4555 Damage at South Devon?

Has anyone heard of updates on 4555's repairs.

 

Looks like the answer is "no"! Total news blackout?

 

They appear to have avoided a RAIB investigation too. Presumably it came outside the requirements.

At least as likely to be due to embarrassment as anything else I submit. No-one wants their mistakes broadcast.

 

Even if there are "lessons to be learned" although whether "they" will be applied is another question.

 

I know nothing about these things, so happy to be corrected, but is there no form of insurance for loco owners hiring their pride and joy to heritage railway X?

If so, isn’t the most likely reason for there being little in the public domain that there’s a process to be followed and once the outcome is known, parties will be able to share pertinent info without fear of compromising the process?

Simon

 

No idea, but when I was a kid you could insure anything if you paid a high enough premium. No the industry is so risk averse in its own favour I would not be at all surprised if it is not possible.

 

That’s quite an accusation …

Tom

 

The host heritage railway should carry loss and damage insurance cover for third party rolling stock in their care, custody and control. However the contractual agreement between parties is typically such that the railway are responsible only in the event they can be proven to have been negligent, for example, driver error.

This is why many rolling stock owners arrange their own loss and damage insurance, written on a contingency basis. In addition, owners can protect their loss of revenue following damage.

If damage occurs it is often more sensible for the rolling stock owner to claim under their own insurance. Incidents are very often disputed and this ensures the claim is settled quickly and then the owners Insurer will subrogate against the heritage railway’s insurer.

Marsh Commercial arrange insurance for 1,000+ rail organisations and 200+ heritage rail organisations .https://www.marshcommercial.co.uk/for-business/rail/

 

Thanks, that’s clear and helpful. Probably as good an explanation of why there’s no running commentary on proceedings we’ve heard so far.

Simon

 

In addition to the above ... I can't comment on the specifics, but if a similar incident happened chez nous, I'd expect there to be an internal investigation into the circumstances. (If those are what I have heard, then I don't believe that it would be automatically reportable to the RAIB, but that is just line side grapevine, so shouldn't be taken as a statement of fact).

Depending on the outcome of the investigation, there are channels whereby any learning could be more widely disseminated if it was felt to be of value to other organisations. For example, if the ultimate cause was found to be "due to the inaccessible position of the flange trunnion relief valve on a small prairie causing it to become coated in dead pheasants, braking performance when running light became suddenly degraded" then you might get a communication circulated more widely advising owners and operators of locos with that particular design of flange trunnion relief valve to put in place a more frequent inspection regime.

All of which can happen well away from the glare of social media commentary ...

Tom

 

Does this mean that they awaiting all fornthis to be processed first before even touching then engine?

 

I knew GWR locos had some peculiarities but I never realised that they had a flange trunnion relief valve. Whatever that is?

 

It's for preventing pheasants adhering to the locomotive.

 

And in typical Swindon style, it’s inaccessible

Tom

 

Stanier carried this over, in his usual Swindon-robbing traditions, to his Black 5's. Little known fact, the bore on the valve was increased on those allocated to Inverness in an effort to deal with dear strikes. Wasn't unknown for crews to isolate this valve approaching Christmas, with venison in high demand!

 

And made out of brass.

 

Looks like an update with a photo of the repairs being undertaken in the latest Heritage Railway Magazine.

 

Not an accusation but a statement of concern given recent reports from within the NHS that issues previously identified and ignored have not been applied thus resulting in casualties - including both serious injury to life and deaths. I appreciate that Heritage environments are not the NHS but the pressure to get the job done still applies and any delays should be minimised as far as safety allows and identified problems reported to a wider audience. In that respect IIRC I recall RAIB issuing reports following a fire in a WCRC Class 47 where - despite good levels of maintenance - age created a problem that wasn't identified hence RAIB issuing a Safety Notice to all operators of Class 47 locomotives.