900 ft. train trestle drops like dominoes.

115 years old, on fire, cause unknown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLVKb1HxhAY

I feel like I need to ride out there and see what it looks like now.

Id say that was a controlled demo fire.

That was neat, but that led me to THIS video.

DrBoost wrote: That was neat, but that led me to THIS video.

That would be so much fun, but near impossible around here.

Not a controlled fire.

http://www.myfoxaustin.com/story/22399590/fire-destroys-railroad-trestle-in-lampasas

We're told the State Fire Marshal's office has been investigating the fire and right now, they don't know what started it. We also briefly spoke with the track owners, Heart of Texas Railroad. They say they're still trying to figure out what their next step is. Locals say it may cost anywhere from $10 to $20 million to repair.

Surprising lack of triangulation in that structure.

Can I hijack my own thread?

DrBoost,

My friend has one of those, runs it around the Adirondacks on abandoned RR tracks. The box on the back holds a chainsaw, extra gas and basic tools. We go camping for 2 - 4 days at a time so sometimes it carries all that.

There are clubs out west that use RR Service Cars, bigger, heavier, slower.

Are there clubs that track (no pun) which rail lines are abandoned but still in good enough condition to run a cart on? Does one need permission to use these abandoned rails in this manner?

Also, the OP bridge would have had to been lit with a lot of fuel. No way does each trestle burn so uniformly to the one next to it.

yeah, that looks like a very uniform fire, and I wouldn't think that fire would jump from one trestle to the next very easily.

The creosote the wood was treated with is a outstanding fuel.

PHeller wrote: Are there clubs that track (no pun) which rail lines are abandoned but still in good enough condition to run a cart on? Does one need permission to use these abandoned rails in this manner?

You sure as hell do. Trespassing on railroad property can get you in railroad jail.

PHeller wrote: Also, the OP bridge would have had to been lit with a lot of fuel. No way does each trestle burn so uniformly to the one next to it.

I thought the same thing.

Toyman01 wrote: The creosote the wood was treated with is a outstanding fuel.

^^This

If that bridge is still standing after 115 years, you can sure as E36 M3 bet there is creosote in that wood.

My buddy makes a phone call and asks permission, they joke around but it's no big deal. We've been through RR work crews, get the hairy eye ball, but allowed to pass without issue.

This is a Speedster, kind of a funny crowd. Engineer wannabes that didn't get into RR college, take it way too serious & sucks the fun out of it.

http://www.narcoa.org/forsale/4sale_want.htm

spitfirebill wrote:

PHeller wrote: Also, the OP bridge would have had to been lit with a lot of fuel. No way does each trestle burn so uniformly to the one next to it.

I thought the same thing.

Sure there is creosote. Doesn't explain the controlled burn pattern.

If they were going to intentionally demo it, I'd think they'd use explosives, not fire. Fire seems a lot harder to control. Googling for news about it confirms that it was not an intentional demolition.

They say the cause is unknown, so arson is always a possibility.

foxtrapper wrote: Sure there is creosote. Doesn't explain the controlled burn pattern.

Possibly. Here's my opinion.

Creosote treated wood goes up in flames extremely quickly, especially if it's hot. Having watched a pile of power poles go from ,not burning, to fully engulfed in under 10 minutes, I can see the fire traveling the entire 900 feet before collapse.

See the lone horizontal brace in the center of the picture. If you watch the video, at about 5 seconds, one of them falls, so whatever was holding them has burned away. There is a good chance those braces were the line of advance. If I had to guess, by the time the video started, it had been burning a while, possibly hours. The fireman that shot the video said it was fully engulfed when they showed up and he didn't start recording until 20 minutes later.

Time + accelerant = fully engulfed.

The fire probably started on the screen right end, so that's where the collapse started. Like most engineered structures, once the collapse starts, it's all over.

It might as well been soaked with diesel fuel. Probably looked like a slow burning fuse as the fire worked it's way from one end to the other.

The track segment is burning uniformly. A 900 foot span of uniform burning. That's not progression along creosote soaked wood.

The verticals are only burning on the horizontal braces, midway up, and at the bases. Nowhere else along the body of the wooden verticals is there visible combustion.

Not at all saying it isn't arson, it could well be. Just that it appears to be very well set, and therefore quite deliberate.

mythbusters time. let's go find another one like it in a similar climate, torch the middle, and see how long it takes to spread.

Looks like "someone" wanted a new bridge but wanted insurance to pay for it.

foxtrapper wrote: The track segment is burning uniformly. A 900 foot span of uniform burning. That's not progression along creosote soaked wood.

My first thought was that maybe a train car with a jammed brake or destroyed axle bearing got dragged across the bridge from right to left, and the overheated wheel was dripping burning grease all the way across.

Bridge Burning

There are almost no pictures on the internet showing a train trestle that is partially on fire. They all show the same thing. Standing and burning from one end to the other. I stand by my opinion.