jim@slxinc.specialix.com (04/02/91)
In V11, #255 Thomas Lapp wrote: > My question for those in the know: What was the cause of the fiber > break which caused the Sprint outage last week? Details please. If > it was along a RR right-of-way (and buried) how was it cut? Not by a > train wreck I assume? Right? If you mean the Sprint outage in the San Francisco Bay area last week, yes the fiber break was along a railroad right-of-way, and yes it was a train wreck. A Southern Pacific freight was traveling southbound through Hayward, CA on a section of track where the max. speed is 10 MPH. One of the cars had old fashioned style friction bearings (probably a car used in company service, those style bearings are no longer legal for interchange) and it developed a "hot box", meaning the bearing overheated. What usually happens in a hot box is the end of the axle melts and the wheel comes off the axle, followed rapidly by the car derailing! In this case it was followed by about twelve other cars. Fortunately there were no hazardous materials involved, just frozen chickens and stuff. When that much weight hits the ground it can dig some very deep trenches, and it seems they never bury the fibers deep enough! It took a few days, but the line is now opened, and I believe Sprint has fixed their line. Jim Maurer Specialix Inc. jim@specialix.com