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Incident at Newbury on Monday the 17th Nov 2014


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  • RMweb Gold

BTW the last time that happened in the Reading area the 'felling' was done by some Irish fellahs who were well out of the way by the time their little package went bang.  And it was a pretty loud bang, I heard it clearly from the other end of Reading!

So did I and it made my windows rattle! I lived the other side of Reading too at the time. I got a bit of overtime in flagging the signal involved because of that.

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I would hope that all contractors working on the rails would have knowledge of the protection rules, and on the track circuit issue the signal posts are coated on several layers of paint and insulated so shouldn't have been able to electicaly bridged the rails

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  • 2 weeks later...

ooops!

think the reference to plastic was the signal head ?

was it a feather that was hit?

good job it did not fall whilst the technician replacing the head was up the post

Yes it was, sorry my original post wasnt very clear!

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  • RMweb Gold

Very difficult to tell by looking, they'd need to have some way of actually gauging the depth as they all look rusty where they enter the ground. When I was Signalman at Marchwood I used to climb the brackets once a week with two oil lamps to swap them over. Imagine my reaction the day they slapped a condemned notice on the SR lattice post bracket into the MOD! I asked the boss how I was supposed to do the lamps if it was condemned and eventually the answer came back it was only a notice of intended replacement due to condition. It was replaced about a year later with the lattice still looking like Filo pastry like it had all the time I was there.

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Yes - the current examination contract issued by NR specifically excludes us doing any work such as removal of ballast or vegetation, de-watering culverts, etc. to facilitate the exam - we are supposed to report this to NR and they will do it for us...............guess what happens most of the time after we do.............. :no:

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I work with the driver that hit and to say he wasnt very impressed would be a bit of an understatement!

He was quite glad that the signal was one of the new plastic ones rather than a proper steel one.

 

 

...yup, that's why it was 'armless...

 

D

 

[Fetching coat]

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and I'm sure when the old signal head was removed with a RRV, none of the fixing studs / bolts got caught up and strained the whole structure at all ?? .................. :no:

 

Actually, even though we are technically only an industry contractor, everyone is pretty gutted by this incident especially the examiner (like the good time served railwayman that he is) feels it particularly as it relates directly to what we are supposed to be achieving and prevent happening .

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  • RMweb Gold

Well the corrosion wasn't caused by dog pee (a common cause of street lamp failure) !!!!

 

 

I am reminded of a colleague from rather more than 40 years ago, who had a dog imaginatively named Rover. Apparently Harold and Rover were out for their evening constitutional when Rover decided that needs must against a lamppost. Evidently the earthing was adrift, because he suddenly leapt backwards in mid-flow. Harold swore he heard the dog say "Cor - my water's strong tonight!"

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I am reminded of a colleague from rather more than 40 years ago, who had a dog imaginatively named Rover. Apparently Harold and Rover were out for their evening constitutional when Rover decided that needs must against a lamppost. Evidently the earthing was adrift, because he suddenly leapt backwards in mid-flow. Harold swore he heard the dog say "Cor - my water's strong tonight!"

I hope nobody will find this in poor taste. It is two pages from the chapter on preventing electrical accidents in the 1937 edition of the French Chemins de Fer de l'Etat, Instruction Générale pour la Sécurité du Travail (General rules for safe working)

 

post-6882-0-93742600-1417909201_thumb.jpg

 

The book includes many other ways of achieving a pointless death or serious injury while working on the railway but begins with this rather poignant little scene

 

post-6882-0-48120900-1417910227_thumb.jpg

 

I practice I'm sure the injured man would have been taken to the railway's excellent medical facilities but this makes the point.

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I hope nobody will find this in poor taste. It is two pages from the chapter on preventing electrical accidents in the 1937 edition of the French Chemins de Fer de l'Etat, Instruction Générale pour la Sécurité du Travail (General rules for safe working)

 

attachicon.gifCF Etat -Sécurité du Travail 76-77.jpg

 

The book includes many other ways of achieving a pointless death or serious injury while working on the railway but begins with this rather poignant little scene

 

attachicon.gifCF de l'Etat IST pensez-y.jpg

 

I practice I'm sure the injured man would have been taken to the railway's excellent medical facilities but this makes the point.

There was (possibly apocryphal) story of three men being electrocuted in such a manner on part of the London suburban system during a WW2 black-out. The problem in France is that 'Defensé d'Uriner' is taken as a challenge, rather than an interdiction...

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  • RMweb Gold

For fear of heading way off topic, http://Urinating on the electric third rail of a train track can cause electrocution. BUSTED Although it is possible to electrocute yourself by urinating on a third rail, you would have to stand unrealistically close to the rail to do it. In most instances, a urine stream would break into droplets before making contact with the rail. (This concept was tested with an electric fence in episode 14 and that version of the myth was confirmed. Distance is the key.)

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  • 1 month later...

I am reminded of a colleague from rather more than 40 years ago, who had a dog imaginatively named Rover. Apparently Harold and Rover were out for their evening constitutional when Rover decided that needs must against a lamppost. Evidently the earthing was adrift, because he suddenly leapt backwards in mid-flow. Harold swore he heard the dog say "Cor - my water's strong tonight!"

 

I heard that when the OHL was first energized through Heaton, next morning an unfortunate dog was found alongside one of the masts

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  • RMweb Gold

Presume the feather location is down to sighting, and not just to prevent it fouling the other track if it falls over? ;)

 

(Hope they keep the lineside greenery in check!)

More likely a consequence of using the first signal structure they could find and it not being suitable/strong enough to carry the JIs.  That's an awful big block of concrete as well :O

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