Bridge bashing

[PhilJ W]

14 minutes ago, Reorte said:

 

What would a laser system do that a bit of metal hanging in the right place can't?

 

(OK I can think of one or two, such as being able to measure for the route the train is supposed to be taking, but on the surface it feels like making things high tech for the sake of it).

Thats what they used to use, only the metal was mercury in a glass U shaped tube that was meant to break when struck and breaking the current supply.

[caradoc]

With the number of different wagon and container types around nowadays, diverting such trains is a nightmare for Controls. In fact, during the Lamington Viaduct closure in early 2016, a container train was routed (on Control authority) from Barassie towards the GSW route via Annbank instead of via Kilmarnock, only to be stopped at Falkland when we realised it was not authorised via Annbank ! That one cost us quite a few delay minutes........

 

[RP82]

4 hours ago, RJS1977 said:

Bring back loading gauges.... ;-)

Apparently the loading gauge at Wakefield Europort was turned off as the loco kept triggering it, the report is somwhere on the RAIB site. 

I don't know about Australia but in the late 90s in USA there was a diverted stack train that shaved the roofs off a few containers and knocked some box's off its wagons when it went under a Freeway bridge

[Talltim]

33 minutes ago, RP82 said:

Apparently the loading gauge at Wakefield Europort was turned off as the loco kept triggering it, the report is somwhere on the RAIB site.

Its the same report as the Basingstoke canopy one

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/547c9006ed915d4c0d000187/R212009_090812_Basingstoke.pdf

They basically needed a curvy laser beam. Or a nicely shaped bit of wood hanging from an arm.....

Edited January 21, 2020 by Talltim

[Ken.W]

On 21/01/2020 at 12:41, Reorte said:

 

What would a laser system do that a bit of metal hanging in the right place can't?

 

(OK I can think of one or two, such as being able to measure for the route the train is supposed to be taking, but on the surface it feels like making things high tech for the sake of it).

 

But this is the 21st century!

Something as simple as hanging a bit of metal would never do when a nice new high tech laser can do the job

[Reorte]

20 minutes ago, Ken.W said:

 

But this is the 21st century!

Something as simple as hanging a bit of metal would never do when a nice new high tech laser can do the job

 

Quite! Although I do admit to a bit of a built-in bias, because given half a chance I'd probably be saying "bits of flint have always been sufficient for everything!"

[Wickham Green]

I understand there's a new PhD course opening to investigate the creation of a laser beam which will follow a W8 loading gauge ..............................

[kevinlms]

2 hours ago, Ken.W said:

 

But this is the 21st century!

Something as simple as hanging a bit of metal would never do when a nice new high tech laser can do the job

Yes, but an automatic detection system could immediately contact the signalling centre to advise that the bridge has been hit, and so stop a train from derailing or worse.

[F-UnitMad]

Here's a radical idea. Since HGV drivers are so useless, ban all trucks completely, and deliver everything in a massive fleet of Transit vans* instead. They're much lower, and aren't going to hit any bridges, are they...???

https://www.google.com/amp/s/metro.co.uk/2019/10/16/van-sliced-two-going-really-low-stonea-railway-bridge-10926417/amp/

It is believed the van was a write-off

No??? Really???

 

 

* and before the inevitable "deliver everything by train" gets posted up, just a reminder that most town's railway goods yards went LONG ago, & even when they still existed, the railways often ran some of the largest fleets of road delivery vehicles at the time.

Heck, my nearest 'big town' of Dudley doesn't even have a Passenger Station, never mind a Goods Yard!! So much for "deliver by train".....

Edited January 22, 2020 by F-UnitMad

[pH]

On 21/01/2020 at 06:07, RP82 said:

I don't know about Australia but in the late 90s in USA there was a diverted stack train that shaved the roofs off a few containers and knocked some box's off its wagons when it went under a Freeway bridge

 

And at least one situation in the US where the main line has been lowered for double-stacks, but the loop alongside hasn't. Train diverted on to the loop ...

[Siberian Snooper]

2 hours ago, F-UnitMad said:

Here's a radical idea. Since HGV drivers are so useless, ban all trucks completely, and deliver everything in a massive fleet of Transit vans* instead. They're much lower, and aren't going to hit any bridges, are they...???

https://www.google.com/amp/s/metro.co.uk/2019/10/16/van-sliced-two-going-really-low-stonea-railway-bridge-10926417/amp/

 

 

No??? Really???

 

 

* and before the inevitable "deliver everything by train" gets posted up, just a reminder that most town's railway goods yards went LONG ago, & even when they still existed, the railways often ran some of the largest fleets of road delivery vehicles at the time.

Heck, my nearest 'big town' of Dudley doesn't even have a Passenger Station, never mind a Goods Yard!! So much for "deliver by train".....

 

 

I think that there's at least one bridge just East of Bodmin Road (Parkway) which is/was close in an ordinary car and possibly one in Plymouth which is pretty tight.

 

 

[caradoc]

Another double-decker bus loses its roof after striking a railway bridge, this time in York;

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-51406005

 

Fortunately nobody was hurt in this particular incident.

[PhilJ W]

Right alongside the NRM.

[The Stationmaster]

39 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Right alongside the NRM.

No - it's the bridge at the other end of Leeman Road, a good way past the NRM site.  The houses in the background area giveaway.

[rab]

Just in case bus drivers aren't familiar with what road signs mean

its actually got 'low bridge' painted on it. How much clearer can you make it!

