PinzaC55 wrote:A report of this incident in the York Press said that there were "cleaners on the train but they got off". I don't know about RPS'es but on the national rail network attempting to shunt a train with cleaners on board would be a major safety breach since they would be required to have "STOP" boards applied when cleaners were on board.
PinzaC55 wrote:A report of this incident in the York Press said that there were "cleaners on the train but they got off". I don't know about RPS'es but on the national rail network attempting to shunt a train with cleaners on board would be a major safety breach since they would be required to have "STOP" boards applied when cleaners were on board.
It was not being shunted.
Sawdust.
From Philip Benham's statement "While attaching a locomotive to a train at Grosmont Station, the coaches ran away into a siding "
Locomotives are attached to trains everyday on the NYMR and indeed most preserved railways. They don't make passengers stand on the platform while it takes place. No fitters were working on the set so there was no need for a stop board.
Stop trying to second guess the RAIB report. We know the probable cause.
Without commenting on the incident, some details about operation on the nymr and railways in general, to hopefully satisfy those who are trying to speculate on what has happend.
Anyone working on the Train (carriage cleaners, fitters etc) must apply a stop board.
A driver requires permission from the guard before going onto the guards Train.
For the vacuum brake to work, the vacuum needs to be maintained, as there needs to be a pressure differential across the brake cylinder, if the vehicles have been at rest for sometime the brake will be off due to the fact that air will have leaked slowly from one side of the brake cylinder to the other.
Doesn't the vacuum need to be maintained to keep the brakes off? so if theres a rupture of the train pipe etc the brakes will be applied instead of the train running away?
Its good to know where you stand. Saves making a fool of yourself later......
Doesn't the vacuum need to be maintained to keep the brakes off? so if theres a rupture of the train pipe etc the brakes will be applied instead of the train running away?
Correct, but the vacuum cylinder contains a piston which requires a differential pressure, when a brake is created a vacuum is created both sides of the piston, and as you say when air is allowed into the train pipe the difference in pressue across the piston moves the piston and applies the braking force. However if a vehicle has been standing a while air leaks into the system and past the seals in the cylinder and therefore there is no pressure differential across the piston, and therefore the brakes are held off.
The handbrake on the set was faulty, the locmotive went to buffer up and the fireman noticed that the stock was rolling away from the loco. the gaurd and cleaners were in the gaurds compartment trying to apply the handbrake but they jumped off at the end of grosmont station when the screwed it right down. The stock rolled down the hill and took out the buffers at the end, the first 2 coaches were damaged and the last 3 were shunted to goathland for storage. my dad was the fireman on that loco and he told me all about it, no one was hurt and it was that the vacume break leaked of as usual and the handbrake was faulty.
I've seen people speculate on the cause of an accident before, the "conclusion" the people came up with was completely wrong, although more people saw that than the correct one, and it tainted the companies reputation. Less people used the companies services until management decided to call it quits. (Incedentally thats how I became unemployed)
Speculation almost always ends up doing more harm than good, even if people DO have insider knowledge, they may have been instructed not to say anything until an official report is produced. Even if they haven't, their knowledge of the incident could be incomplete.
Let's just wait to see what the RAIB report says please.
For the reasons given above, it is one of our regulations for working members that in the event of an accident, they do not comment and/or speculate on the causes and direct all enquiries to the [General Manager]. Even if members were on the scene when the relevant incident occurred and were (professionally) uninvolved, it is unlikely they would have perfect knowledge of the complete situation.