Damage to my Motorhome

[lucker]

Can anyone tell me if objects are discarded from the trackside while railway vehicles pass? Maintenance could have been ongoing as vehicles passed on the rail track. Something has hit the rear panel of my motorhome. It's not ballast.

 

[MotCO]

Where was your motorhome? How far away was the railway line?

 

[LowLevel]

You're best taking photos of the damage and your location, making a note of when you think it might have occurred and contacting the Network Rail helpline to see if anything has been ongoing that might have caused said damage at the time.

 

[yorkie]

Can anyone tell me if objects are discarded from the trackside while railway vehicles pass? Maintenance could have been ongoing as vehicles passed on the rail track. Something has hit the rear panel of my motorhome. It's not ballast.

Can you provide a link on Google Maps?

 

[lucker]

Where was your motorhome? How far away was the railway line?

I would say roughly 4-5 metres away from the track, I park it close to the fence.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Oct 2024 ==

Can you provide a link on Google Maps?

Not sure how to copy from goggle maps. It very close to the lucker road crossing point in Northumberland

 

[yorkie]

Not sure how to copy from goggle maps.

What sort of device are you using? e.g. computer/phone? What operating system e.g. Windows/Apple/ChromeOS/Android?

In terms of copying/pasting a website address (URL), the following page covers most possibilities: https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000867.htm

 

[Flange Squeal]

Would it be this location where it appears several motorhomes/caravans are parked up?

https://maps.app.goo.gl/cKBbPSRRUpYKnvDb8?g_st=ic

 

[DarloRich]

Would it be this location where it appears several motorhomes/caravans are parked up?

https://maps.app.goo.gl/cKBbPSRRUpYKnvDb8?g_st=ic

that looks like a storage site so could be!

You will never prove who did this. Just either speak to your insurers or get the damaged fixed.

 

[Towers]

I would think, honestly and truthfully, that you have something approaching zero chance of NR, or anybody else really, admitting to randomly appearing damage from an unknown source. For arguments’ sake, it could for example have been somebody firing something from an air gun or similar from the other side of the railway line, or a drone colliding with your vehicle. Frankly, who knows? Is there any corresponding damage to the fence, any debris or clues of any other sort?

Your options realistically are likely limited to claiming from your own insurance if there is any, or from the storage site owner if they’ll accept liability.

 

[185]

The question I have is, what was the object that hit, and can it be linked to train or track?

It could have been a piece of train, but with the high linespeed, in the direction concerned and being immediately after the LC, I'd hazard a guess it could also be a piece of the infrastructure. Proving it will be down to identifying the flying debris as belonging to the railway, beyond all doubt.

It's unlikely that a nest building seagull has dropped a 6ft sleeper from altitude...

 

[lucker]

Can you provide a link on Google Maps?

This the point where the damage occurred

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Oct 2024 ==

The damage was caused by an object that had two screw attached as the rear panel surface was dented and two scratches of 20 mm in a lateral position by the sharp end of the screws. The height of the damage was above the metal fence. I would say that something hit the rear panel at a 45 deg angle, and was moving to cause the dent.

Many thanks

 

[Western Gaffer]

The damage was caused by an object that had two screw attached as the rear panel surface was dented and two scratches of 20 mm in a lateral position by the sharp end of the screws. The height of the damage was above the metal fence. I would say that something hit the rear panel at a 45 deg angle, and was moving to cause the dent.

If you still have this object, it may be worth sharing a picture of it?

 

[Camberman]

More knowledgeable forum members might be able to access engineering records for the location, if a date of the damage happening is known (or a range of dates).

 

[james_the_xv]

Claim from your insurance, that is what you (presumably) pay them for.

 

[lucker]

Could anyone please check the records of the maintenance engineers' movement between July 11th to 19th, 2024? A local has told me there was activity during the nights in that area that week.

It is obvious that the damage has been from an object coming from the movement on the rail line

I always complete a walk-around check when parking the motorhome and the same when collecting the vehicle for any marks or defects. On the 11th I have paper evidence that there was no marks or blemishes before putting it into storage.

Many thanks

 

[357]

Can you share photos of the damage? It might help members give you an idea what sort of railway object or activity could have caused it.

How high is the fence?

 

[Llanigraham]

Claim from your insurance, that is what you (presumably) pay them for.

This!!
That is what you pay insurance for.

 

[lucker]

Here is the image of the damage to my motorhome's rear panel.

I think I may have found what caused the damage. There is evidence that the trackside communication channel was entered by lifting the top concrete access point adjacent to the rear of my motorhome on the trackside. There is also evidence that the lid has not been refitted.

It could be that an engineer used a pole to drag or pull through the wire from further down the trackside. The pole may then have been lent on the wire fence or out of control. Then, this pole device hit the rear panel of my motorhome.

Many thanks

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

Here is the image of the damage to my motorhome's rear panel.

I think I may have found what caused the damage. There is evidence that the trackside communication channel was entered by lifting the top concrete access point adjacent to the rear of my motorhome on the trackside. There is also evidence that the lid has not been refitted.

It could be that an engineer used a pole to drag or pull through the wire from further down the trackside. The pole may then have been lent on the wire fence or out of control. Then, this pole device hit the rear panel of my motorhome.

Many thanks

That isn't going to help anyone, it looks far too generic, impossible to know how that happened.

Have you got a picture of the item you think did this? Surely it would be nearby if so.

I'd just go to your insurer, but it doesn't look too bad / or too difficult to get fixed, even if it won't be pristine.

