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Dawlish; through the rectangular window.


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I agree BR(s) pretty sure it was this..

 

DR79251 Rail grinder by stavioni, on Flickr

 

 

Its mentioned on another thread that a rial-grinder passed through NA so it probably is indeed one :)

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fqxPFkwn99U/U5BWpN0k_wI/AAAAAAAAC_Y/wrVfQrH0Hm8/s1600/TC+DR+79257-251+Newton+Abbot+05062014rs.jpg (from http://antony-christie.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/night-time-newton-abbot-part-2-5th-june.html)

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I agree BR(s) pretty sure it was this..

 

r by stavioni, on Flickr

It was Michael, its been in Tavi yard all this week by day for servicing, watering and fuel.

Its out by night re-profiling the rail head ,aka grinding.

Its a machine that gets really filthy and it has to be "de gunked" (my non tech term) after every use. The fitters who service it during the day are employed by Balfour Beatty.

Poor blokes have to wear respirators and look like coal miners when the emerge from under and inside the thing! Doesn't look like a nice job.

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Couple of people that 'can't hear' what the Orange clad men are saying have walked along the beach. Silly billys! 

Now they are being 'spoken to' by another member of the army.

They are very small; so they must be far away.

.....and off they go; maybe they were from abroad?

 

P

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Interesting seeing all the work starting to bed in, strange how the colour of the ballast differs between the tracks to outside them

Thats because the ballast outside the tracks has been glued which gives it a 'wet' look.

Edit-

Actually I dont think the gluing has gone that far, its probably the fallout from the toilets in the 4ft that gives it the different colour! 

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Interesting seeing all the work starting to bed in, strange how the colour of the ballast differs between the tracks to outside them

The ballast that is glued by Kennaway tunnel, along  by Marine parade, is shiny & is a very darker colour

 

interestingly the weeds are thriving & growing up through it!!

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I thought that modern stock had holding tanks fitted for 'convenience'

 

doesnt H & S have anything to say about waste hitting the track at high speed & atomising in built up areas

 

no wonder epidemics spread so 'fast'

 

Modern stock does have retention tanks - but when I say modern that doesn't include HSTs which are now over 40 years old!

 

Back in BR days the first (and only) InterCity train fleet to get it was the IC225 fleet everything else discharged onto the track. NSE went for retention tanks in quite a big way though on their new fleets with the 165, 166, 159s, 442, 319s, 321s (I think) 465 & 466 fleets fitted. Regional railways on the other hand, while getting new stock in the late 80s & 90s, didn't have any spare money for installing the tank emptying kit at its depot so everything up to and including the 158s still discharged onto the tracks.

 

As to the quantities, Wikipedia says

 

Sewage discharge

In the UK train operators are allowed to discharge 5 imperial gallons (23 l; 6.0 US gal) of sewage per carriage per journey onto the track. Most Mark 3 carriages have only holding tanks, not fully compliant toilet tanks, and in the 2000s both the RMT trade union and politicians were concerned at the environmental impact of this legacy issue. The problem was first raised in 2003 after Railtrack staff at Nottingham abandoned local clean-up and then track maintenance procedures due to an excessive built up of sewage waste in the area.[4] In 2006 the RMT agreed waste tank and clean-out developments at Northern Rail's Heaton depot in 2006 with GNER, and new clean-out procedures at all other depots, to solve an ongoing dispute over the previous 18 months.[5] By 2011, the European Union had started a formal investigation to see whether trains composed of such carriages were breaking EU environmental and health laws, although the Environment Agency confirmed that train companies claimed special exemptions to dump waste on the track.[6] In 2013, Transport Minister Susan Kramer branded the practice "utterly disgusting" and called on the industry to take action. ATOC responded by stating that, as all new vehicles had to be fitted with compliant toilet tanks, withdrawal of the HSTs by the end of 2017 would solve the problem.[7]

 

 

Pretty much everything delivered since privatisation has had tanks fitted which has meant some pretty extensive depot upgrades have been needed to accommodate them

 

Chiltern have modified their Mk3s though to have tanks fitted and the latest management contract for the Anglia route includes a commitment to fit tanks there. Also it is planned that they will be fitted to the HSTs being given a life extension to work serives to the south west after the IEP units have been introduced on Bristol / Wales duties.

 

However as things stand, in the south west only Voyagers currently have retention tanks, everything else dumps it into the 4ft.

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Granitechops, on 20 Jun 2014 - 13:36, said:Granitechops, on 20 Jun 2014 - 13:36, said:

Was it being used for measurement this morning,

 

 it was only trundling by slowly,  say about 15-20mph?

This video will give you a good over view of what it does- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhVdTXh5XoA

It measures track geometry and track quality.

Each section manager of the line concerned gets a print out from the train and he acts accordingly, putting right any defects it finds within specified time limits depending on the type of defect. It is all very highly regulated!

The train is the envy of the world and at one time, even the French asked to borrow it apparently and NR declined.

It can take STILL'S of pandrol clips etc at 125 MPH! Its a fine piece of kit.

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