Pulling the emergency chord

[Philip Elliott]

Had a pass-com activation this afternoon on the 15.52 BHM - Leicester approaching Arley tunnel. The usual - someone pressed the button in the disabled loo.

 

[chris89]

As others have said on Herritage Stock (Grouping) and Mk1's,2s,3s and i believe 4 all connected to the brakes directly.

Whilst on the more modern computised units it goes through the TMS system?

On another note going at line speed on the WCML how long would it take a 221 to come to a halt say braking just before/ after Oxemholm? As last trip there was some very heavy braking ( not normal G - YY - Y - R) due to sheep on the line.

Chris

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Has anyone noticed the silly positioning of the emergency button in the smaller toilets on the 377s? It's almost impossible to avoid knocking them!

 

[scotsman]

As others have said on Herritage Stock (Grouping) and Mk1's,2s,3s and i believe 4 all connected to the brakes directly.

Mark IV has an override in both the Class 91 and the DVT

 

[yorksrob]

Whilst on the more modern computised units it goes through the TMS system?
Chris

Ah well, if it goes through a computer system, I'll be sure to pull the communication chord fifteen minutes before the incident to take account of the egg timer wait and a message somewhere saying "the emergency brakes system is not responding"

 

[Crossover]

221 emergency stop on Youtube.

That must have also scared the living daylights out of the passengers too....emergency stop, probably quite a foul smell and smoke billowing up from outside the coaches hock:
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I don't think I have ever been on a train when the Pass-Com has been used, but have where one was nearly used...
Cue a family in the vestibule of a Pendolino (along with me) - about halfway between MK and Stoke-on-Trent, the wife decides its a bit stuffy in the vestibule and wonders if pulling the big green handle by the door will help...I turned all British and didn't say anything but just kept thinking to myself "don't you ****** dare do that!"...thankfully she didn't and took a step outside when we got to Stoke.

On another Pendolino journey, an inquisitive kid pressed the button by the wheelchair area in the coach I was in - nothing happened but they told the TM who said he would go and reset it in the office...I guess that's a slightly different system.

I have possibly experienced an emergency stop on a 185 (on a diversionary route between York and Leeds) due to trespasses on the line and the requirement to stop and inform the signaller to stop trains in the area - it was a fairly quick slow down but, indeed, nothing like an emergency stop in a car with just a jolt at the end as has been mentioned before. When we set off there was a Northern train stopped level probably for the drivers to exchange information directly as well.

 

[ungreat]

Do the FCC 313s and Merseyrail electrics have over-ride? Would have thought they should, for the same reason London Underground do.

313's have override fitted as a modification[/QUOTE]

A long,long ago mod....Ive been here 12 years(the other 12 on freight) and they had it then!

 

[flymo]

Years ago, maybe 1984/5, on a Carlisle - Euston service, just after Oxenholme I went to the loo and saw there was a door open, not just ajar or not fully closed but just not there. The leather (or whatever it was made of) strap had been ripped off it's holder allowing the door to lie flush along the side of the mk2 carriage. There was an off duty member of staff in my carriage to whom I told the problem. He jumped up, ran with me to the door and then pulled the communication cord. It didn't take long to stop the train (maybe 15 seconds or so) from pulling the cord but we were only doing about 60 mph at this point. There was only a little delay of about 1 to 2 seconds between pulling the cord and the brakes applying. Of course the door then slammed shut but it was then locked out of use by the guard, who had come down the see what the problem was.

A member of a maintenance team looked at the door at Preston but it remained locked out of use until Euston.

 

[umontu]

I was on a TPE train to Manchester from Huddersfield that did an emergency stop. The train was packed and I just assumed we had stopped due to a signal near where network rail have their maintainance trucks.

Anyways I didn't feel any real jolt but it was because a woman had her bag stuck in a door... and had done since Huddersfield (I hope if it was something more serious she would have been quicker..)
The driver left his cab looked at how many people were cramed in and gave up.

 

[9K43]

A couple of years ago, I was the guard on a Charter Train of West Coast Railway stock which had been down south somewhere.
( This was before EWS fell out with the West coast set up)
I was booked on from HM to travel Pass to Doncaster to relieve the southern guard.
At Donny the train was on time, with a EWS class 47 at the head of the train and 12 MK1/2coaches forming the train. The driver was an ex Mirfield man (56D) with a nick name of Pepsi.
We were to take this train from Donny up the mainline via Gas Wood to Leeds then stop at Morley,Batley, Dewsbury, Mirfield then upto Huddersfield to RR the train and stable the stock in the Down Staging at HM.
All went well till we landed at Batley.
With a long train, it is difficult to see 1 coach in each direction as the platform is curved to wrong way.
After shutting all the doors, I gave Pepsi the tip and away we went. As we started moving all the brakes went on, this was a full application and the train ground to a halt.
I knew right away that some oik had pulled the cord. I got out of the train located the offending coach and adjusted the butterfly to get the brake back.
I then saw 2 drunken ladies going down the steps of the subway to go home.
They told me that as get off at Dewsbury they decided to pull the cord because Batley Station was nearer to home than Dewsbury.
This incident daubed us for about 10mins.

