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What happened here?

Discussion in 'Steam Traction' started by neildimmer, Jan 26, 2017.

  1. johnofwessex

    johnofwessex Resident of Nat Pres

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    Severn Beach?
     
  2. simon

    simon Resident of Nat Pres

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    No where near as bad as Scunthorpe and a short, interesting train ride into Bristol.
     
  3. threelinkdave

    threelinkdave Well-Known Member

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    I wrote a report on a power station test at Scunthorpe and was contacted by IT for using bad language. you work it out
     
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  4. andalfi1

    andalfi1 Well-Known Member

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    If Ti-phoo put the 'T' in Britain etc. etc....
     
  5. johnofwessex

    johnofwessex Resident of Nat Pres

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    In the days of operation by single class 121 units, usually W55032/3 there were a number of incidents when the trains experienced brake failure and ran into the buffer stops so it could be very interesting.............
     
  6. Reading General

    Reading General Part of the furniture

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    I actually witnessed an Inter City dmu hitting the buffers in platform 7 at Reading General ...makes a big bang!
     
  7. buzby2

    buzby2 Well-Known Member

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    Mea Culpa. Apologies, quite correct. Only the resort uses the exclamation mark.
     
  8. Reading General

    Reading General Part of the furniture

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    and the book presumably?
     
  9. buzby2

    buzby2 Well-Known Member

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    ... or, possibly, a play written by John Webster and Thomas Dekker in the early 17th Century?
     
  10. threelinkdave

    threelinkdave Well-Known Member

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    I was just wondering if it had anything with buffer stop testing. I have heard, and it may be a myth, that the hydraulic buffers at Waterloo were tested by driving a loco at them. Was this a case of getting it wrong?
     
  11. grant1

    grant1 New Member

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    Actually improves the loco's appearance....ugly things haha.
     
  12. 85Merlin

    85Merlin New Member

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    I don't know if it was the practice at Waterloo, but it was certainly the practice to test the hydraulic buffers at the LMS station in Belfast by driving an engine into them. On a Sunday morning an engine was driven at 5 mph, 10 mph and 15 mph into the buffers and appropriate measurements were taken. I have never heard of any damage being done to an engine, although I understand that a fitter was deputed to check the engine buffers and buffer beam for damage before it was allowed to work a train. I also understand that the final test caused considerable consternation among the guests at the adjacent Midland Hotel. The practice died out with the demise of steam - the diesels weren't considered to be robust enough!
    Ian
     
  13. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    Last edited: Jan 30, 2017
    GW 5972 likes this.
  14. thickmike

    thickmike Member

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    There is another photo of 34036 in one of the Windsor platforms at Clapham with fitters removing bent buffer beam etc. There had clearly been a prang somewhere on the Windsor side and I have a very dim and distant memory of this incident - my notebooks such as they are don't give anything but I think 34036 ran into stock or buffers having picked up its wheels - the Bulleid's were a handful light engine especially when the brakes were worn. As has been previously stated the Nine Elms website is probably the best hope for facts. It is known that the engine went to Eastleigh for repairs - this sort of incident wasn't as uncommon as you might think back in that time - not suggesting that it was everyday but very rough shunts, sideswipes etc. were not that uncommon - we are so used to the control given by modern braking systems and excellent visibility - shunting a dimly lit or unlit yard at night with an engine where the brakes were iffy was no fun and not easy. I know this is obvious but since the damage is to the country end of the engine it can hardly have been caused by running the engines into the buffers at Waterloo. There has been quite a long thread on this recently on the SeMG website.

    Mike (Northants)
     
  15. Eightpot

    Eightpot Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    A. J. Somers in his book 'Operating British Railways History' Vol. 2 refers to a Cravens DMU hitting the buffers at Kings Cross. The Driver claimed that on making the final brake application nothing happened. It turned out that this particular unit was fitted with GWR type brake cylinders with sliding (rather than rolling) rings, and on investigation this situation could indeed happen with a light brake application. The Driver was exonerated and it was concluded that Western Drivers only did heavy brake applications.
     
  16. jtx

    jtx Well-Known Member

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    At the end of the day, it obviously hit something, or, something hit it. In the great scheme of things, who gives a sh1t?
    It's scrapped.
     
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  17. torgormaig

    torgormaig Part of the furniture Friend

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    I do for one. It is an interesting photo with an unknown story behind it and I would like to know more about it. Among all the dross on NP this is the sort of thread that keeps me coming back to it. I'm not sure why its subsequent scrapping four years later is relevant. Please do not dismiss a thread just because it bores you.

    Peter James
     
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  18. Steve

    Steve Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    Well said.
     
  19. The usual suspect posted something completely unrelated to railway preservation in one of the preservation sections?
     
  20. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Can't you contain these sorts of facetious posting at least to NGC? These are the sorts of discussions I sometimes actually learn something from, even if they are in the wrong section...
     
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