lesson for british rail ( cold weather operations)

[Captain Pugwash]

found this little gem. always makes me laugh when the trains in england stopped for wet leaves or frozen points. i was once stuck on a train from warrington bank quay to weymouth. took 14hrs. so take a look british rail at how it's done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73A3zzpdpzM

[forthbridge]

To be fair, yes, britain is a bit of a laughing stock these days - but generally Canada and the US have a drier atmosphere, so (for example) it 'feels' colder here at say minus 5 than it would over there - and (for example) it would be less common for car windscreens to be frosted up in the middle of the day (as happens here) - and this frost does have an effect on other stuff.....

But anyway, having said all that, yes, these days with bit of snow here, it's 'all stop'........ not how I remember things in the 70s and 80s!

And we've come a long way from this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl4pJwcE7JI

Must admit, I reckon that has to be almost the best Youtu
be vid I've seen!

[nigelb]

Well, wheneve we get snow in the Washington DC area it's panic time because no one around here appears to know how to drive in it. Grocery stores run out of toilet paper and milk quickly and schools are closed. We are the laughing stock for anyone from up north. But, like Britain, our snows are usually of the wet variety and that makes them very slippery. In fact last week we had a nice mix of snow, then hail, then freezing rain which would thaw during the day and refreeze at night, making driving a trecherous experience. When Chicago gets snow, it is usually very cold so the snow is like powder and that is why they can drive in it easier than we can in the water-laden stuff we get here. Anyway, that's my excuse and I am sticking to it!

Nigel²

[speedbird591]

... so take a look british rail at how it's done.

Ummm. Very nice, but it's stationary

I'm train crew and this week all my trains have run to time (except for one that broke down - but not because of the weather!). One point that people miss is that England has the busiest rail network in Europe with little margin for incidents. One delayed train will impact dozens of others for quite a long time. People talk about the reliability of Swiss trains, but in the whole Country they only run as many as in the County of Kent.

I think the electrics into Sarf London haven't done too well in the snow - but we're diesel and as long as you keep them running all night they're OK. Network Rail have been doing a fantastic job of upgrading the tracks over the past few years and things are much better than they used to be. The biggest problem is bottlenecks and trying to get too many trains through too small a gap, but that needs even more money to be thrown at it.

I doubt that 'British Rail' could learn anything useful from Canada about running in extreme conditions that we only experience once every twenty years for a couple of days. We live in a temperate climate and our infrastructure reflects that.

Ian

[Erick_Cantu]

Well, wheneve we get snow in the Washington DC area it's panic time because no one around here appears to know how to drive in it. Grocery stores run out of toilet paper and milk quickly and schools are closed. We are the laughing stock for anyone from up north. But, like Britain, our snows are usually of the wet variety and that makes them very slippery. In fact last week we had a nice mix of snow, then hail, then freezing rain which would thaw during the day and refreeze at night, making driving a trecherous experience. When Chicago gets snow, it is usually very cold so the snow is like powder and that is why they can drive in it easier than we can in the water-laden stuff we get here. Anyway, that's my excuse and I am sticking to it!

Nigel²

Rubbish. ;-)

Powder very quickly compresses into ice as it's driven through which is exactly what happens. It's worse at intersections as people spin their wheels instead of properly controlling torque. The snow melts, then refreezes into... you guessed it... ice. This variety (and the kind that forms from snow melted from exhaust) generally becomes black ice - everyone's favourite.

Driving home in a blizzard on bald tires is hell. :o

[forthbridge]

I'm train crew and this week all my trains have run to time (except for one that broke down - but not because of the weather!). One point that people miss is that England has the busiest rail network in Europe with little margin for incidents.
Ian

I once, a few years back, got the Amtrak National timetable mailed over (part of holiday plans) - and it must have contained about 40 pages. I thought it was some error, but no.... the UK timetable must be getting on for somehwere over 2000 pages - so it shows the difference in service :o

[tinkicker]

I dont personally think the weather was the main problem. the problem was how people reacted to the snow. The BBC made it out to be the end of the world. Yeah snow is a rare thing in this country, but the way some british people have gone on this past week is an embarasment. :roll:

British Rail ceased being in the 90s at least they ran trains in all weathers. Todays private railways look for every oppotunity to not run trains.

[jonesey2k]

I'm glad to report that Northern Rail, at least in my area, were operating on time all week despite the influx of passengers who decided to take the train instead of their cars because of the "weather warning" lol.

Now can you please scrap those f***ing class 142's and 150's :@ :@ :@ :@ :@ :@ :@ :@

[Erick_Cantu]

Now can you please scrap those f***ing class 142's and 150's :@ :@ :@ :@ :@ :@ :@ :@

Bring back the Deltics!

[delticbob]

Bring back the Deltics!

Cough cough... oh yes please

[deltic] bob