[Ken.W]

5 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

No - it's the bridge at the other end of Leeman Road, a good way past the NRM site.  The houses in the background area giveaway.

 

Plus the bridge by the NRM site's more like a tunnel as it passes under the north end of the platforms.

That one's on the two-track section just past the TPE depot.

 

3 hours ago, rab said:

Just in case bus drivers aren't familiar with what road signs mean

its actually got 'low bridge' painted on it. How much clearer can you make it!

 

And it's signed as 10'9", you'd just about get a single decker through there, never mind trying to with a double decker

[BR60103]

At 10'9", I don't think I could get my motorhome through there.  I have the height of it on labels on the rear view mirror, in both Imperial and metric. (Doing conversions at 65 mph is a tad risky.)

(Apologies if I've posted this before)

[rab]

https://m.facebook.com/groups/738135932932930?view=permalink&id=2939870442759457

 

Nothing new.

 

From the Cornwall Nostalgic Memories Facebook page

[petethemole]

Romsey Greatbridge Road again: https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/18245573.another-lorry-stuck-bridge-romsey-last-night/

[PhilJ W]

It says in the report that the containers were empty. I wonder if that had any bearing on the accident?

[Foulounoux]

Some people though will deny its their fault even when it's blatantly obvious 

 

Coming home from foulounoux a couple of years ago we reached the toll booth the A28having just overtaken a Range Rover with roof box towing a caravan 

 

Three things were pertinent 

First we have a Liber-t tag to avoid having to stop at tolls

Second the height limit on the liber-t lanes is typically between 1.85m and 2.00m and is well signed

Third there is protective height barrier before the barrier

 

 

We of course passed through without incident 

 

Then in my rear view mirror I saw that Matey had changed lanes and followed us.......

He didn't exit :-0

 

 

 

We stopped at the services that are 2km after the toll returning to the car and our freind was just pulling in minus the front of his caravan and a scalped roof box

 

He then drives over to us and starts having a go as to how this was our fault and we should exchange details as he wanted to claim against us for the incident

 

 

 

The Sanef service team who were following him after apparently unlocking barrier to allow him to be released the were as perplexed as us and had to threaten to call the gendarmes before he calmed down

 

 

 

 

 

 

[F-UnitMad]

51 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

It says in the report that the containers were empty. I wonder if that had any bearing on the accident?

As I read it, that meant the load inside the container was empty IBC containers; wouldn't be anything to do with the height of the truck.

There's a pertinent comment under that report (amongst all the usual keyboard-warrior dross) about the actual container being a high-cube type, taller than standard boxes. From what I recall from my time on containers, they don't actually have their dimensions marked anywhere on them. This might inevitably lead to a bit of guesswork concerning the overall trailer height, especially by an inexperienced driver. The thing to do then is ask for clarification before going anywhere.

 

That Romsey bridge is the one I hit back in 2003, which I wrote about early in this Thread; not sure if my prang is included in the "23 in 16 years" statistics or not. To restate - in my case I had been going that way twice a week for 2 years, & knew all about that bridge. It was not noticing that my trailer had been swapped overnight for an otherwise identical one that was a foot taller - missing at 4am in the dark the small sign on it that said 4.5m high, rather than 4.2m, that did for me. My in-cab height marker was still set at 13'9", which is 4.2m. It was one of the first things the police checked.

I cannot say why any other drivers hit that bridge, but it does seem to be a far-too-common occurance.

I was charged, not with dangerous driving, but ignoring traffic signs. And I did lose that job. 

 

 

[PhilJ W]

What I meant was that perhaps the trailer being light was riding a few centimetres higher and that made the difference between hitting the bridge or passing bellow it.

[eastglosmog]

2 hours ago, Foulounoux said:

Some people though will deny its their fault even when it's blatantly obvious 

 

Coming home from foulounoux a couple of years ago we reached the toll booth the A28having just overtaken a Range Rover with roof box towing a caravan 

 

Three things were pertinent 

First we have a Liber-t tag to avoid having to stop at tolls

Second the height limit on the liber-t lanes is typically between 1.85m and 2.00m and is well signed

Third there is protective height barrier before the barrier

 

 

We of course passed through without incident 

 

Then in my rear view mirror I saw that Matey had changed lanes and followed us.......

He didn't exit :-0

 

 

 

We stopped at the services that are 2km after the toll returning to the car and our freind was just pulling in minus the front of his caravan and a scalped roof box

 

He then drives over to us and starts having a go as to how this was our fault and we should exchange details as he wanted to claim against us for the incident

 

 

 

The Sanef service team who were following him after apparently unlocking barrier to allow him to be released the were as perplexed as us and had to threaten to call the gendarmes before he calmed down

 

 

 

 

 

 

Something similar happened to a friend of mine a good few years ago.   She stopped at one of our numerous narrow bridges to let oncoming traffic over the bridge, only for a twerp to overtake her and run straight into the oncoming vehicle!  Twerp got out and blamed my friend, saying she should not have stopped as then the oncoming driver would have given way.  Twerp got quite an ear bashing.

[johnofwessex]

2 hours ago, eastglosmog said:

Something similar happened to a friend of mine a good few years ago.   She stopped at one of our numerous narrow bridges to let oncoming traffic over the bridge, only for a twerp to overtake her and run straight into the oncoming vehicle!  Twerp got out and blamed my friend, saying she should not have stopped as then the oncoming driver would have given way.  Twerp got quite an ear bashing.

 

In such cases, dial 999, ask for The Police & suggest that they bring The Designated Social Worker  (Man in White Coat)