Train slides at speed for more than TWO MILES because of leaves on the line

[Firestarter]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1330887/Train-slides-speed-TWO-MILES-leaves-line.html

 

[gordonthemoron]

chop down the trees then

 

[Firestarter]

what have the trees done to deserve that?

 

[mumrar]

what have the trees done to deserve that?

They always used to chop trees down. An FGW driver I know was doing 50mph 1 mile from Castle Cary and nearly missed the station! HSTs never used to suffer this, it's only poor lineside management of vegetation that has lead to this. You only need look at railway photos of 20+ years of age and you'll see thousands of locations no longer photable (is that a word?) due to encroachment of trees and bushes etc.

 

[curly42]

'The thought of what possibly could have happened at the level crossing is just too horrible to imagine,' one senior source told the Evening Standard.

Don't you just love it when they come up with stuff like this ?

One senior source from where ?

 

[mumrar]

'The thought of what possibly could have happened at the level crossing is just too horrible to imagine,' one senior source told the Evening Standard.

One senior source from where ?

Perhaps they meant 'One senior citizen said'

Seriously, the crossing would be down for the approaching train.

 

[moonrakerz]

If the Daily Wail said 2 miles, it was more likely 50 yards !

 

[90019]

Perhaps they meant 'One senior citizen said'

Seriously, the crossing would be down for the approaching train.

Maybe they think level crossings are still operated by a man who goes and shuts the gates

 

[driver9000]

http://www.raib.gov.uk/publications/current_investigations_register/101108_Stonegate_.cfm

 

[atomicdanny]

Is it just me or does it seem that there is something missing from that Daily Mail report, since it seems that the Daily Mail just wants to discredit the railways (infact I've yet to see anything good posted about the railways from them...)

Saying that why is it people keep thinking that the railways in the uk are as bad as a 3rd world country? What would that make the railways in the US? Since the only thing that i see in the comments (most of the time) is that "all trains are always cancelled or late" or "all trains are all dirty and discusting".....

 

[Tom B]

The moment I saw the headline, particularly with the screaming "TWO MILES", I knew it would be the Wail.

Of course, if the trees were cut down, there would be something along the lines of "Family house prices to suffer as BR cuts down the lineside trees next to YOUR HOUSE - using gay immigrants".

 

[CosherB]

Absolutely agree that lineside tree growth on today's railway needs to be vastly cut back. Just look at pictures of the railway in the past - far more open and free of trees.

Not only do they cause this annual leaf problem, but they also completely block the view from trains.

Why the heck doesn't NR cut them down!

 

[90019]

Of course, if the trees were cut down, there would be something along the lines of "Family house prices to suffer as BR cuts down the lineside trees next to YOUR HOUSE - using illegal gay immigrants".

You missed a word

I'm sure it would probably cause cancer as well, according to them.

 

[Tom B]

Mrs M. Iddle-England, from Borsetshire, was not impressed when gangers started cutting the trees down. "It's political correctness gone mad. We spoke to one of the men in luminous jackets and he said they were doing it for health & safety. But I'm worried that the fumes from the chainsaws will give me cancer" she said, leaning on her 4x4.

"It's a disgrace" said Arthur Braine, a 78-year-old retired tiddlywinks champion "Those trees have been there ever since I moved to the area, but ever since that loony left councillor got in last year the men have been chopping them down. My wife Doris thinks there should be a public inquiry. I'm sure one of the workmen spoke with a funny accent. There is a real risk that the swans at the local park could be at danger"

 

[Ploughman]

Its nothing new.
Train for Leeds from Skipton came out of Thackley tunnel passed a red and slid through Apperley Junction about 15 - 20 years back.
The whole line and branches (no pun) tended to be in a train shaped tree tunnel.
Since then the trees were cut back for Electrification purposes.
This to a remit of 6 metres out and 6 metres up from rail were possible.
Wholesale logging of some areas was carried out, complaints galore. I know because I planned the job and they came across my desk.
Anyway wires up and turned on trains running. No tree problems.
Now 15 years on the trees are getting train shaped again.
Don't some people never learn?
Trees grow, you have to keep them checked or take them out completely.

 

[swt_passenger]

If the Daily Wail said 2 miles, it was more likely 50 yards !

They aren't exaggerating, the RAIB report has it as 2.45 miles...

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

The moment I saw the headline, particularly with the screaming "TWO MILES", I knew it would be the Wail.

See above...

 

[moonrakerz]

They aren't exaggerating, the RAIB report has it as 2.45 miles...

The RAIB report said:
"The train was unable to stop at Stonegate, and came to a stand some 2.45 miles (4 km) beyond the station"

The Daily Wail said:
"A major investigation has been launched after a commuter train slid at speed for more than two miles because of leaves on the line."
(My highlighting)

Hardly the same !!!

