Jump to content
Users will currently see a stripped down version of the site until an advertising issue is fixed. If you are seeing any suspect adverts please go to the bottom of the page and click on Themes and select IPS Default. ×
RMweb
 

Chocks used on Locomotives


Danim

Recommended Posts

Hi Guys

While I was up at Waverley Station a few weeks ago I took a photo of the Class 67 that was in the former Motorrail siding and noticed that the wheels were chocked in place and was wondering if anyone had seen this before

 

16511815529_de048b3be4.jpg

chocks on the wheels of 67016 by danim007, on Flickr

 

 

16510545660_4c7385b6a7_c.jpg67016 at Waverley Station by danim007, on Flickr

Edited by Danim
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

Chocks are usually used like that to prevent movement of a loco or item of rolling stock in thd event that the brakes are likely to bleed off and there is no hand brake or it may be inefective. There may also be a pair of chocks on the otherside.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

All our locos carry chocks, in fact i used some yesterday when i failed!!

 

On a 56 the handbrake is applied using air so when mine died yesterday had i put the handbrake on then not been able to generate main reservoir air (ie assisted from the rear) i wouldnt have been able to take it off, as it happened i knew i could get air from the assisting loco as it was coming on the front of the train but i never took the chance and left it off 'just in case' and held the train on wagon handbrakes and chocks until i was coupled up

 

The most important thing to remember is to take them out before you try to move!!

 

Edit: i can take the handbrake off using toggles on the brakeframe but its easier to leave it off!

Edited by big jim
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

I've seen chocks regularly used on locomotives at Peterborough. Oddly enough they were also 67's.

Edited by Richard E
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also that platform at Waverley probably doesn't have trapping protection, so if it did roll away unattended it could be going wrong direction on the ECML.  A 37 did this a few years ago and went a considerable distance before it stopped, so the gradients must be suitable for that to happen. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Scotches were 'standard equipment' on EE Type 4s (later Class 40) from quite an early date as their handbrakes were very unreliable, I think they were probably the only Modernisation Scheme diesels to have them as apart of the loco equipment although some units carried scotches in BR times.  Otherwise their normal use was as part of depot equipment fir anything with dodgy or failed brakes.  And of course it isn't over easy to shunt loco hauled coaching stock which has been stabled for sometime unless it is scotched.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Scotches were 'standard equipment' on EE Type 4s (later Class 40) from quite an early date as their handbrakes were very unreliable......................

The Great Train Robbery engine, D326, was involved in a runaway at Monument Lane c1965. I think the instruction concerning EE Type 4s always being scotched when parked came in after that incident.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All hst power cars carry a set of chocks, in an emergency they make a bloody good hammer.

 

 

I wouldn't want to trust one totally though having seen a driver take a 143 over one...

I have posted this before, but I well remember the stabling point at Edge Hill being littered with the splintered remains when drivers forgot to remove them before moving off with a Class 40. And yes, you had to use them everytime; we just got through a lot of them!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The 67s were required to be scotched, as there was a fault on the parking brake units were they could release.  The 67s at the Waverley are more than likely still scotched as there has been a couple of runaways from that siding.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

The cl. 40 instruction was in the general/sectional appendix!

 

What was the reason for the problem with 40s? Their nearest equivalents, the Peaks, don't seem to have had the same trouble?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Locos in Kingmoor depot had to be scotched if they were there for any length of time when I was there in the mid 70s, what with it being on a slight gradient and all that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The cl. 40 instruction was in the general/sectional appendix!

 

What was the reason for the problem with 40s? Their nearest equivalents, the Peaks, don't seem to have had the same trouble?

 

I remember a long time ago coming out of a mess room only to face a 40 that had come to visit us from where it was parked earlier (100m away)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

The cl. 40 instruction was in the general/sectional appendix!

What was the reason for the problem with 40s? Their nearest equivalents, the Peaks, don't seem to have had the same trouble?

That'll be down to a different design of handbrake mechanism.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

The Great Train Robbery engine, D326, was involved in a runaway at Monument Lane c1965. I think the instruction concerning EE Type 4s always being scotched when parked came in after that incident.

That sounds about right SE - I know the Instruction was in force by late 1966/early '67 but I can't remember seeing any of them scotched when bunking Camden not all that many years earlier.

I have posted this before, but I well remember the stabling point at Edge Hill being littered with the splintered remains when drivers forgot to remove them before moving off with a Class 40. And yes, you had to use them everytime; we just got through a lot of them!

 

Agree absolutely - many a  loco depot seemed to be littered with the remains of scotches at one time, not just the victims of Class 40s either.  It usually seemed to be the case that if an engine was 'deliberately' driven over teh scotch it simply disintegrated although presumably when correctly applied they seem to have been satisfactory in preventing stationary locos from running away.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also that platform at Waverley probably doesn't have trapping protection, so if it did roll away unattended it could be going wrong direction on the ECML.  A 37 did this a few years ago and went a considerable distance before it stopped, so the gradients must be suitable for that to happen. 

37113 ran away in 1994 and hit a HST at Abbeyhill(3 miles away). A class 90 ran away in 2002 and got as far as Brunstane before ruining out of momentum  and heading back the way it came and stopping at Portobello/Craigentinny wheel lathe http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2495429.stm http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/runaway-train-careers-three-miles-through-the-city-1-856111  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

The railroad I work for requires the placement of chocks as a step in the proper securing of any unattended locomotive. However, the practice is rarely followed except in shop areas. In our case, it appears to be an attempt to add another level of protection in the event the locomotive shuts down and looses air pressure in the brake system or if the hand brake is defective or inadvertently released, which is a rarity. It is viewed as a way of "idiot proofing" the railroad by adding more and more requirements to ensure undesired movement.

 

The problem with chocks is that they are not a fail safe application as they can fall out of place with slight movement of the locomotive or actually be removed by an unauthorized person. They are a smart application in shop areas but not in more "public" places. Another railroad I worked for in the past, utilized "wheel skates" to provide absolute protection against undesired movement. the only draw back being skates are much more expensive than chocks...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...