Delayed due to failure of Tesco daventry - coatbridge DRS service (17/12)

[Rail Quest]

Guess what's failed at Quintinshill...

I'm hearing this one was a brake failure on the train in question.

 

[Bald Rick]

Is there a reason these trains don’t run at night which might cause less effect on passenger trains? Cost I assume?

It also needs to arrive at Mossend mid afternoon, so the boxes can be unloaded and in the Tesco distribution system for late evening / overnight delivery same day. Then on the shelves next morning.

 

[Adrian Barr]

The intermodals on this section of line run round the clock. Taking a day at Lockerbie last week as an example, 6 container trains passed between 08:00 and 20:00 and 12 passed between 20:00 and 08:00

Update - 4S43 is on the move again after attention from fitters, currently 125 minutes late passing Abington

 

[Freightmaster]

Update - 4S43 is on the move again after attention from fitters, currently 125 minutes late passing Abington

Interestingly, it was worked by 2x88 north of Kingmoor today, after a couple of weeks of being single-headed,
so DRS can't be blamed for skimping on the motive power on this occasion!



MARK

 

[GordonT]

Our old friend 4S43 appears to have caused widespread delays earlier today between Carlisle and Edinburgh/Glasgow. Assisted by a diesel loco on rear from Beattock, looped at Carstairs 131L and arrived Coatbridge DRS 148L with significant consequential delays to Avanti and TPE services.

 

[Kenny G]

I was delayed leaving Glasgow due to this and then had the diversion due to the bridge strike. Three hour delay for a four and a half hour journey was not pleasant. However, was impressed by the way staff handled it and did get us back to London via Crewe, albeit at 2220 rather than 1915. If it had got much later it would have got pretty miserable for those of us having to catch connections. Seeing this thread really does make my blood boil if it is the case a known prone to faults train is being allowed to regularly run and then block the line.

 

[dave59]

Well it's four months since a post relating to 4S43 so only a very occasional problem. Was it slipping or was it an issue with the train rather than loco?

 

[rmHawk765]

Well it's four months since a post relating to 4S43 so only a very occasional problem.

This doesn't change the fact that the issue has occured multiple times and it is on the face of it so easily solved.

 

[dave59]

Solved by double heading?

 

[rmHawk765]

Solved by double heading?

To my best knowledge, yes.

 

[Dr Hoo]

The previous incident, back in February, was attributed to a brake problem rather than traction. It isn’t clear to me that perhaps something like a burst pipe is any more likely to keep involving a particular train.

 

[Toby268]

It failed 2 days ago at beattock yet again, however was resolved in about 90 mins as was a loco on block behind it that got it moving fairly quickly.

 

[Bald Rick]

This doesn't change the fact that the issue has occured multiple times and it is on the face of it so easily solved.

Plenty of individual headcodes have repeat train faults thst cause major delay - the claey sleeper thread is full of them. And plenty don’t. It’s simply probability in action.

 

[Unobrow]

4S43 struggled again today climbing Beattock losing 6 min on the climb. Apparently heavy rain was the issue so we can probably expect the single class 88(?) was losing traction.

 

[D1537]

If I'm reading RTT right, today it was let out of Kingmoor 24 minutes early and proceeded to drop 18 minutes to Carstairs, delaying the two Avantis behind. 1S45 left Carlisle 20 late and had caught it up by Lockerbie. 9S47 (18 late from Carlisle) had joined the queue by Beattock.

 

[dave59]

Climbed Beattock in 15 minutes, half the time of a 66, so no traction issues there.

 

[MarkWi72]

Freightliner exclusively use their 90s (and 86s prior to that) in pairs over the northern Fells,
so it baffles me how DRS feel they can get away with using single 88s in anything other than
perfect railhead conditions.

The most bizarre thing to me is that DRS's nuclear flask trains have always been double headed
for reliability reasons, but they seem reluctant to take the same approach with 4S43?




MARK

Bring back the 86s!