 

[Stuart0742]

See this article in the Sheffield Star

In the actual paper version there were actual photos, these were new build houses, so why buy a house next to a railway that has been there since the mid 1800's, if you don't want to see/hear trains

To me it improves things if you can see the railway.

 

[jon0844]

I liked the comments on the above article!

I don't know what trees they are, but given they're being trimmed/removed I have to suspect they are of the type that have leaves that fall off. So, if they're not evergreen trees then wouldn't they be pretty bare in the winter?

If so, they've got that noise for a quarter/half of the year anyway so what are they moaning about? Wasn't the railway line clear enough on their deeds?

(actually, someone should post that comment on there!)

 

[westcoaster]

Once those wheels pick up it's anyones guess where it will stop, but two miles that's some doing, maybe down hill, once the brake is in emergency there is nothing else you can do apart from becoming a passenger, and hope that it will bite and stop.

 

[mumrar]

So, here is a perfect example, for all those so narrow of mind who choose to buy houses by railways lines, that trees really were all kept cut back. I assure you that trees DID grow in 1968!

Burscough Bridge Junction 2010

Burscough Bridge Junction 1968

Ignore the missing track, look at all those trees behind the signalbox, these shots show exactly the same signalbox, so come on NIMBYs, what's your defence for accusing NR of money making or ruining the value of your property, and of course, their concern for the environment.

 

[YorkshireBear]

So, here is a perfect example, for all those so narrow of mind who choose to buy houses by railways lines, that trees really were all kept cut back. I assure you that trees DID grow in 1968!

Burscough Bridge Junction 2010

Burscough Bridge Junction 1968

Ignore the missing track, look at all those trees behind the signalbox, these shots show exactly the same signalbox, so come on NIMBYs, what's your defence for accusing NR of money making or ruining the value of your property, and of course, their concern for the environment.

Great point i looked at them pictures earlier and didnt put 2 + 2 together!

 

[westcoaster]

Another thing about WSP is if all wheels lock up, but you still moving, the sanders stop working, because it thinks you have stopped, thus you just keep slip slip slipping away.

 

[mumrar]

Great point i looked at them pictures earlier and didnt put 2 + 2 together!

Yep, and just look at how little of the route that runs at the back of the shot you can see, versus the full open embankment visible in the vintage shot. I reckon with good use of the net to find photos such as this, taken back in the day from fixed structures, we can make a shaming case against the laziness of lineside vegetation management.

And now, I'll get off my soapbox

 

[Evvy73]

There is a nice little video clip with a short CGI "reconstruction" on the BBC site - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-11790330 .

Plus you get to see a couple of Class 60's (I think?) behind a man with a leaf blower!

 

[DaveNewcastle]

So, here is a perfect example, for all those so narrow of mind who choose to buy houses by railways lines, that trees really were all kept cut back. I assure you that trees DID grow in 1968!

. . .
Ignore the missing track, look at all those trees behind the signalbox, these shots show exactly the same signalbox, so come on NIMBYs, what's your defence for accusing NR of money making or ruining the value of your property, and of course, their concern for the environment.

Nice work in finding those contrasting images mumrar.

It echoes one of the quotes from resident Janice Weller quoted in the Sheffield Star: "Now everything is totally different."
The thing is, she was complaining that her view has gone from trees to no-trees. Whereas your evidence shows that the difference is from no-trees to no-trees. Not a difference!

Still, its nice to have something to complain about, especially when you have a journalist desperate for you to say that something "is totally different" and then make a scandal out of it.

 

[12CSVT]

Seriously, the crossing would be down for the approaching train.

It would if the train had activated the track circuits correctly.
One reason that leaves cause so much problem is that they can play havoc with track circuits.

 

[WatcherZero]

Replace all trees along the line with Pine trees, their needles dont contain the chemicals that break down to form the gunk on the rails.

 

[EM2]

It would if the train had activated the track circuits correctly.
One reason that leaves cause so much problem is that they can play havoc with track circuits.

But there were no red signals, therefore the route must be clear. So the crossing gates would be against the road traffic.

 

[Bittern]

See this article in the Sheffield Star

In the actual paper version there were actual photos, these were new build houses, so why buy a house next to a railway that has been there since the mid 1800's, if you don't want to see/hear trains

To me it improves things if you can see the railway.

I'm going to reword the first part of the article to make it more accurate.


Stupid people on a street in Barnsley say their homes have been devalued after hundreds of trees which screened them from a railway line which is older than their houses were chopped down.
The selfish idiots who bought their houses which are pre-dated by the railway also whine that noise levels have trebled after trees near Elsecar Railway Station were removed by rail infrastructure company Network Rail.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

http://therailwaycentre.com/NewSite POD 2010/POD18-11-10.jpg
Burscough Bridge Junction 1968

Admittedly, I'm much more interested in the loco. Since I can't make out the second last digit of the number, can someone confirm or deny that this is Miss Cromwell?