Alycidon thoughts?

Hi,

I've just read the quote below from the DPS website and I am a little bemused as to why D9009's testing of Network Rail stock should be so secret; is it such a crime for Joe Public (and Deltic entusiasts alike) to witness a DPS Deltic travelling at something more than snail's pace. I seem to remember that 100 mph was the norm for these engines day in day out, thanks to Martin Walker this can still be seen on a regular basis , mainline!!

What if someone witnessed D9009 doing these tests by accident, would they be arrested. Heaven forbid if they had taken photographs/video....

"On Thursday 15th July D9009 assisted the Great Central Railway to fulfil a contract to test wagons for Network Rail. The test train was organised at short notice and because it was scheduled to operate at speeds of up to 75mph, there had to be no advance publicity and the railway had to be closed to photographers and other onlookers. The Board apologies that it was not possible to allow members to be present for the reasons explained."

 

Wagon testing is quite a lucrative line for the GCR, so they don't want to jeopardise that business. The lack of publicity is designed to stop idiots from going lineside and doing just that. Of course it is possible to overlook operations from publicly accessible locations (i.e. Woodthorpe/Kinchley Lane). I expect that you would be responsible enough to stay at those locations. The problem is others might not be.

There'll be plenty of chances to photograph D9009 on the double track with maroon Mk1s, and during the mail gala it will be running the mail drops at speed as well.

 

I believe that some of these tests are carried out to gauge the running noise of new vehicles to ensure they comply with standards. As such minimum background noise is required at the test sites. Therefore its is possible they dont want photographers wondering around making excessive noise and ruining some of these expensive test runs.

 

Oh, and of course those Deltics are sooooo quiet !!!!

 

This is standard procedure for high-speed testing at the GCR. Nothing weird or unusual about it.

Chris

 

Standard procedure for high-speed testing on other railways as well. As well as the safety issues involved with the higher speeds, there are often commercial sensitivities to take into account.

 

Testing details as far as I know are never publically available and are generally only available on a need to know basis, in some cases it is arranged at very short notice, which is what happened in this case. You won't get arrested for looking over any of the bridges but you won't ever be allowed access to the lineside whilst it is taking place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqqrKSrcUUs - There's a video of it, taken from Woodhouse Road bridge, as you can see it's not going at a snails pace and is already slowing down by that point.

 

Apologies to all. I think I must have been in a bit of a mood when I originally posted!! Either that or one too many... Anyway, thanks for your thoughts and reasons that these tests are kept private, which I totally accept and agree with.

Regards

Andrew.

 

Always good to see a happy ending !