Thank you for the interesting and informative tour this day. Being in a nursing home suffering with ALS, my legs are effectively nonexistent for walking in the future. My trips to the UK are never happening again. Your videos are the only things that put a smile on my face. God bless you Mr. Coffey, and you have a long life without any physical liabilities. See you on the next, Sir! 🇬🇧🙂👍🇺🇸
Ah, nothing like starting the day with a quick shower! Thanks for that shortie, Don. I imagine those water jets have to be precisely "focussed" given there's a live catenary at the top of the shed. Does that mean that in the normal course of things the roof doesn't get washed? (Not that the roofs of trains show up the dirt much by design, I assume.)
Yes, it certainly speeds things up. When a train arrives at the fuel point, maybe eight or ten cleaners mob each set and they absolutely blitz it in minutes ready for the next arrival.
I once had to let a engineering train into the worksite, as well as informing the driver what channel the radio was on and to keep an eye out for men and machines etc, to tell him to proceed at walking pace. Just the thought of a big and powerful cl.66 going at a snails pace!
I wish we had a wash like that at Tyseley. External, no driers, at the far end of a neck the wrong end of the yard so often missed due to time pressures
What other train ride channel gives you train wash videos?! I'm normally here for the freight train episodes but this makes a nice change, something a little different.
What are the provisions for unexpected cleaning of the inside of the train? Supposing a passenger becomes, ahem, "unwell" on the train or has an accident on the seat. Do terminus stations, where there is a layover between a train arriving and then departing on the return service, have the equivalent of the "in-store cleaner" who can be called upon to do a quick "running repair" so the train can be kept in service until it can be cleaned properly at the end of the service day? I ask because a friend some years ago had the misfortune to throw up on a bus (gastric illness, not alcohol!), and the response of the bus driver was to kick everyone off the bus at the next stop, mid-journey, so she could take the bus out of service for cleaning, which must have upset the schedules... and the passengers on that bus. I presume with trains which often tend to be less frequent that buses (so the loss of one train has more of an impact), the goal is to only take a train out of service as a very last resort, and to try to work around the problem as much as possible.
Good to see you and good question. We have mobile cleaners at every terminating location. If you look at the Hull, Piccadilly or airport videos, you can often see them heading up the platform. We’ve even got them at Huddersfield. They mostly walk through with a litter bag but they can deal with spills and blocked loos etc. They will either clean vomit up or cordon an area off until it gets to the depot. The depots are fully equipped to deal with just about anything.
Thank you! Very interesting, especially the communications with the signaller. Can anyone explain a track feature to me? At 1.18, 1.34 and 1.43 there are some odd-shaped lengths of rail that appear to be fixed to the sleepers. They look rather like bits of crossings. Are they there to increase the stability of the track? (It does look a bit worn-out compared with the main running lines to the right.) It's just that it looks rather more complicated than the straightforward twin lengths of heavy plate seen at 2.09. So I'm also wondering if they are there because they happened to be bits left over after worn-out crossings had been relaid. Many thanks. Greetings from Cornwall! 🙂
Hi Martin. They are exactly what you concluded, they frequently change crossovers because they take a lot of hammer in a location like that. They do them overnight then book collection at a later date.
Please answer this question. I need a train drivers answer. I am currently doing an S and T course here in Wolverhampton. We was shown a documentary about the Paddington rail crash. The train leaving Paddington spad a Red signal. The AWS horn sounded and the sun flower was shown in his cab. I know that this could either mean Red or Yellow signal. If the driver did not see the signal set at danger because of the sun he must have thought it was yellow meaning proceed with caution or slowing down because the next signal could be red. bear in mind he pushed the plunger to acknowledge the horn and sun flower. After the acknowledgement he accelerated. But surly you have to be slowing down if you see a yellow. Thats your service breaking distance. As a train driver would you go past a yellow signal and then accelerate. It just wasn't brought up in the investigation and iv been having an argument over it.
That’s not straight forward Aaron. Ordinarily your assumptions are correct but we know there were problems with SN109 and we know there were major failings with Michael Hodder’s training. There’s no doubt he should have stopped but there were mitigating circumstances and when investigating these things, you sometimes find there’s more than meets the eye. It’s an interesting debate to have with your workmates and if you throw in a few “what ifs”, you’ll come up with different answers.
I was surprised the windscreen wipers could be used with those spinning brushes going and did not have to be parked out of harms way. The wires appear to go up to and in to the wash. 25kv and water doesn't sound too healthy, whats the procedure there?
Yes, the wipers are inboard of the brushes and that overhead wire is live at 25Kv but it’s the same as a very heavy rainstorm, the train is earthed through the rails.
Seems dangerous at first sight but in reality, no different to a really heavy downpour. The train is unaffected because it is earthed through the rails.
Good afternoon Don, a silly question maybe, I noticed that there were overhead power lines, how is this possible with all the electricity around, or was I see things with the power lines?
No William, there is a 25Kv live wire but it’s the same as a very heavy rainstorm, the train is safe because it’s earthed through the wheels and rails.
I never knew that Piccadilly only had “R’s” instead of “RA” is that unique to Piccadilly or are there other places in the uk that show R and what does the rule book say about this…
I know, it kind of defies logic doesn’t it. Electric trains pass through unharmed as you say, the same as in a rainstorm. It’s because it all runs safely to earth through the wheels and rails.
They get done every time they go onto the depot from the west. That depends what jobs they are on so they might get done every night for a week then miss a few days. It’s quite random but more often than not.
