Poole Park Railway

I see the local rag now says suspended foreseeable future. I see it has fallen the same way as before. Is the coach too long for the tight curves. The bogies are a long Way in from the ends of the coach too. On a tight curve this will not help.

 

I know the first coach toppling incident happened on the Ark curve. Is the new incident in the same place? That’s the part of the line where the formation was changed and the curve made tighter than it was originally, to eliminate a couple of crossings over the footpath. Perhaps that wasn’t such a good idea?

 

The new carriage has been put back in the shed and will not be used until a decision has been made by BCP and the manufacturer. I hope to be able to inform all that the railway will soon reopen using the original train set up. thanks

 

I do not think BCP are unique among councils for being utterly disliked by those they purport to represent. Although some of their decisions seem to make the local news more than adjacent councils.

 

As there are ongoing issues maybe this isn't the right attitude. Four derailments in 18 months, now is the time to keep the railway closed until everything is sorted out properly, not rush to cause another accident. The Poole Park Railway wasn't as accident prone in the approx 70 years before it was 'nationalised', which suggests there are underlying issues, perhaps significant, with the rebuild - and not just the single coach.

 

The new coaches have always looked very large and top heavy to me. Even compared to other 10 1/4 inch lines that use enclosed coaches such as Eastleigh Lakeside and Royal Victoria. The coaches on those lines are quite narrow, with only room for one adult in each seat, rather than two adults astride as is possible at Poole Park. Also on these other railways the seating position seems lower down and closer to the track. Passengers ride quite high up in the Poole Park coaches.

Larger coaches combined with a tighter curve doesn’t seem an ideal combination. But then I’m no expert.

 

Reopened today, with a statement saying that no faults have been found with the track, engine or other carriages.

So it seems fault is being entirely attributed to this particular carriage.

 

There is a possible technical issue with the new carriage. this carriage is out of service for the foreseeable future. thanks

 

You conveniently snipped off the most important point of that post :- "The new carriage has been put back in the shed and will not be used until a decision has been made"
It would appear that the 'old' carriages are fine but a new one seems to have problems so maybe you should consider if it is the design that is at fault - and not the railway before jumping to conclusions.
EDIT. As noted above it is a problem with a new carriage, not the railway.

 

The train was derailed twice by track misalignment on what is locally named the 'Ark Curve'. The gauge was out and the cant was incorrect. The curve has been improved. This section is inspected every month for gauge and cant.
The new carriage tipped over twice. Corrective measures were taken the first time by the manufacturer. This measure unfortunately did not proved to be completely accurate. The carriage will be taken back to the manufactures premises in early March where a comprehensive investigation can take place.

As a miniature railway PPR has been a 'difficult' railway to run. There have been numerous incidents in the past 75 years.....during that time social media did not exist and much has never been recorded. The only comments ' on social media' missing are that Aliens tipped the carriage over. All other reasons have been covered from leaves, geese pooh, wind rain stones, act of God, going to fast, going to slow, track is to narrow.......I could go on.

thanks

Nick

 

Nah, they also missed the fact that the carriage was designed for running on a spherical object when we all know the earth is flat..
(or is that another load of 'spherical objects? )
Will be interesting to find out if there is a single fault causing the problem with the coach or a collection of minor errors all adding up though
Alan

 

I hear through the grapevine that there is a known issue with the bogies, which if not maintained/adjusted correctly can lead to derailments (and that information was in relation to another railway which has also experienced multiple derailments with new build stock from the same manufacturer). That may well not be the only factor, but it doesn't sound like a total coincidence to me...

 

Any further news regarding the cause of the carriage tipping?

I trust the railway has had no further issues since the new carriage was taken out of service.

 

Hello,
I am limited in what info i can give due to an insurance claim.

thanks

 

Fair enough. As long as you know the appropriate details (the rest of us can wait )

 

Poole Park Railway is celebrating 75 years on Saturday 7 September from 10.30 am. Free Trains rides until 4.00. Art event, Mini traction engines, some classic cars and buses. Train set s in the shed, slide show and PPR books for sale.

thanks

 

I'd love to come but it's a few days too early. So many happy memories of visits over the years.
I think I am on duty at the boat show the following week.

 

Let me know when you are about.