Fire at Surbiton (26/06)

[BluePenguin]

There apparent is/was a fire going on Surbiton. Someone on the platform told us all that a fire had broken out on a train because the rails were too hot. I stood at Southampton with hundreds of others waiting a long time for a train anywhere.

I took a video of the display saying it was a "small" fire which I will upload when I ginally get home.

Does anyone have any details about the fire?

 

[swt_passenger]

Shoegear arcing. A fairly common sort of defect, often referred to as a fire...

 

[greaterwest]

Shoegear arcing. A fairly common sort of defect, often referred to as a fire...

It was a small fire, caused by arcing. The train had furthermore welded itself to the third rail.

"Code Black" was declared across the SWR network at about 16:10 due to the disruption.

 

[randompixel]

Followed swiftly by points failure at Woking meaning the only way to get to Guildford was via up-line platform 2.

Things aren't going well in the hot weather this week at all.

 

[BluePenguin]

It was a small fire, caused by arcing. The train had furthermore welded itself to the third rail.

"Code Black" was declared across the SWR network at about 16:10 due to the disruption.

Goodness it sounds like a "small fire" was a huge understatement! The friction at speed must have been immense. With possibly sparks flying anywhere I would be surprised if nobody got hurt. It must have taken a while to unwels the wheels from the tracks. I am relieved I was not on that train.

It shows that what they say is true about how it is dangerous when the rails get too hot.

 

[Mag_seven]

The third rail seems to be averse to both hot and cold weather doesn't it!

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Goodness it sounds like a "small fire" was a huge understatement! The friction at speed must have been immense. With possibly sparks flying anywhere I would be surprised if nobody got hurt. It must have taken a while to unwels the wheels from the tracks. I am relieved I was not on that train.

It shows that what they say is true about how it is dangerous when the rails get too hot.

More like shoe gear arcing , not train wheels getting welded to the track. Now that would be catastrophic.

 

[Domh245]

The third rail seems to be averse to both hot and cold weather doesn't it!

But third rail is supposed to be more resilient to inclement weather than that horrid expensive knitting

 

[edwin_m]

Goodness it sounds like a "small fire" was a huge understatement! The friction at speed must have been immense. With possibly sparks flying anywhere I would be surprised if nobody got hurt. It must have taken a while to unwels the wheels from the tracks. I am relieved I was not on that train.

It shows that what they say is true about how it is dangerous when the rails get too hot.

The friction between wheel and rail doesn't generate heat unless the train slides or the wheels spin when it is not moving. Although these can generate enough heat to damage the wheel or rail, it's very unlikely they will weld together.

 

[AM9]

But third rail is supposed to be more resilient to inclement weather than that horrid expensive knitting

Yes, all those European rail operators are missing a trick there with their flaky OLE carrying high ac voltages.
More seriously though, with a perfect storm of rising summer temperatures, lower minima in the winter, higher power tractive demands and more finely tuned services on inadequate infrastructure, pretending that it's OK to run main line traffic at metro speeds when the sun comes out will soon become unsustainable.

 

[pompeyfan]

There’s no proof that the fire yesterday was as a result of high temperature in the 3rd rail. 455’s have been combusting mainly since the AC retractioning.

The points failure at woking caused a queue of 30-60 minutes between Weybridge and Woking as all service (both up and down) going to or from Guildford had to go via platform 5, initially there was a train that left the station on the down, had to set back and then do a double shunt which blocked all lines for nearly 40 minutes because the crew didn’t sign Botley. Had they been able to dump passengers at Woking and run via Eastleigh the line block would have been much reduced.

 

[hwl]

Goodness it sounds like a "small fire" was a huge understatement! The friction at speed must have been immense. With possibly sparks flying anywhere I would be surprised if nobody got hurt. It must have taken a while to unwels the wheels from the tracks. I am relieved I was not on that train.

It shows that what they say is true about how it is dangerous when the rails get too hot.

Nothing to do with friction - too much current (due to an electrical fault) welds the shoe to the rail. No welding of wheels involved

 

[OneOffDave]

I left the fiasco at Waterloo on a train that was 40 minutes late and had lost a further 55 by the time we got to Farnborough. AIUI the initial delay was due to the Surbition issue and the extra delay was due to the Woking one. I'm just waiting to see if it'll be three days in a row tonight. The lack of information at Waterloo was frustrating. Trains were disappearing and reappearing on the board almost randomly. None of the staff knew what was going on or what the plan was. People were being advised to go to Basingstoke if heading further west but fora long while there was noting going to Basingstoke. The senior SWR manager lied to a number of us (around 1815) about the 1741 having departed and it being our fault for missing it when it didn't actually leave until after 1830

 

[yorkie]

Goodness it sounds like a "small fire" was a huge understatement! The friction at speed must have been immense. With possibly sparks flying anywhere I would be surprised if nobody got hurt. It must have taken a while to unwels the wheels from the tracks. I am relieved I was not on that train.

