, which is a 1/4" thick stop plate and handle
assembly, must be either replaced or have the handle assembly retrofitted on
non-register version. A number of conditions have been found on samples of the
subject angle cocks which cause concern such as roll pins protruding from the
handles, worn leger lock tangs, bent lock tangs, and bent or distorted handle
assemblies.
The subject angle cocks were applied to new cars and
furnished as replacement stock beginning in January of 1993. The AAR recommended
that the first priority would be to replace or retrofit those angle cocks
manufactured between 1993 and 1996, as those are without friction discs and
modified handle assemblies. Ellcon-National has accounted for approximately
16,700 angle cocks applied during this period as original equipment on new
freight cars. However, Ellcon-National notified the AAR that there were
approximately 97,000 angle cocks applied to cars between January 1993 and March
2000 that have a potential for failure.
Ellcon-National is offering handle assembly
torque kits upon request, as well as field service support. For more
information, contact Mr. Brian Driggers or Inside Sales Department personnel at
Ellcon-National at 864-277-5000 or E-mail: sales@ellcon-national.com
The AAR requests that each removed part be
tagged with the car’s initials and number, and that Ellcon-National be
contacted to arrange for disposition or return of accumulated angle cocks or
handle assemblies.
Action
Recommended by FRA:
·
FRA recommends that all railroads and private car owners
obtain a copy of AAR’s Early Warning EW-177 (C-9296) issued on March 29, 2001,
and review the document’s extensive listing of cars which had the subject
angle cocks installed as original equipment.
·
FRA also recommends that cars found with the original
angle cocks still installed have the angle cocks replaced, at both ends, or be
retrofitted with a handle assemble torque kit in accordance with AAR’s
guidance. AAR has applied Severity Code “MG” which means “See Early
Warning Letter for Instructions.
It should be noted that the AAR in
conjunction with railroads, private car owners, and Ellcon-National has also
developed an action plan to focus on and accelerate the angle cock modifications
on the cars equipped with the above noted angle cocks. For more information, FRA
recommends that railroads and private car owners contact Mr. Patrick T. Ameen,
Assistant Vice President Technical Services, Association of American Railroads,
50 F street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20001-1564, (202) 639-2141.
FRA may modify Safety Advisory 2001-03, issue
additional safety advisories, or take other appropriate action to ensure the
highest level of safety on the Nation’s railroads.
FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Gary Fairbanks, Mechanical Engineer, Motive Power &
Equipment Division, Office of Safety Assurance & Compliance, FRA, 400
Seventh Street, SW, RRS-14, Mail Stop 25, Washington, D.C.
20590 (Telephone 202-493-6322/ Fax 202-493-6230).
Issued in Washington, D.C. by George A.
Gavalla,
Associate Administrator for Safety.
----------------
Ellcon-National
Angle Cock Action Plan
In
addition to the actions prescribed by MA-65 and EW-177, the following steps are
planned.
Continue to identify and update list of cars built
between 1993 and 1996 and equipped with Ellcon models 7000 and 7270 angle cocks.
The builders will be contacted to provide assistance in
identifying cars originally equipped with models 7000 and 7270 angle cocks.
Purchasers of maintenance stock will be contacted to
facilitate retrofit.
Field inspections will continue to focus attention on
identifying cars equipped with the suspect angle cocks.
The focus for retrofit will be the largest owners of the
suspect angle cocks, such as TTX, auto racks and Exxon plastic pellet cars.
Major private car owners/leasing companies will be
contacted to advise of the need for retrofit.
Repair shop network will be focussed on retrofit needs.
Posters will be made available for all repair points on
an as requested basis.
Pool stock of replacement kits will be available in
sufficient quantities to start the in plant retrofit of the angle cocks by
Ellcon.
MA-65 will be upgraded to EW status for the angle cocks
manufactured after 1997 with friction disks once significant numbers of cars on
EW-177 are completed.
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