Very late cancellations...

[Chapeltom]

Hi all

I was on the 1538 from Chapel en le Frith to Manchester Piccadilly yesterday, which was bound for Barrow in Furness. I noticed it was effectively only running on one engine, although RTT says there was a fault with traction equipment...

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/Y41073/2013/12/16/advanced

It kept losing bits of time but only got into Picc 3 mins late, probably due to all the padding in the service :roll: Now I suspected it was not going to carry on all the way to Barrow, the driver kept trying to get the engine of the front carriage going at every station but it wasn't happening, although it was very quiet On alighting at Picc I assumed it would continue onto Barrow seeing as the LDBs showed it at Picc as running, no announcements otherwise but a few late and people boarded, I later found out tonight on returning home that it actually terminated at Oxford Road where I presume there was going to be crew change.

Would the termination at Oxford Road have been planned or would it have been a snap decision? It hadn't been running right at all, no surprises it never made it to Barrow but it seems like it got to Oxford Road and there would have been an announcement, oh by the way this service will terminate here and is cancelled. It seems quite a late cancellation when it was obvious the unit was struggling badly.

Tom

 

[Silv1983]

What often happens is that the driver and guard will have a discussion via the cab to cab phone at some point during the trip when they realise there is a problem. The guard will phone control between other duties and tell them about the problem - often resulting in a fitter meeting the unit to inspect it (in this case he was probably at Oxford Rd). Im guessing that it was examined at Oxford Road and found to be more than a low coolant type issue causing the engine fault.

IF the one engine could handle the extra strain and keep the train to time - it wouldn't be allowed to run as the alternator isn't charging batteries, and soon the feed to certain electrical systems in the affected car would cease (external lighting or instance) once it drops below 22v.

It might seem like a 'late cancellation' - but if the train can limp on to a place where: a) It can be inspected, b) passengers can get connecting services, c) the train can be assisted / taken to a depot - then all the better than kicking everyone off in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Chapeltom]

Oh I fully expected it to be terminated early, just seemed a bit odd passengers were allowed to board at Manchester Picc. I was glad I was only going as far as Manchester, my thinking was get it to Manchester then have it checked there/sent to depot.

 

[bb21]

They wouldn't have made a decision to terminate short yet at Piccadilly, so they can't pre-empt the situation. It may well be the case that after an inspection by the fitter, it was found that it was only a five-minute job and it would be far more desirable to turf everyone off at Oxford Road than potentially having all Piccadilly passengers squeezing onto the next departure.

 

[bunnahabhain]

If it terminated at Oxford Road after a crew change, and it was the leading carriage where the engine would not start, then the incoming driver could possibly have (quite rightly) refused to take it onwards with no cab heating.

 

[Silv1983]

If it terminated at Oxford Road after a crew change, and it was the leading carriage where the engine would not start, then the incoming driver could possibly have (quite rightly) refused to take it onwards with no cab heating.

Well there's that - but personally, I'd be more concerned about losing my headlight and having to drive at 20mph to a place where the unit can be taken out of service. Not fun.

 

[bunnahabhain]

Well there's that - but personally, I'd be more concerned about losing my headlight and having to drive at 20mph to a place where the unit can be taken out of service. Not fun.

Indeed! As with most cancellations its down to loads of factors. I remember somebody asking me why the train was late and I gave them a few different causes of delay to that particular train inc. three stoppers running infront of us, booked breaks, signalling failures causing diversions, leaf fall/wheelslip, a potential suicidal person on the line ahead and the drivers windscreen getting smashed!