I'll try and answer how common in route mechanical failures used to
be.....................
Lew Peshia had a late 40s seniority date and I broke for him in the 70's.
He mentioned more than once when he was working as a brakeman and young Condr in
the C&I pool that it was a rare round trip that was completed w/o setting
out a broken train line,wiring up a dragging brake beam,changing an air
hose,dressing and nursing a hot box,changing a knuckle or setting out a car w/a
lung out(complete coupler failure...referred to by most operating employess as
pulling a drawbar.
He said this because by the 70's these were becoming less frequest with
better car designs and roller bearings. We still had the occasional item from
the above list but they were getting farther and fewer between.
Today it is the stated goal of the AAR to reduce in route failures as much
as possible. Thats whats driving the wayside detectors for everything form high
kip wheels,hot journals,dog walking trucks,shifted loads,etc,etc and the mass #
of new requirements to monitor,track individual car components from
wheels,sideframes,bolsters,etc,.. The RR industry is becoming very much like the
airline industry when it comes to monitoring car components and their
performance.
The reason for all this is that a delayed train ties up the RR. Also(my
personal spin) is the RR's dont own many cars anymore,the shippers and leasing
companies own the vast majority of cars so the costs fall on car owners.
Of course the shippers benefit as their frt moves in a more consistent
manner w/o all the breakdowns.
Of course all this leads to fewer "team members" as Steve referenced.
Leo Phillipp