Recent content by tim_lathe

Slip of the memory. Finding that out was quite hard. It's listed as "400U" on most on line services. More of a discussion point, one presumes (not working on the railway, but have a very big interest in the engineering), that the broken rail exhibited itself as a track circuit failure (meaning...

Yes that Norwich set did pass first. I've since worked out that the freight was 4L60 and had sat between Witham and Kelvedon on the down for 2 HOURS (he must have "examined the line" and found theres no rail, and had to wait for it to be plated.) The tea (and coffee) bit is an issue when people...

I was there, arrived on whatever train happened at 0758, 40 minutes later than planned after initially starting on the 0647 from Colchester Town (cancelled at Colchester). The interior of that train was like the Central Line from Kelvedon, I had to get partially physical with people to get off...

I know that these trains will be ones with sleet brushes and fluid to keep the current rails clean through sheer use and burning off the ice. What might be useful to explain is that they are NOT salt / gritting trains, as it is well known what effect salt has (in terms of corrosion) on steel...

Yes, from my workplace we saw the whole sorry performance and the subsequent operations. We overlook the station and the line. Not a nice sight.

Greater Anglia are in a hell of a mess. Lots of slipping everywhere. Not to say that an "Emergency services incident" (to be PC) at Chelmsford earlier helped either.

Guesswork time, from an engineer. Something either broke or sheared. It did that either because it was worn, fractured, made of the wrong material, included a metallurgical flaw or was to the wrong dimensions. The first two are routine maintenance issues, the third, fourth and fifth are...

This is a very serious failure and requires some sort of investigation. A tightlock should be able to hold 800 tons. From my massive library of technical documents, I could not find any UK specs on them, but I have found a US spec, the link follows. Very interesting as to the level of...

I have every respect for drivers. They are extremely skilled people and deserve respect, but there is one difference between them and passenger - they know what is happening. The passengers usually do not, the bang followed by an emergency application is an immense worry, and railway parlance...

The thing is, I am a trained mechanical engineer with extensive railway knowledge and I'm sitting in a coach doing this with about 30 London commuters who didn't even look up. Every knock and bang is an issue. To me it's wrong, the railway is a mechanical thing and I know what mechanical...

Heres mine, earlier this year on the 0742 Colchester to London (but for me as only as far as Chelmsford). The unit was 321365, and the coach 78149. Once the thing started rolling, it was utterly apparent that there was something very wrong, either with the trailing bogie or the drawbar. Every...

The presence of a live 3rd rail does not necessarily require a shoe contact. There are many hall effect (sense the H field or flowing current) or alternatively E field sensors on the market. Such things could sense the live rail and do the job. Another idea, and one that has intrigued me for...

Not in the slightest, you just engineer this small issue out. All's required is for the "3rd rail present then drop" feature to be overridden by the driver pressing the "PAN UP" button, but that button is two buttons, sufficiently apart on the desk to require both hands, and for them to be live...

Maybe these trains require a system whereby if the train senses a live 3rd rail under it, down comes the pantograph by itself.

Considering the published expansion of average steel is 15um per metre per Kelvin, then that is not very much. If it is so critical, then from an engineers point of view then why is it allowed to become mucky from wheel dust, significantly reducing the solar heating coefficient of the rail...