The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: billt on October 30, 2014, 06:25:11 PM
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This is a first. I ordered 20 P-Mags Monday from Man Venture Outpost. They had them on sale for just $8.87.
http://www.manventureoutpost.com/products/Magpul-Industries-Mag-PMAG-223-Rem-556NATO-30Rd-Black-AR-Rifles-MAG571%252dBLK.html
They shipped them out Tuesday with a tracking number that said delivery would be by the end of the day today 10/30. So this morning when I checked it said "DELAY", due to train derailment. It said they would try to ship as soon as possible. Are my P-Mags all over the right of way? I looked for any train derailments between Mesquite Texas and Phoenix, but there was nothing on the news.
I'm wondering if my train even jumped the tracks, or if it was the one in front of it, and screwed up the tracks in the process. I always have better luck with Fed Ex or USPS Priority Mail. Have any of you guys had this kind of crap happen? :'(
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In my former job we ran into this a few times per year with both FedEx and UPS. Most of the time it is a switching yard derailment. Both companies, and many others, will have their trailers put on rails. All it takes is a small switching issue, and things are delayed. It isn't usually a major accident, but a few hour delay requires those cars to find open time slots to get back on track.
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I've had a lot of packages delivered by UPS over the years and only had one problem. They gave my package to a neighbor I didn't know who left town never to be seen again. UPS paid for it and I reordered from the same place and got my goods with no extra shipping or anything. The last package I got through US mail had a big hole torn in the envelope. Luckily the object inside was slightly larger than the hole and made it to me. I have limited experience with FedEx but like UPS better than them or the mail.
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I ran the tracking number this morning and it's showing green and "In Transit" again. It arrived in Phoenix at 5:44 AM Eastern Time this morning. So I'm hoping it will go "Out For Delivery" today. We'll see.
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Interesting they use trains at all. While great at hauling bulk over distance, trains aren't known for their "rapid" delivery. All that time, on-loading, in-transit, and off loading would seem to add days for even a regional shipment.
Has the Railroad industry really gotten fast enough, organized enough to do this?
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99.99% of train derailments never make the news. They tend to be relatively small and quickly repaired, which is why they don't make the news. The one in Casselton, ND last winter was an exception, mainly because the tank cars got hit by another train and exploded. That, and the fact it was 8 miles due west of my former house! ::) ???
Alf, watch any train going by. Other than coal traffic or smaller mixed freights, you will see one progression after another of "pig trains" - flat cars with either truck trailers or well-cars with containers, which are then put on trucks when they arrive at the final yard. UPS makes great use of them, as per mile, they are way cheaper than driving the trailers across the interstates. So, to answer your question, yes, and for some time in fact.
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When I lived out in Ca The tracks were right behind where I worked, The trains of containers were ENDLESS.
Of course the company's property line was the Oakland city line, so there was a butt load of all types of shipping in the area.
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Path, it's not the economy I was questioning, but the end-to-end speed.
My brief sojourn into the shipping world, I never thought of trains as being a speedy way to ship. It always seemed the time to get the trailer to the yard, get it loaded, then scheduled for a train, switched and finally reverse all that at the destination added several days to the schedule. If the shipper/buyer can wait then that's okay, but for the bulk of UPS/FedEx stuff I would imagine it might be a tad slow.
Just FYI, my experience was with Norfolk Southern, but that was 20 years ago. I know things have changed. Are they that organized that it's makes sense with a route as short as TX to AZ?
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When putting a full trailer on a flat car, rather than just putting cargo in a box car, the load and unload time is minimal. The transit time for a unit train covering distance is equal to or faster than a driver on the roads, and the cost per mile is far less.
When UPS and FedEx are using standard delivery they often use rail. One, two and three day delivery utilize a combination of air and trucks that jump from hub to hub non-stop. We often saw packages going coast to coast with a three day guarantee go rail.
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Alf,
Many of us view rail by passenger experience where trains stop often. However, cargo trains often roll for eight hours without stopping. They then have a brief stop to change crews and roll another eight.
Our local elevator ships half its grain by rail. The soybean processor 50 miles away gets everything by truck, but, when possible, they will use rail to go 150 miles to the corn market. According to their delivery reports, from the beginning of loading the first car to the end of off load of the last load the time for delivery of over 300k bushels of corn is equal at this distance. As they go farther from home trucks can not compete in terms of either time or cost.
Compare loading and unloading grain, an easy commodity to transfer, to the simple setting a trailer on a flatcar and locking it down.
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Derailments happen more frequently than one would think.
A neighbor and good family friend built (along with a partner to whom he recently sold out) a multi-million dollar company that did nothing but physical repairs after train derailments, including the follow-up track repair afterward. They designed and built specialty equipment to pick up derailed cars and facilitate rapid restoration of rail lines, and had stacks of pre-assembled rail sections loaded on flatbed trailers ready to go at a moments notice. Their business and storage yard is about five miles from our place and it was quite something to see when their repair convoy rolled out to a job.