 

[66701GBRF]

I don't see how you can prove this happened via the railway, and even if it did, there is no way to prove when it happened or who or which company is responsible....particularly with that time frame.

 

[Gloster]

Just how close was the damaged part of you motor home to the track? How close was it to the track? How close is the fence to the track? How high is the damage relative to the top of the fence?

 

[Towers]

Here is the image of the damage to my motorhome's rear panel.

I think I may have found what caused the damage. There is evidence that the trackside communication channel was entered by lifting the top concrete access point adjacent to the rear of my motorhome on the trackside. There is also evidence that the lid has not been refitted.

It could be that an engineer used a pole to drag or pull through the wire from further down the trackside. The pole may then have been lent on the wire fence or out of control. Then, this pole device hit the rear panel of my motorhome.

Many thanks

With respect, that’s wild speculation.

 

[68000]

I think I may have found what caused the damage. There is evidence that the trackside communication channel was entered by lifting the top concrete access point adjacent to the rear of my motorhome on the trackside. There is also evidence that the lid has not been refitted.

It could be that an engineer used a pole to drag or pull through the wire from further down the trackside. The pole may then have been lent on the wire fence or out of control. Then, this pole device hit the rear panel of my motorhome.

I am struggling to follow this
Trackside communication channel = concrete troughing?
concrete access point = troughing lid?

 

[Llanigraham]

With respect, that’s wild speculation.

An awful lot of this has been that.
The simplist thing the OP could do, if he is that worried about it, is to pass it all on to his insurers and let then argue it out, which from experience they won't bother to do because there is no proof that the railway caused the alledged damage.

 

[james_the_xv]

Here is the image of the damage to my motorhome's rear panel.

I think I may have found what caused the damage. There is evidence that the trackside communication channel was entered by lifting the top concrete access point adjacent to the rear of my motorhome on the trackside. There is also evidence that the lid has not been refitted.

It could be that an engineer used a pole to drag or pull through the wire from further down the trackside. The pole may then have been lent on the wire fence or out of control. Then, this pole device hit the rear panel of my motorhome.

I will stress again - It is your insurers (or the insurers of the place you store your vehicle if that is part of the agreement) job to establish liability and seek the costs of damages.

I know its not what you want to hear, but you're only wasting your own time trying to do it directly as there is no chance Network Rail or an associated contractor will admit liability based of the information you have provided currently. Given it is only one panel I'd imagine the insurers will just pay out if the cost of repair is above excess as it won't be worth their time either trying to get NR to admit liability. (source: showed this thread to a pal who works in the insurance industry)

 

[jonnycoleraine]

Here is the image of the damage to my motorhome's rear panel.

I think I may have found what caused the damage. There is evidence that the trackside communication channel was entered by lifting the top concrete access point adjacent to the rear of my motorhome on the trackside. There is also evidence that the lid has not been refitted.

It could be that an engineer used a pole to drag or pull through the wire from further down the trackside. The pole may then have been lent on the wire fence or out of control. Then, this pole device hit the rear panel of my motorhome.

Many thanks

Lol. This is wildly hilarious. All I can say is good luck. Having worked in insurance, be prepared to be laughed out the door.

 

[alxndr]

I think I may have found what caused the damage. There is evidence that the trackside communication channel was entered by lifting the top concrete access point adjacent to the rear of my motorhome on the trackside. There is also evidence that the lid has not been refitted.

It could be that an engineer used a pole to drag or pull through the wire from further down the trackside. The pole may then have been lent on the wire fence or out of control. Then, this pole device hit the rear panel of my motorhome.

Very unlikely for a multitude of reasons.

1. According to images on google streetview and internal drone images the troughing lids can be seen to be removed on the 23/07/2023, 28/07/2023, and 19/08/2024. It's not a small job to remove and replace these so it's unlikely that they would have been lifted multiple times. I would suspect that they were lifted at some time prior to July 2023 and have never been replaced, rather than being removed for some current works.
2. All of the lids have been lifted, so there would be no need to try to drag wire through with a pole, although it's not a method I've ever heard of someone using, and I can't imagine it being very effective. If running a long length of cable it's almost always done by laying it out adjacent to the troughing, removing all the lids, and then installing it in the troughing rather than feeding it through. The shortest length of cable likely to exist adjacent to your motor home is going to be around 220m—too long to pull through.
3. There's overhead lines, so no one is going to be waving around a 4m long pole willynilly.
4. It would be unusual for someone to stray into the vegetation at the side of the track unnecessarily as it's generally overgrown and uneven. You would just lay anything you had down next to you rather than fight through the undergrowth to rest it on a fence.

I'm sorry your motorhome has been damaged, but you're probably just going to have to accept that you're never going to find out how it happened.

 

[PupCuff]

If it were mine, I would just take this to a garage and have it repaired, I wouldn't waste my time with going through insurance let alone trying to prove NR or another railway operator was liable for the damage.

I've done claims handling before and there is so little evidence here that the railway has anything whatsoever to do with the issue, let alone has liability in law, this would fall firmly in the "I'm sorry to hear about the damage but I won't be authorising any goodwill gesture and will be instructing our solicitors to vigorously defend any claim you choose to bring about" pile.

 

[AverageJoe]

It’s unfortunate but only looks like cosmetic damage.
Motorhomes are an eyesore for most road users anyway

In all seriousness though if it was caused by track works there is a good chance they aren’t even aware they caused any damage.

It is also possible it was caused by vandals as there is plenty of trespassers on the railway.