[news] Wrong kind of sunlight

[unixman_again]

We've heard of trains being delayed due to leaves on the line or the wrong kind of snow. Now it's Rail operator Southeastern blames 'bright sunlight' for delays - BBC News

[dry]

I wonder how far we are off from driverless operation on the mainline.

 

Signals are already shown in-cab as opposed to on-track on HS1 (due to speed) so surely we can't be far off implementing it on other lines, which may help at times like this.

[elsiegee40]

A few years ago (trying to get to BETT as it happens) we had problems getting to London as a train had broken down in the Sevenoaks Tunnel.

 

Eventually a train appeared that was going to run fast to London Bridge avoiding the tunnel. We boarded it only to have to get off again 15 minutes later.

 

Train cancelled as the crew were not familiar with the route ... * sigh *

 

And I thought trains just needed rails and the points set correctly:(

[Boredguy]

A few years ago (trying to get to BETT as it happens) we had problems getting to London as a train had broken down in the Sevenoaks Tunnel.

 

Eventually a train appeared that was going to run fast to London Bridge avoiding the tunnel. We boarded it only to have to get off again 15 minutes later.

 

Train cancelled as the crew were not familiar with the route ... * sigh *

 

And I thought trains just needed rails and the points set correctly:(

 

Alas no, train drivers have to know the route they are going to be using, know location of signals, speeds etc.. or at least that's what a mate told me who drives fright trains and often gets drafted to help out with passenger trains in busy periods.

[3s-gtech]

a mate told me who drives fright trains

 

I'm sorry, but working in a fun fair is not the same as operating a passenger locomotive!

 

[elsiegee40]

SouthEastern is having a bad day. This one is doing the rounds on social media. (Last sentence)

[Andrew_C]

all Of the Capitals, they are just Stuck in at Random. FFS, what do they teach them at skool today?

[twin--turbo]

For interest.

 

The Snow. This related to dry powder snow and diesel locos. The dry snow was easily whipped up and would be injested by the air intake of the locomotive causing break down.

 

Leaves. In the old days of rail travel breaking was done by break shoes applied to the running surface of the wheels. This had the advantage of scraping the running surface of debris picked up from the lines. For the loco that meant the traction wheels where clean, and also on the rolling stock the breaking wheels were clean. Modern times moved to inbord disk brakes and also breaking via the traction motors. Wheels were no longer cleaned, they became increasingly slippy which affected both breaking ability and traction.

 

TT

[Andrew_C]

BRAKE,

[twin--turbo]

indeed, long day i need a brake.

 

TT

[sted]

all Of the Capitals, they are just Stuck in at Random. FFS, what do they teach them at skool today?

how to pass standadised tests as quanifiable results are all anyone cares about

[hardtailstar]

on the flip side...

 

What if a driver was blinded and went through a red light and caused major damage to the train or people on board?

[sted]

on the flip side...

 

What if a driver was blinded and went through a red light and caused major damage to the train or people on board?

dont all trains now have an audible warning if they pass a red signal?

[unixman_again]

In the Metro today, it says "A spokesman said drivers had to get out of their cabs to check passengers were safely on and off as the glare made it impossible to see the full length of the train in their mirrors before moving off". While this sounds reasonable, it is also a poor excuse. On the train I catch, the conductor makes sure the people are on and signals the driver with a buzzer.

 

There was a story recently that modern trains weren't heavy enough to cope with slippery rails. That's the price of progress - we get rid of nice, heavy steam trains and now nothing works on the railway. Maybe "The Flying Scotsman" and The A1 "Tornado" could be pressed into regular service?