November rail nonsense

Time to take my monthly slightly sideways look at recent rail happenings, some lessons learnt the hard way and a little rail education (#rail101) thrown in too.

Just because you can do something, doesn't necessarily mean you should. I mean, I can eat a whole chocolate cake for breakfast, but of course that doesn't mean I should. No really - I couldn't eat another one.

Ok perhaps that isn't a great example as I recover from both birthday and Halloween excesses and my blood sugar was last seen in low earth orbit. However, there are plenty of examples of weird, wonderful and downright dodgy things covered in this months Novembers nonsense rail roundup. Let's begin.

Does size matter?

First stop is the ever-efficient, supremely spectacular, and perhaps quietly crazy Swiss Rhaetian railway. They demonstrated their engineering excellence setting a new world record for passenger train length. The 100 carriage, 1,910m long narrow-gauge train travelled a 25km trip through spectacular Swiss scenery to celebrate the railways 175th birthday. This scenic stunt probably also set world records for most extreme use of selective door opening, and longest driver end-changing time too but I digress....

High(ish) speed shenanigans

Next stop, India, where their newly inaugurated high(ish)-speed train set only stayed pristine polished for 6 days before an incident with stray bison/cows left it needing a visit to the body shop. This happened just 2 days after a similar accident which was the third in a just month afflicting the Vande Bharat express.

Image source from Nabayan Datta

It was (I think), an interesting insight into the mind of a different culture as I watched the reactions play out on social media. A good portion called into question the build quality/strength of the vehicle - Why weren't the nose panels strong enough? Another social audience section called the herdsman/farmer negligent for allowing his animals to stray onto the track. Those outside and perhaps more familiar with high-speed rail just wondered how on earth high-speed train tracks were not fenced off from people or animals to start with! I suspect the vehicle body repair shop will be doing a good trade in nose cones until they do.

Steaming ahead into trouble

Next a trip to the USA, where a rather embarrassing mishap befell a heritage steam loco in front of hundreds of adoring fans. In this age of camera phones being everywhere several captured footage, and well - watch for yourself.

Thankfully no-one was injured and aside from dented pride and metal I'm pleased to say, as of earlier today the train has been repaired and is now back in action. (see video confirmation here).

Derailing a wagon - whilst stationary...

This is not a new video, but as it passed through my feed, I wondered just how the accident report read for this rail handling mishap. I've never seen a stationary vehicle derail before, but I guess there is always a first time.

(Skip to 1m25 for the more exciting bits)

I wonder just how many people that day thought "this looks a bit dodgy" but said nothing before everything went wrong. The old adage is true - if it doesn't look right - it probably isn't - So say something! All that carnage loss and disruption for the lack of a few pieces of timber (to split the layers into lighter loads). Thankfully no reported injuries I understand. Don't get me started on lifting rails with forklift tines - just don't unless it is scrap. Perhaps that'll be my next rail education #rail101 article. Let me know if you'd like me to write that one in the comments. (I've almost literally written the book on rail handling).

Why rails don't like cold weather

Speaking of rail education I'll shoe-horn my latest seasonal and tea-break length educational rail read into this penultimate section.

The colder months of the year place new demands on both railway rail and the crews who maintain and replace it. As temperatures fall, rail failure rates soar. Ever wondered why? Read my article to find out. Even if you haven't - give it a read and you never know you might learn something new.

This newsletter has been filled with a little too much mishap and mayhem for my liking, so here is a new sport to brighten up your day. It's the sport you never knew you needed:-

Steam train drag racing

(Skip to 18 seconds in)

I don't think this needs much explanation - If it did, I'm not sure I could give any!

I hope you've enjoyed this second attempt at a rail roundup newsletter. Do you think it was better than the first? Do let me know (I need the engagement!)

If you love it - subscribe comment and share. If you hate it - tell me why in an amusing way so I can make it better. Comments, questions and ideas for future topics are always welcomed.

Until next tea break my friends - Stay safe and tread lightly on our world.

Dan