Autumnal Rail (Mis)Adventures
Railway, leaves and Tram (Mis)Adventures

Autumnal Rail (Mis)Adventures

Welcome to my first (roughly monthly) look at some recent rail high and low-lights interspersed with a few bits of railway education (That's the #rail101 bit). This may have the odd commercial related link in it too - Well someone has to pay my soaring energy bills to keep my caffeine levels up. This shouldn't take more than a tea-break to read, so let's begin:

Rail Safety Week - North America

First up the hopefully dull topic of Rail safety week. Sadly it has been anything but.

First a police officer handcuffed a suspect in his car - whilst parked on a rail crossing - with predictable but thankfully amazingly non-fatal results. (skip to 5m30 for the calamity).

It seems the track, the warning signs and locomotive horn weren't enough to warn these officers of the hazard. Relying on passive protection measures for crossings is quite frankly a bit rubbish and accident rates agree. There are ways to fit active protection to these crossings though, (I swear I wrote this before I heard about this accident but it is too relevant not to include!).

Next was a tram overspeed accident captured on camera. The tram narrowly managed to avoid overturning when it tried to negotiate a 90degree curve at over 3 times the speed limit (my speed estimation). It is scarily similar to a UK tram accident that tragically killed 7 in 2016. Thankfully, this time it only resulted in the first known video of tram drifting - the new sport that no-one needs. What is the best way to prevent this happening again? - Let me know what you think in the comments.

InnoTrans Expo

Next we move across the pond to Europe. It cannot have escaped many peoples feeds that we have just finished InnoTrans in Berlin. The 13th and perhaps slightly unlucky session was much delayed due to covid, but showed few signs of industry interest waning. It is the largest rail exhibition there is, with nearly 3,000 exhibitors and over 137,000 visitors this year. Millions are spent on marketing the latest trains, widgets and services, with whole halls devoted to subjects like tunnelling, infrastructure and interiors with 3.5km of outdoor track for rolling stock too. The scale of the exhibition can be truly terrifying to the first-time visitor and there is no chance of seeing it all in a single day. A flavour can be found in a 1.5 minute event showreel here.

Seasonal Shenanigans

As the northern hemisphere enters Autumn (or Fall as some call it), the season for slippery rail slides sometimes too speedily into view.

Leaves on the line may seem like a poor excuse for a rail delay - but it's a genuine, costly and hazardous issue. In the UK (where I am) cost estimates top £300m per year and at least one serious accident in recent years has been attributed to it. I take a look in more depth along with some of the ways to mitigate leaf fall in my recent #rail101 article below: Don't fall for leaf delays (5 min read).

Railway passing through a forest in Autumn. Leaves cover the ground and railway.

Summing up - A plea for attention

Thanks for bearing with me this far. This is the bit where I tell you to like, share, comment, follow (or connect) and ring my bell if you think my stuff is any good. Well go on then.... what are you waiting for? :)

If you think this read has been rubbish - Tell me why in an amusing way, and include any ideas for content to make it better next time.

Thanks having your tea-break with me - I hope it was a good brew. Until next time.

Dan

Good job, particularly appreciate the leaves on rail analysis

ERTU?RUL ?ZDEM?R

BBYO High Standart Railway

2 年

It was a fine article Daniel. But I would like to read this article on a train trip on an autumn day when the leaves of the trees were falling on the railway ??. I will share this article my page. In addition, the tram's derail is due to its rapid entry into the curved area. All time unnecessary speed is disaster. Thanks.

Paul Cheng

Inventor / Founder at FuseRing.com

2 年

Hello Daniel: Wishing you the best for this publication. I look forward to your next monthly article. Will be in Ghent Steel Hydrogen Conference next week, then U.K. Will have welded samples. We're scaling tubular solid weld 2022. Linear solid state 2023. Paul Cheng

  • 该图片无替代文字
Malcolm D'Cruz

Rail Systems and Technology Leader

2 年

Great idea and name for the article Daniel Pyke whenever I see reference to autumn leaves and rail, it reminds me of this incident in Perth, Western Australia many years ago with Portuguese millipedes. https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/wa/portuguese-millipedes-suspected-in-clarkson-train-collision-ng-1ac4c3bed117fc458c3ec4cb6ec1669d#:~:text=HUNDREDS%20of%20tiny%20millipedes%20could,on%20passengers%20going%20to%20Perth.

Jim Hepburn

Rotarian. Scottish Sailor. Retired Senior steelworks manager.

2 年

Nice one Dan. Looking forward to more next month??

要查看或添加评论,请登录

Daniel Pyke的更多文章

  • #Rail101 - How rails die - Rolling Contact Fatigue (RCF)

    #Rail101 - How rails die - Rolling Contact Fatigue (RCF)

    Rolling contact fatigue incorporates a number of rail defects seen in track. As wheels pass over the surface of the…

    37 条评论
  • 12 days of Christmas rail learning

    12 days of Christmas rail learning

    Merry Christmas if you are celebrating - Seasons greetings if you aren't. Hopefully you will be getting some down-time…

    11 条评论
  • #Rail101 - How rails die - Plastic Flow

    #Rail101 - How rails die - Plastic Flow

    This is the second part of looking at how rails die, or why they don't last forever. The first part is here.

    27 条评论
  • #Rail101 - How rails die - Wear

    #Rail101 - How rails die - Wear

    Rails don't last forever - Probably a good job too, as I spent 20+ years in the steel industry making and selling them.…

    23 条评论
  • 12 days of Christmas rail learning

    12 days of Christmas rail learning

    Hopefully you will be getting some down-time to relax so I thought I'd deliver this little summary of my 12 days of…

    12 条评论
  • Rail101 - The impact of cold snaps on rail failures

    Rail101 - The impact of cold snaps on rail failures

    In the northern hemisphere the temperature is falling and in this #Rail101 article I explore why rails break more often…

    7 条评论
  • Types of rail

    Types of rail

    Railway rails come in many types and a multitude of varieties. I’ll briefly try to explain some of the more commonly…

    38 条评论
  • Colour Conundrums

    Colour Conundrums

    This article departs in some respects from from my usual focus on the #railway, but don't worry there is still a…

    10 条评论
  • #Rail101 - Why are railway rails inclined?

    #Rail101 - Why are railway rails inclined?

    Have you ever looked at a railway track and wondered why the rails look like they're leaning towards the centre? Well…

    42 条评论
  • Rail101 - Training in the heat

    Rail101 - Training in the heat

    As the recent UK heatwave fades, I take a little look at what challenges hot weather brings to railway infrastructure…

    17 条评论

社区洞察

其他会员也浏览了