It shows that what they say is true about how it is dangerous when the rails get too hot.

I don't know who "they" are, but this account is inaccurate!

 

[theironroad]

This thread sounds like a Messroom on rumour steroids.....wheels welded to rails ,oh no, shoe gear welded. All trains Guildford trains at woking via platform 2, oh no platform 5.

It's like Chinese whispers.....

 

[pompeyfan]

This thread sounds like a Messroom on rumour steroids.....wheels welded to rails ,oh no, shoe gear welded. All trains Guildford trains at woking via platform 2, oh no platform 5.

It's like Chinese whispers.....

Agreed, it’s bad, but I can confirm my version of events to be correct.

 

[Dren Ahmeti]

SWR declared a “Code Black” at 1600 yesterday as the DMF (Down Main Fast) wasn’t reopened, that was their condition to avoid declaring it.
2F35 was the headcode of the unit, and a full evacuation of the train occurred, with the shoegear of the carriage concered being removed as it had welded to the conductor rail.
And the whole fiasco wasn’t helped by “2231” points failing (no reverse or normal) at Woking, blocking everything up.
The day’s PPM (Public Performance Measure) was something along the lines of 50%, with the evening dropping to 20%.

 

[Bill Badger]

The lack of information at Waterloo was frustrating. Trains were disappearing and reappearing on the board almost randomly. None of the staff knew what was going on or what the plan was.

This is what I found most frustrating. Most people will accept that incidents happen that will lead to delay, but the lack of information management compounded the issue.

I arrived at Waterloo at 8.30pm after most of the initial disruption had died down. The main departure board had a number of trains boarding, but this didn't correlate to trains departing. So landed up sitting on a train for 45 minutes until it actually departed, by which time 2 trains to Farnborough where I was heading, that hadn't been on the board at all when I arrived, had gone.

In retrospect would have been better waiting in the concourse, but staff there just weren't been given any information to be of much help..

Not quite sure how the delay repay claim will work, given I could have had significantly less delay, but the information wasn't available to enable me to make an informed decision.

 

[BluePenguin]

I don't know who "they" are, but this account is inaccurate!

Platform staff, I knew I would get the truth and a more accurate answer by asking on here

 

[BluePenguin]

This is what I found most frustrating. Most people will accept that incidents happen that will lead to delay, but the lack of information management compounded the issue.

I arrived at Waterloo at 8.30pm after most of the initial disruption had died down. The main departure board had a number of trains boarding, but this didn't correlate to trains departing. So landed up sitting on a train for 45 minutes until it actually departed, by which time 2 trains to Farnborough where I was heading, that hadn't been on the board at all when I arrived, had gone.

In retrospect would have been better waiting in the concourse, but staff there just weren't been given any information to be of much help..

When I finally arrived at Waterloo yesterday, I saw the hoards of people on the opposite platform waiting for the train to Alton. The concourse was complete chaos and the busiest I have ever seen it. The displays updated themselves every minute or so with services appearing and disappearing with no sign of platform numbers anywhere.

I agree, nobody knew what was going on really. I was misinformed by platform staff further down the line. As we went past Earsfield and approach to Surbiton I looked out of the window closely expecting to catch a glimpse of the damage as we crawled last but to my surprise we zoomed past as normal (possibly on the slow line?). We got held up outside Clapham Junction though

 

[BluePenguin]

This thread sounds like a Messroom on rumour steroids.....wheels welded to rails ,oh no, shoe gear welded. All trains Guildford trains at woking via platform 2, oh no platform 5.

It's like Chinese whispers.....

Haha you are not wrong. That is the best bit about forums though: everyone has a contribution whether it is something to say, a rumour or fact to share or opinion to give.

 

[AM9]

Given where the incident is that the thread refers to, your post count is topical.

 

[Antman]

Which is where I started. It’s all well and good having a bunker full of experts. But the dissemination of information from them to the people who are actually paying to travel is appallingly bad. This is a joined up society in terms of communications. And we get no information, duff information, conflicting information and plain lies (dependent on whom you talk to when). If you can find someone.

It just isn’t good enough. And all we get from industry insiders is a form of “look it’s really complicated, you wouldn’t understand....”. Why not try us - many of the passengers on those trains are extremely well educated and savvy. What we hate most is being fed rubbish...

 

[daylightatthegrids]

 

[BluePenguin]

View attachment 48922

Oh my goodness...I am speechless

 

[daylightatthegrids]

Oh my goodness...I am speechless

Apparently there might be a problem with the location as recently another fire happened at berrylands towards the end of February.