 

[43067]

I remember travelling from Plymouth to darlington circa 96, and the some bloke pulled the chord twice just out side birmingham new street, just because we were running about 10 mins late, needless to say he was ecorted off by the BTP at new street.

 

[9K43]

Some years ago, EWS worked all the Charters for a local Tour operator that was locally based.
This operator gave employment to Warrington Depot and lots of other depots round the Country.
One Saturday Morning the tour operator had organised a railtour ECS from Carnforth to pick up along the Lanky then right way down south via Donny.
Warington train crews provided a guard/ driver to shunt the ECS at WCR and complete the first part of the passenger pickups.
Alas EWS forgot to book a guard on to do the shunting at 10A, so the ECS could not be shunted out of the depot and onto the mainline.
As a result this charter was cancelled and 720 passergers were left ar various stations in Lancishire/Yorkshire.
That is why the tour operator sacked EWS and used the services of WCR ever after.
Last year I have been passenger on this railtour operator and have found West Coast Railway traincrews to be proffesional and a credit to the WCR.
EWS did not seem to be bothered by this incident, but it cost the organiser the loss of a full charter train revenue, and he had to make refunds to all passengers.
This was typical EWS at this time, and they never learn.

 

[big_dirt]

I pulled the emergency handle on an Irish Rail 2600. There was extremely dirty steam coming from a floor ventilation unit that looked similar to smoke. People started to freak out and someone went to open the compartment whch releases the door but the train was still running.

I pulled the proper handle and it seemed as though a lot of air whooshed on to my hand. The train engine seemed to cut out instantly and it took about 15 - 20 seconds to come to a standstill.

That was a childhood fantasy realised!

 

[ChrisCooper]

313's have override fitted as a modification

A long,long ago mod....Ive been here 12 years(the other 12 on freight) and they had it then![/QUOTE]

Probably done during the 90s around the same time London Underground did their stock.

 

[flymo]

As an aside from pulling the cord but regarding emergency stops - In 1989 I was lucky enough to have a cab ride in an HST from Newcastle - Cardiff(?) as far as Leeds, and on departure from York the driver was routed on the UM not UL (the timetable change was that day and previously the train ran via Doncaster - this day it changed to via Leeds). He sensed something was wrong and upon seeing the feather on the signal at Colton Jn for Doncaster there was a "oh shoot"
[*] brake application from 90 mph which resulted in the cab and 2 carriages passing the green signal. In mentioning this I want to say there was never any danger to anyone, just the route was set wrong.

As there was a visitor in the cab, [me] there was a traction inspector chappie too, he was the fella who went back to talk to the Bobbie on the SPT. Anyway after a few minutes the train set back and then after the time out was routed via Leeds. The only remark from the traincrew on the emergency application of the brakes was "Crikey
[*] I bet those brakes are stinking back there".

I understand there was later a shunt signal put in place at that junction as it happened too often for it to be an isolated case. No offence meant to any Bobbie in this, just mentioning something I had occasion to witness.

To this day whenever I am on an HST I still can smell those brake pads stinking, an man does it feel good.....


[*] or words to that effect......

 

[12CSVT]

I seem to remember there was an incident in the 1980s when a passenger pulled the emergency cord on a slam-door EMU because there was a fire on the train. Unfortunately this caused the train to stop in Polhill Tunnel (near Sevenoaks), possibly the worst place for the train to stop in those circumstances.

 

[wensley]

I recall on a 180 when a kid was stood on their dad's shoulders and inadvertently pulled the cord in the vestibule. The driver can override the brake application on a 180 but in this instance chose not to...it's surprising how sharply a 180 will pull up from line speed, as I discovered whilst meeting the non-automatic vestibule door with a bit of a clatter

 

[silentone]

Mark IV has an override in both the Class 91 and the DVT

Are you sure? I can think of several times when it could have been used but hasn't, particularly because the driver can't see what may or may not be going on in the back!

On a MK4 anyway it's usually quite a smooth but quick stop. Lots of screeching and normally plenty smoke. I'm sure there's an audible alarm from the handle on the MK4's when the brake is pulled. I've never had to pull one on them.

On a HST there's a sudden burst of air, followed by a very sharp slowdown which shakes the train side to side, and you'll find you stop very quickly. Personally I'd grab on to everything you own that's on the table infront of you because it's pretty much a dead cert it won't be there when you stop.