dullsteamer Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 (edited) Does anyone know what actually happened here? I'm at a loss to understand how the runaway occurred. Were they being hauled by a loco or another EMU? I ask because I've had some experience of hauling accident-damaged MU stock - if the brakes were cut out we'd run a temporary brake pipe and attach additional vehicles at the front and rear as cover to provide braking in the event of a breakaway. So this accident has me puzzled. Cheers, Mark. Edited December 14, 2017 by dullsteamer Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dullsteamer Posted December 15, 2017 Author Share Posted December 15, 2017 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morlanwelz_train_collision_and_runaway Cheers, Mark. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin_m Posted December 15, 2017 Share Posted December 15, 2017 I imagine the inquiry will look closely into what the procedures are for hauling damaged vehicles, and whether they were correctly followed. We've had a fair number of unbraked runaways in the UK over the years caused by failure to follow strictly the instructions for connecting and testing the brakes, particularly in unusual configurations. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dullsteamer Posted December 15, 2017 Author Share Posted December 15, 2017 (edited) These EMU's have couplers that make it very difficult (but not impossible) to be loco-hauled when out of service. The article stated the uncoupling was intentional, so I suspect someone forgot to put the brakes on the 449 unit prior to uncoupling from the 442 unit and with the train on an incline*, the unbraked EMU rolled away unattended.Yes, I noticed that the Belgian EMUs have Scharfenbergs, while the locos all appear to have hook drawgear and screw couplings, so I can imagine the fun you'd have trying to attach them. On my railway we have Scharfenbergs on the MUs and knuckle couplers on the locos. There's an adapter/transition coupling in the emergency equipment locker on the MUs, so it's not too difficult to couple them. I feel sorry for the poor folks who were involved in this incident. On my railway the worksites have a protection officer and lookouts, the lookouts are not permitted to perform any other task whatsoever. Again, my heart goes out to those involved. All the best, Mark. Edited December 15, 2017 by dullsteamer Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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