UK Derailment at 95 mph.

[Seasaltchap]

This is a report of the incident last night.

Try the fontpage too for other links.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6391743.stm

[Ralph-On30]

My prayers go to those folks.

And Mr. Black,

a MAN of good British stock.

[Rich R]

I heard that on the BBC last night and was wondering where exactly it ran. (It was midnight here so I was a tad fuzzy when I heard about it)
A lot of local PBS stations do carry the BBC World Service on FM radio for those who are interested.
Guess I could listen to it again on this haunted fishtank.
It will be interesting to see just what happened to cause this.

Best,
Rich R

[Jim Banner]

I had a strange thought when I first heard about this accident.  I wondered about the swaying and the way "it felt like the... service was being battered by heavy winds before her carriage flipped."  Could that have been the tilt control computer acting up?  Did the train crash because the computer did?

[gardenrail]

The current suggestion is that the crash was caused by a faulty set of points (switch). Apparently the evidence is that some of the bolts were loose or missing, and the tie bar was loose.

It actually says a good deal for the Pendolino that it ran for half a mile 'on the deck' after the points, before it finally flipped. It also says something positive for the design - a similar accident at Potter's Bar on the East Coast Main Line a few years ago cost five lives.

[Seasaltchap]

When the regularly scheduled services of the Inter-City 125 services were introduced it was always said that derailments would follow the rails, because of the fears of sheer force directing a train down "Main Street". In general derailments have been kept to the environs of the railway embankments. In this accident the front loco was flipped in the wrong direction.

A lot of research has gone into wheel profile at high speeds, whereby the flange rarely ever hits the inside of the rail, and where there are signs, the rail itself is generally to fault.

It was the West Coast line, and maybe cross winds did have an effect: however telltale signs are there with missing chair bolts and bad maintenance about the points.

This general area was only recently upgraded from 125 to rail speeds of 135mph.

Privatization of rail maintenace was see as a contributory factor to the Potters Bar Accident, when as part of the Commissions Recomendations, all rail maintenance was taken back into a goverment "Corporation".

[gwfan]

It says a great deal about the Pendolino design that not a single window was broken and the carriages are integral. Branson of course is furious. The train speed is reported as 95mph at the time.

In steam days facing points were rare.

[gwfan]

I am in Cumbria now. Latest on local news is that it WAS a point (turnout, switch) failure. Lots of red faces - assume someone will get sued bigtime.

Chris

[rogertra]

Read all about it here: -

http://www.raib.gov.uk/cms_resources/070226_I012007_Grayrigg.pdf

[Seasaltchap]

From the Interim Crash Report please witness the crash was "24 miles 20 chains from Lancaster."

or 24 miles and 20 Cricket Pitches!

[Seasaltchap]

On another message board one wag has suggested they were running with Hornby wheel sets and the "back to back" was out!

[rogertra]

And they had a TV show just after the accident where an expert demonstrated, on a steam heritage railway,  how to remove the bolts from the stretcher bar and release the points so that they could move under  a train.

Great.  Now any yahoo or terrorist knows how to remove the stretcher bolts and derail a train without the use of explosives.

[Seasaltchap]

For those interested, a discussion of the work-around for services is at:

http://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=6045

The Potters Bar crash was also blamed on the points/switch.

rogerta : I would respectfully remind you that the 9/11 bombers also had a full "How To" on numerous US TV debates after the first failed attempt.

Regards

[rogertra]

Seasaltchap.

But the 9/11 bombers required the use of three commercial airliners, people who could at least fly a plane, the money to purchase tickets and a willingness to die for their cause.

The BBC programe showed you how to derail a train for the cost of a wrench.

[Seasaltchap]

Do you think if the 9/11 bombers needed a wrench too, that they would have been short of the funds for it?