GCR TPO set

Agreed, hope the caption with the pic is considerably less than the truth as well given the implications.

 

Surely this TPO set was stabled in a siding, so surely one must ask why was the road set for a siding? Surely catch points should have come into play, but the road I would think ought to be set into the platforms/loop line? (which I would assume to be clear).

 

According to the Facebook page the loco travelled driverless from Quorn to Loughborough. Does anyone know how many miles the loco travelled.


Cheers

 

2 miles 3 chains between the two stations.

 

I'm open to correction, but the pic has the look of the section between Beeches Road bridge and Charnwood Water, so it appears the TPO coach was out on the main (fairly typical for some shunt moves at Loughborough) rather than in a siding when the 37 said surprise.

 

Just over a year to the day of the 46521 "incident". That involved the TPO set as well.

 

I might be displaying my lack of knowledge of diesels, but how does a diesel travel without a driver? I thought they had driver safety devices to prevent that? I know how it could happen with a steam engine if you were incredibly slack in your safety precautions (there was a famous, and comical, incident on the S&D in the 19th century) but is it possible with a diesel? Or is it as of now just an unsubstantiated rumour?

Tom

 

So roll downhill, rather than travel under power? Is there a sufficient and uninterrupted gradient between Quorn and Loughborough (I don't know the line...)

I only ask because on the basis of a single comment on Facebook, this has the hallmarks of developing into a complete internet open and shut solution to what happened, when actually the sole irrefutable evidence amounts to a single photograph, from which it isn't even clear whether the moving loco hit the stationary train, or the moving train hit a stationary loco!

Tom

 

There's a falling gradient between Quorn and Loughborough, starting at 1 in 330, and then steepening to 1 in 175 until just outside the station. That's what the gradient diagram shows, I have no practical experience so I can't say if this is actually the case. Hope that's of some help!

 

Does anyone know of any members of the forum that might be able to enlighten us as to what happened? Doesn't look good anyway, I suppose there'll have to be some sort of enquiry so that should explain things. until then, onwards with the speculation...

 

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd....2_10152852960764698_2590589556341103982_n.jpg
Don't know if the link will work or not? It did for me.

 

Yep, works fine, looks like quite a crunch then.

 

There will be a local enquiry no doubt, howevwe as the incident did not involve passenger stock there might not be a RAIB report. On the other hand there might be as the incident appears to involve a passenger line.

There was an incident on the Brighton line some 20 years ago where an EMU was left on a gradient on the air brake which leaked off and the driverless unit ran away

 

Didn't another class 37 loco do the same thing at Glasgow Central station many years ago.

 

Looks like the collision occurred on the down line (towards Sheffield), so that rules out shunting manoeuvre out of Loughborough (which is done using the up line towards London using the totem pole signal). So it looks like it hit a train that was being held at outer or inner home signals there.

The 37 may have come out of the same siding where 46251 derailed, in which case it should have received the same fate.

The line is very well engineered, and there is a steady gradient from Loughborough through Quorn to a summit at Swithland.

 

.............And at Pontypool & Blaenavon a couple of years ago (Around the same time as the Gresley brake incident at Grosmont. I think we should just be grateful it wasn't the Gresley TPO set in this accident.