Are the set of buffers on Platform 18 normally aligned with those on 19 or are they offset?
The white patch on the rail is where the buffers originally were.
Are the set of buffers on Platform 18 normally aligned with those on 19 or are they offset?
Yes, and yes, but I think it was nearer 10mph. The point remains that this was not a "non-event". The effectiveness of the buffers is not the question - the cost of the current type is far less for comparable function - rather the actual collision is the issue. Not much further will be gleaned until the driver assessment is done, I think.Cracking around the headlights is superficial damage. Do you know how much energy a train travelling at 4mph has? I believe the train involved in the Canon Street crash was travelling at about 5mph - have you seen the pictures from that crash?
The friction buffers such as those at Victoria are far more effective at bringing a train to a controlled stop than the older hydraulic buffers such as those at Waterloo - otherwise we'd have hydraulic buffers everywhere, surely?
Agreed, and I'm pleased to see that there is no overt blame being directed at the driver on this thread.Hopefully the driver is ok and is being given the support he needs at this time
The driver is always the first to blame but there could be a multitude of technical or mechanical reasons why the train didn't stop in time
Let's wait for the RAIB report
That one I won't forget. Was walking down the platform as it came in. Very distressing.Lest we remember several people died during a low-speed collision with the stop blocks at Cannon Street in 1991, so it’s never a total non-event. The nasty thing with a low-speed collision is no one is expecting anything, so it can catch people completely off guard - especially those standing in readiness to alight.
However equally a sense of proportion is required.
It's way off to suggest that 4mph (fast walking) is the limit of effectiveness - it depends on the design of buffers, but, for example, the massive hydraulic buffers at Waterloo could cope with far more. TPWS also only works if the brakes do. You say "there is probably minimal damage", but the picture I saw (from a link to the Evening Standard on this thread) shows significant cracking around the headlights, etc.
for any driver in any loco/multiple unit, low speed shunts in to the blocks or another vehicle are scary as hell..lets face it any shunt in any vehicle isnt good for the driver,
No. After Kent coast electrification. I am talking of Charing Cross station - CX (sorry, should not have used abbreviation without saying what it was.)Was this pre-electrification ?
All the Folkestone main line stations only had through platforms after the route was electrified in the early 1960's.
Lest we remember several people died during a low-speed collision with the stop blocks at Cannon Street in 1991, so it’s never a total non-event. The nasty thing with a low-speed collision is no one is expecting anything, so it can catch people completely off guard - especially those standing in readiness to alight.
However equally a sense of proportion is required.
No. After Kent coast electrification. I am talking of Charing Cross station - CX (sorry, should not have used abbreviation without saying what it was.)
the buffers at st pancras were meant to be compressed by incoming trains. that pushed water up into a tank high in the hotel, to be used by hydraulic lifts.