Their primary customer was CSX (even though they would go anywhere in the southeastern area; I think a percentage of the company was sold to CSX in the buy-out mentioned above) and had regular call-outs to their big hub in Waycross, GA.
If you click on the google maps link, you will see the yard......toward the east side is the flatbeds with rail sections (rails already mounted to cross-ties). Out near the paved road entrance is a restored engine and caboose that they set up on a rail section for 'decoration' purposes.
https://www.google.com/maps/@31.3965063,-83.6059662,454m/data=!3m1!1e3
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Path, it's not the economy I was questioning, but the end-to-end speed.
Pig trains have THE top priority in rail traffic, second only to passenger trains where they still run. So they are very fast.
As for where it's most efficient, that depends on the railroad. Most roads took the time when they saw the traffic moving to truck 20 to 30 years ago to step up not only their marketing but also their actual service to various industries. As the USPS is now in bed with both UPS and FedEx, the railroads have approached specific industries to secure their business.
I would look between Williams and Winslow, where the major rail line in AZ is, and I would wager that there are major depots for either FedEx or UPS, likely for both.
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Back in the 80's and early 90's when I was living in the Rochester NH area they were shipping the gravel for the Logan airport expansion, and later, the "Big Dig", from a pit in Ossipee NH by train.
About once every 6 months one would derail, actually, one or more cars would fall over, always at the same street crossing. You could only use that road about 4 non consecutive months out of the year for about 6 years because the rest of the time it would be ripped up trying to fix the track.
They still haven't got it right as I heard of another derailment last spring, but they don't use it nearly as much any more.
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As far as I know, I've only had one item affected by a shipping incident and that was a long time ago...but I never did receive the item.
In the Summer of 1956, I sold magazine subscriptions to folks for some cause the Catholic grade school I attended was sponsoring. You got a reward based on the number you sold. I sold enough to get the top prize, which was a wooden case in the shape of a cross where you could take off the lid, put the base in a slot in the inside of the box and have a crucifix. Inside the box were two candles that fit into holes and made a hot item for Catholic gradeschoolers.
Not only that, the Pope blessed each and every one. At the time, I thought he touched each one, but I imagine he stepped into a warehouse and did the whole place at once.
Anyway, they were to be given out after we returned to school in the fall.
Well, they were sent from Italy on the SS Andrea Doria, which sunk off the coast of the US on that trip.
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I rarely use my front door and UPS always delivers to my back door whether I have to sign for it or not. They usually come in mid afternoon and I know when it's coming. If I'm not home they leave it on the back porch where nobody else would see it. I got a package today from the post office. They set it on the front porch at I don't know what time, maybe first thing in the morning, where I was the last one in the neighborhood to see it. That's one more reason I like UPS plus they always ring the doorbell.
P.S. I didn't have any idea that my package even shipped let alone that would be here today.
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Solus, you can probably get one of THOSE cases if you are willing to pay since the Andria Doria has been a favorite site for wreck diving and it has been pretty much stripped of anything movable.
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Pig trains have THE top priority in rail traffic, second only to passenger trains where they still run. So they are very fast.
+1
I have several friends that are OTR truck drivers. Over the last few years, they have been inundated with new restrictions on daily driving time behind the wheel and mileage restrictions.
So unless the trip is regional, rail is a good bet...especially cross country. Trains do have to slow down in major areas, and many companies have to stop every eight hours to change crews (only takes a short time, I've seen it done right in the middle of town) then it's back up and going.
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Solus, you can probably get one of THOSE cases if you are willing to pay since the Andria Doria has been a favorite site for wreck diving and it has been pretty much stripped of anything movable.
It's lost it's charm... I mean if the Pope's Blessing couldn't even save it....
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It's lost it's charm... I mean if the Pope's Blessing couldn't even save it....
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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The P-Mags arrived yesterday at 1:30 PM totally unscathed. I just noticed they've got more back in stock at that price. Now I'm ready for the Republican sweep, and the Ferguson Grand Jury verdict! ;D
http://www.manventureoutpost.com/products/Magpul-Industries-Mag-PMAG-223-Rem-556NATO-30Rd-Black-AR-Rifles-MAG571%252dBLK.html
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But Solus, he didn't bless the SHIP. ;D
Bill, glad to hear you thinking positive ! ;D
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But Solus, he didn't bless the SHIP. ;D
Bill, glad to hear you thinking positive ! ;D
It was the pride of the Italian Ship lines, so maybe he did bless it. :D
A Titanic sized disaster was avoided though. It's design allowed it to stay afloat for 11 hours after the collision.
The good behavior of the crew, improvements in communications and the rapid response of other ships averted a disaster similar in scale to that of Titanic in 1912. 1,660 passengers and crew were rescued and survived, while 46 people died with the ship as a consequence of the collision.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Andrea_Doria
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I remember reading in one of those "strange but true" columns, maybe "Ripley's", that there was one guy who went to sleep on the Andria Doria and woke up on the Stockholm.
Apparently when the bow of the Stockholm punched through the hull it took out the floor of his cabin, dumping him on the other ships deck where he was when they drifted apart.