'The Capital Christmas Express'. 23rd November

Absolutely, nothing alarmist whatsoever, however, any regulated mode of public transport that suffers a potentially serious incident needs de-briefing and is likely to be investigated. A cowling drops off an aircraft or something big and metal comes loose on a steam loco,- same as. I hope this event is taken seriously by the various companies and bodies involved. I am sure it will be.
Meanwhile as i said we got away with this OK and that mainline steam is of course inherently safe as houses. The incident rate is minute.

 

This was dragged to Weymouth behind the cl 47 with Tangmere on the rear, so not a loaded test.

 

I understand locos and stock are still at Acton Lane this morning, and that 34067 is still in steam. That's a long few days for the support crew.

 

I vaguely remember an A4 did something similar about 20 years ago. Greeley, I think.

None of:-
Trains
Steam locos
A4s

Were banned.

 

WHAT!!

No idea why there is so much pontificaton and nit-picking here?

Strewth, they are the building blocks of Nat Pres debates. Everyone an expert on everything, (sadly that includes me at times, ).

That' the only reason we come here. So that individually we can show everyone else how clever we are and how stupid everyone else is.

 

Absolutely correct. There was no loaded test run, following the overhaul which I think was conducted since July? Main line registered engines should have far more testing following restoration or overhaul.

 

You are, because an incident that happened over half a century ago. And now we have moved to the extreme end of the reaction scale with "200 miles in one day is too far for a steam loco"

 

Not my words, but those of a support crew member I think? Individual trip distances aren't like to be an issue here, but damn great lumps of flailing metal with the power to derail the loco/train and other traffic on adjacent lines most certainly are. I have no idea why you don't find that alarming, as clearly many on here do, and fully appreciate the forces at work and their destructive potential. Let's hope the cause is found to be particular to this one loco on that one day, and not something more insidious to steam in general, such as metal fatigue. I shall remain alarmed that this happened until the facts are known, and mightily relieved that we got away without any injuries or worse.

 

i think some of you are mixing up opinions and clouded by 'oh its OK, no problem, carry on as normal, stuff and nonsense, never happened on my watch'...

that's not the point.

what is the clue in Tangmere's case that coming so soon after overhaul is when most often that faults/defects/errors are discovered or actually materialise into an incident.
whether it be a plane/car or train (we do not know yet obviously in this case but it is what any investigation will track back most carefully)

in over 30 years in my Aviation career it was well documented that aircraft incidents often occurred when downtime had been spent for overhaul/maintenance and something went wrong/jammed and/or fell off during the first flight or was luckily discovered on close inspection before it happened.

past incidents whether it be 5 or 50 years ago are what we use to learn from to start an investigation where similarities in an incident lie.


BTW i am not alarmed nor alarmist but i am relieved that hopefully we have definitive regulatory bodies that will shed light into this incident and go over it with a fine tooth comb.

 

The photos show the split pin with its legs open (!) so it's unlikely to be the cause. Anyway, everyone knows that these pins are not a safety feature, they are specifically designed to remove pieces of skin from the knuckles and hands of the poor mugs tasked with cleaning the motion!

Foxy

 

I am not being alarmist, because stuff like that happens on a railway with thousands of motive units knocking up 100s of thousands of miles a day - Fuel tanks falling off, pantographs smashing through windows, runaway trains, fires, none of them have anything whatsoever to do with steam locomotives. The major cause of deaths, and injuries on British Railways in the past 25 years has been poor track maintenance - Don't see you getting alarmed over that. Class 43's are over 40 years old, don't hear any clamour to have them reduced in mileage or speed despite things dropping off them.

It was a a railway incident. It will be investigated by he relevant parties (and if deemed serious enough, by the RAIB) cause will be identified and any actions coming out of that will be instigated. Its not 'alarming" and its nothing to get hysterical about.

 

Spamcan 81 I don't really know why you are arguing as to the use of the expression "crept up". Whether following much discussion, little discussion or no discussion at all, the speed limits have gone up, been relaxed, been increased or, indeed, have crept up! Fact. Indeed, it's not even a situation where I am suggesting that this incident is a result of such relaxation and they be brought back down, merely quoting the views of someone who does.

As someone who thinks some road speed limits are a bit too low I am the last person to advocate speed restrictions for their own sake but if they are necessary, they are necessary.

Let's just see what the investigations reveal

PH

 

Overhaul was I think finished in 2011 with test runs on the 8th and 10th of Febuary as per rules.

 

There are legs open and legs open. Try pulling out one which has had it's legs bent at 90 degrees and then one with only 20 or so degrees I agree about being de-skinned by them.

 

Anyone care to guess what mileage 34067 has done in preservation ?

 

was this the move to Southall?

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/O40975/2013/11/25/advanced

 

So, assuming that there could not possibly be any that fall between these two stark categories, the latter are to be ignored, ridiculed or despised? Let's get rid of the ignorant supporters and just leave the superior operators and see how much revenue is generated to run the trains.

 

I like it how there is always somewhere to twist things about.