70013 Wood Green incident RAIB report published

An interesting little article, thanks for posting this as I wouldn't have found it!

James at SVN

 

Cheers for the link. It certainly does make interesting reading as it explains to us who don't really know the finer details of steam loco workings how it all works in nice simple terms.

 

I got a notification of this. Made me wonder if the priming referred to had anything to do with the subsequent cylinder end casing failure.

 

The one thing that stood out for me was the fact that the fireman had to go over to the driver and point out that the loco was priming! Make of that, what you will.

 

Also, he (the fireman) noticed, as he returned to his side of the cab, that the diesel was just about to enter the tunnel. Was he the only one to see this?

 

Well said Ralph. I'm surprised by some of the comments on here. There's a lot to look out for when on the footplate of a steam engine. It's natural that the fireman might notice priming before the driver as the driver might be looking for signals, sighting the line or adjusting his own controls. His attention won't be immediatley focused on what's happening with the locomotive - that's why there are 2 people on the footplate when operating a steam engine. I imagine at higher speed it requires even more concentration than at 25mph when driving a steam locomotive. We don't know if the driver would have noticed it eventually or not - perhaps the engine was only priming lightly.

The driver and fireman are a team. It's unfair to suggest that the driver was incompetent or neglible in his duties just because the fireman noticed the engine was priming.

 

I have to say that I'm surprised at the response to what I assume was my initial comment. Yes, the driver has a lot to concentrate on, but that is his role and responsibility. Operating controls, observing signals, gauges and both the locos and fireman's behaviour and actions are all routine things that go with that role. If I didn't notice that a loco was priming and it blew a cylinder, I doubt that the excuse of 'I'd a lot to think about' would go down well at an enquiry.

 

Absolutely Ralph lets have no more about it done and dusted

 

with modern GPS equipment, why couldn't there be an alarm fitted that goes off if you're about to enter a tunnel?

 

I take it that you have first hand experience of regulary driving big steam locos at 75 mph hauling 350 tons plus on high speed lines and keeping out the way of all the modern trains???
You must be fully aware of just how quick things can occur at these sort of speeds, and equally how quick they must be dealt with??
For instance you're doing 70mph and the loco starts priming, you start to shut it off, just as the AWS horn sounds and you've got 2.5 seconds to cancel it before the brakes go on................... Oh and you,re just about to go into a tunnel......
But you obviously know all about such things......

 

That was a very sobering report. In my day job I have to read, edit and occasionally approve incident reports in industry, sometimes 10-15 a day. Personally I would have asked the author to revise the schematic of the loco internals because a Critical factor in the incident was the blower and its function, yet nowhere in the schematic does it show this important piece of equipment. To the layman reader and 99% of the modern rail industry, it wouldn't be understood what its position is within the loco or even how it works. Apart from that minor niggle, its a nice clear report that should be congratulated for its brevity.

 

No trial by forum here. No unjustifiable comments or insinuations of negligence either. The RAIB have made their report and will do no more with regard to the incident. The footplate is a very busy place to be, especially on the mainline. There are mitigating circumstances and I'm sure that all concerned have learnt something from this. The driver and fireman have a lot of experience between them but something didn't go right. There have been a lot of accidents this year and vigilance must be maintained at all times. That's all I have to say on the subject. Pesmo, good point about the blower.

 

.. and another bit of specialist kit to fit to locos for main line running. £££££

Richard

 

Dont know about mainline, but a highly respected driver at NYMR amongst others, with 9 posts and a reply like that could we have another troll????

 

What do people think of the post-incident advice? Warn the fireman of a tunnel, close the doors, open the blower fully and open the regulator if possible?

 

Running steam on modern railway networks is nothing short of an amazing achievement and it has it's risks. We live in a world where risk has become unacceptable but without it what a boring place it would be.

I have every admiration for the crews of yesterday but they had far less pressure. Consider the differences, a network that runs at a higher pace, smaller sections, high financial penalties for failure or delays, more complexity, less support....just to mention a few. And crews knew routes better as they went up and down them every day of the week and if they had problems with an engine they just used another out of the 20 in the shed.

I know from personal experience that you can go in a tunnel and come out with half of it in the cab roof and the tender, as it may have been years since the brickwork had that amount of disturbance. hence one of the reasons why a boiler can be overfilled...to prevent safety valves lifting.

When you are thrashing along on a pressure cooker with a fire up it's arse at 75 on today's railway there are many things to occupy you, and that's not an excuse, but we should just be grateful steam can still be allowed to coexist and thankful for those that take personal risk to keep it there.