Derailments on BR in the days of steam - who authorised & inspected the re-railed locomotive

[Rail-Online]

Hi,

I was looking at a pic of a derailed loco - up to its axles in  the ballast but no visible damage to bodywork.  I just wondered once the cranes had done their job and it was back on the rails was it the Motive Powers deptartments job to inspect it and get it towed back to the nearest depot for a proper inspection and repairs, or did the crane gang have someone authorised to do this? 

 

Of course if it was seriously damaged I guess the decision wether to cut it up or move it would be a bigger decision by 'management',  but I cannot recall many instances when this was done 'on-site', mostly the cripled engine made it back to works.

 

Tony

[LMS2968]

Most loco derailments called for the presence of the shedmaster as a minimum, and more serious ones the District Motive Power Superintendent, and possibly his deputy. Once back on the rails the loco would be examined: the wheels would be gauged to ensure that they would stay on the rails during movement; damaged motion, brake and sanding gear might need removal (fitters made up the breakdown gang, so no problem there); and any parts so bent they fouled the loading gauge were unbolted or cut off. For a loco to be cut up at the point of derailment generally meant that recovery was either impossible or not worth the effort, the 3F derailed into a ditch on the S&DJR was one such as the surrounding loam would not support a crane and it was too deep for jacks. Even the 5X at Harrow, most of it anyway, was rerailed and moved into sidings, but largely broken up there.

[Wickham Green too]

....... and the loco would be weighed at the earliest opportunity to check for problems the naked eye couldn't detect.

[LMS2968]

1 hour ago, Wickham Green too said:

....... and the loco would be weighed at the earliest opportunity to check for problems the naked eye couldn't detect.

I don't think that's actually correct. although it should have been. Few sheds had a weighing machine; there were only two on the entire Central Division of the LMS, the former L&YR: Horwich Works and Newton Heath. Similarly, if an engine had to have a spring changed at a shed, it should also have been weighed afterwards, but never was.

[Gibbo675]

Hi Folks,

 

The weighing of locomotives was done at the works and some major sheds. Upon changing springs a fitter I used to work alongside said that they would place strips of lead under all of the wheels and then draw the locomotive over them after which they measured them to see that they were of uniform thickness for comparative axles. If there was a major difference then it would shew if an axle was light or heavy and appropriately adjusted.

 

Any locomotive that had been derailed would be checked as described by LMS and recovered at a slow speed so as not to damage the track if any springs were broken or missing. Where there were broken springs then wooden packings would be inserted over the tops of the axle boxes to prevent the frame bottoming out onto the tops of the boxes.

 

As for locomotives with broken springs, I have ridden on locomotives on the main line at speed and not known that several plates of a spring have become cracked and fallen out of the buckle and onto the track until the locomotive was inspected once back on shed.

 

Gibbo.

[Steamport Southport]

13 hours ago, LMS2968 said:

Most loco derailments called for the presence of the shedmaster as a minimum, and more serious ones the District Motive Power Superintendent, and possibly his deputy. Once back on the rails the loco would be examined: the wheels would be gauged to ensure that they would stay on the rails during movement; damaged motion, brake and sanding gear might need removal (fitters made up the breakdown gang, so no problem there); and any parts so bent they fouled the loading gauge were unbolted or cut off. For a loco to be cut up at the point of derailment generally meant that recovery was either impossible or not worth the effort, the 3F derailed into a ditch on the S&DJR was one such as the surrounding loam would not support a crane and it was too deep for jacks. Even the 5X at Harrow, most of it anyway, was rerailed and moved into sidings, but largely broken up there.

 

45637 Windward Islands was scrapped at Crewe in January 1953.

 

It was planned to rebuild it, at least on paper, by authorising another Rebuilt Jubilee to carry the same identity. Worth considering they did rebuild the Duchess so there was probably less qualms about doing that back then.

 

This photo hasn't got a date on it, but I believe it was not long before the accident.

 

https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lms/lnwrrm927.htm

[LMS2968]

6 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

45637 Windward Islands was scrapped at Crewe in January 1953.

The process was begun in the electric sidings at Harrow after the remains had been pushed in there. It was reduced down to pieces small enough to go into wagons and these then took it to Crewe Works, where the Melts further reduced them to a size which would go into the blast furnaces, etc. There are plenty of photos of this. The only salvaged major component was the boiler. 

[Fenman]

The lovely short film Snowdrift at Bleath Gill (on YouTube’s British Film Institute channel, here) gives a nice indication of the number of people and departments involved in recovering a loco — albeit one trapped in snow, rather than derailed. 
 

Paul

[Rail-Online]

Thanks Gents,

 

Fascinating stuff......

 

 

Cheers Tony

[The Stationmaster]

4 hours ago, LMS2968 said:

The process was begun in the electric sidings at Harrow after the remains had been pushed in there. It was reduced down to pieces small enough to go into wagons and these then took it to Crewe Works, where the Melts further reduced them to a size which would go into the blast furnaces, etc. There are plenty of photos of this. The only salvaged major component was the boiler. 

The extent of damage to 45637 was massive and the Inspecting Officer who conducted the Inquiry described it as  'Except for the boiler,  engine No.45637 was practically reduced to scrap.'  It was photographed standing in the electric sidings and can be seen to be no more than a short 0-6-0 with nothing left in front of the smokebox and what was left of the rear of the frames under the cab was badly distorted.  Definitely no chance of doing anything with those remains apart from the boiler.