 

[CoachB]

Apparently they've been told previously that in wet & slippy weather that they need to have two locos on it otherwise it won't get up Beattock hill

 

[GordonT]

Apparently they've been told previously that in wet & slippy weather that they need to have two locos on it otherwise it won't get up Beattock hill

Perhaps the vagaries of local weather have meant that it can be dry and fine "one loco weather" one minute and wet and slippy "two locos weather" the next?

 

[AndrewE]

Perhaps the vagaries of local weather have meant that it can be dry and fine "one loco weather" one minute and wet and slippy "two locos weather" the next?

I'm sure that we have been told that the various bits of the railway have access to far better weather forecasts (accuracy, timing and localisation) than anything in the public domain, so probably not...

 

[CoachB]

I'm sure that we have been told that the various bits of the railway have access to far better weather forecasts (accuracy, timing and localisation) than anything in the public domain, so probably not...

NR Scotland have their own meteorologists that work in WSSC

 

[GordonT]

NR Scotland have their own meteorologists that work in WSSC

And do they/NR contact and instruct the FOC regarding the need for a second loco or does the FOC itself make the contact for weather related advice?

 

[Falcon1200]

Despite the advances in meteorology, can they really predict, accurately, whether it has rained, is raining, will rain, or is otherwise damp enough on Beattock Bank to require two locos on 4S43? Given the weather in western Scotland the default should perhaps be two locos.

 

[GordonT]

Despite the advances in meteorology, can they really predict, accurately, whether it has rained, is raining, will rain, or is otherwise damp enough on Beattock Bank to require two locos on 4S43? Given the weather in western Scotland the default should perhaps be two locos.

Exactly. It is nearly impossible to predict the exact location and timing of localised rain pulses with 100% accuracy. Tiny local variations in heat or wind can invoke a heavy unforseen downpour within quite a confined locus. Presumably this is partly why repeated delays have occurred.

 

[CoachB]

And do they/NR contact and instruct the FOC regarding the need for a second loco or does the FOC itself make the contact for weather related advice?

NR give out the weather related advise. It's also because of their information that blanket speed restrictions end up being issued for rain and wind for localised areas throughout the whole of Scotland. Beattock being one of those localised areas amongst many others.

 

[GordonT]

From Railcam maps a 1Z99 was on the up line just south of Oxenholme to assist a failed train. It is 4M82 Coatbridge-Daventry which has blocked the line for just over an hour and now is on the down line and heading back north.

 

[Freightmaster]

From Railcam maps a 1Z99 was on the up line just south of Oxenholme to assist a failed train. It is 4M82 Coatbridge-Daventry which has blocked the line for just over an hour and now is on the down line and heading back north.

I understand the 1Z99 loco was taken from 4M48 at Eden Valley; if so in this particular case,
an 88 was not the culprit for once!

 

[D1537]

I understand the 1Z99 loco was taken from 4M48 at Eden Valley; if so in this particular case,
an 88 was not the culprit for once!

It actually looks like the light loco on 0K44 (2141 Carlisle-Basford Hall) which was behind 4M82 was hooked onto the back to take it back north, as 4M48 started moving again as soon as it was out of the way.

4M82 is now back at Penrith and 0K44 has appeared again on the map, so presumably that is now going to resume its journey south whilst 1Z99 picks up 4M82.

 

[LRV3004]

4M48 (my train from Basford Hall to Daventry tonight!) had two 88s on apparently - wonder if they took one of those off to utilise as the rescue loco for 4M82?

 

[D1537]

4M48 (my train from Basford Hall to Daventry tonight!) had two 88s on apparently - wonder if they took one of those off to utilise as the rescue loco for 4M82?

If you look at 0K44, it arrives at Eden Valley running 60 early, then next appears two hours later back at Penrith running 67 late. I'm guessing 4M48 was looped at Eden Valley for 0K44 to run past. It then took 4M82 back north, switching to the down at Tebay or Shap, allowing 4M48 to carry on once the queue of southbound expresses had gone past as well.