Bomb squad called after over 1,000 railway detonators found underwater

[Trackman]

It was good fun hitting each of the 5 caps in each det with a hammer to make sure they went off though (not the wet test ones, they were a different lot from the same batch obviously!)

Hells Bells.
Rather you me than me again.. Did you have ear defenders on?

 

[jopsuk]

Why do (did?) they need to be regularly disposed of and replaced, if they're potentially still good after 50 years?

Explosives do degrade, and they need to be absolutely good, not potentially good!

 

[AndrewE]

Hells Bells.
Rather you me than me again.. Did you have ear defenders on?

Very good ones...

Explosives do degrade, and they need to be absolutely good, not potentially good!

Actually the black powder (aka gunpowder) seems to last almost forever if it is kept dry. I think the worry is that any deterioration of the case (crimp-closed tinplated steel) would allow moisture in and that would cause the failure. The percussion caps might be even more susceptible to humidity though.

If trackman doesn't like the idea of putting them in hot water I guess he wouldn't want the job of soldering the lead strip on (used for clipping them to the rail.) I can't imagine that being done before they were sealed up as it would get in the way when the crimping was done.

 

[Gloster]

Wasn’t there a case in the last few years in the UK or Ireland of a driver being slightly injured after he put down his bag and some dets in it went off? Or am I getting muddled?

I was always careful with them as I was told a story, which I think was true ((not a railwaymen’s tall tale), about a chap who had been killed some time before (which on the railway could be decades). He was putting down dets on the rail and stood too close to them: when one exploded a small piece of casing sliced through his jugular.

 

[Meerkat]

He was putting down dets on the rail and stood too close to them: when one exploded a small piece of casing sliced through his jugular.

That sounds like an absolute classic 'story to scare the trainees into doing it properly'.

 

[silverfoxcc]

ScotsRail said:
How odd, I was just watching an episode of The Bill in which Tony Stamp deals with some youths mucking about with some railway detonators and a 6 year old girl ends up in hospital.

Also trying to work out what station he went to to discuss with BTP, would imagine it was Wimbledon owing to where they filmed the show.

(search The Bill Fireworks on Youtube if you want to see it)

Taunton replied

I can imagine PC Stamp being a massive anorak, too!

In The Bill Reg Hollis was the train enthusiast

 

[PeterY]

I hope this isn't a stupid question. Are detonators still used?

 

[GB]

I hope this isn't a stupid question. Are detonators still used?

Yes

 

[Pigeon]

It was good fun hitting each of the 5 caps in each det with a hammer to make sure they went off though

It's even more fun to get two bolts and a scrap of steel tube the bolts will slide into, slide one in from either end with a cap in the middle, tape them in place, and drop it on a concrete floor from a height...

 

[PG]

I hope this isn't a stupid question. Are detonators still used?

Yes

The only stupid question is the one you don't ask...

 

[Gloster]

In the days of coal stoves it was said that the way to clear the stovepipe was to chuck a det in the fire. Or you could annoy someone you didn’t like by dropping a det down the pipe without them knowing.

 

[skyhigh]

Why do (did?) they need to be regularly disposed of and replaced, if they're potentially still good after 50 years?

They have a 5yr expiry date, so they don't need replacing that frequently. You very rarely see a pack nearing expiry so they must get used reasonably often- though I've never had to place one outside of training.

 

[D6130]

Back in the day, fusilades of detonators were placed on the track when a line, station or depot closed....to be run over and 'cracked' by the last departing train or loco. The last time I personally witnessed this was at Kilmacolm in 1982. On the continent - or at least in France and Italy - lines of detonators are often placed on the rails to celebrate a driver's retirement....as their last train arrives at their home station at the end of their last shift. I last witnessed this at Pistoia in Italy in 2018, when a good friend retired as a driver there. He very kindly gave me his FS carriage key....which of course works all over Europe! There are several videos on YouTube of this ritual.

 

[Gloster]

At signal boxes the detonator placers were out by the rails, so got the full effects of the weather and had to be changed fairly frequently. Otherwise they might became rusty and leak.

 

[Trackman]

At signal boxes the detonator placers were out by the rails, so got the full effects of the weather and had to be changed fairly frequently. Otherwise they might became rusty and leak.

I guess they are none left now, well on Network Rail infrastructure. The ones I've seen had it own housing, I suppose it would protect them from the rain at best.

 

[PG]

I guess they are none left now, well on Network Rail infrastructure.

Wouldn't a traditional signal box controlling semaphores still have detonator placers?

 

[Deafdoggie]

The only stupid question is the one you don't ask...

Well in that case, what are detonators used for? Excuse my ignorance! Has their use changed (lessened) over the years?

 

[John Luxton]

Being underwater for many years does not automatically render them safe: if the casing hasn’t leaked they could theoretically explode. Look at the SS Richard Montgomery: over seventy-five years and they are beginning to get worried.

I don't think they are beginning to get worried - there has been concern for decades. I recall as a teen in the 1970s watching a BBC Nationwide feature on concerns that the wreck might explode. There has always been concern.

 

[zwk500]

Well in that case, what are detonators used for? Excuse my ignorance! Has their use changed (lessened) over the years?

Warning and protection in the event of an obstruction of the line. 3 detonators c.20m apart are still required in many situations, I think.

 

[ungreat]

We used to drop them down the chimneys on brake vans to wake the guard up..certainly worked!

 

[Pinza-C55]

I'll take a gauss they were dumped there by railway employees.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Imagine having the job of stamping the dates on detonators . The railway I volunteer on withdrew all detonators a couple of years ago. All trains and signal boxes are equipped with red flashing stop boards for protection.

 

[John Luxton]

Imagine having the job of stamping the dates on detonators . The railway I volunteer on withdrew all detonators a couple of years ago. All trains and signal boxes are equipped with red flashing stop boards for protection.

Make a change from stamping on that large bubble wrap stuff!

 

[Dunnideer]

Wouldn't a traditional signal box controlling semaphores still have detonator placers?

Virtually all detonator placers at mechanical signalboxes were removed by Railtrack in the 1990s. I think the very few that are left are protecting things like swing bridges. Banbury North and South boxes were the last ones I know of.

 

[117305]

How odd, I was just watching an episode of The Bill in which Tony Stamp deals with some youths mucking about with some railway detonators and a 6 year old girl ends up in hospital.

Also trying to work out what station he went to to discuss with BTP, would imagine it was Wimbledon owing to where they filmed the show.

(search The Bill Fireworks on Youtube if you want to see it)

Think it might be clapham junction platform 9

 

[Strat-tastic]

What's a detonator placer?

 

[zwk500]

What's a detonator placer?

A device that sits next to the rail and automatically places a detonator on the track when the signaller pulls the lever.

 

[Taunton]

I shamelessly plagiarise David L Smith's incomparable books about life on the Glasgow & South Western Railway more than 100 years ago. An inspector had come out from headquarters to a remote location. In those days detonators were known as 'fog signals'.

"Where are your fog signals?"
"Oh, they'll have some in the stores at Stranraer".
"What? Do you not actually use them?".
"Oh, aye, aye. If there's anyone getting married or emigrating to Australia we'll put down a few ...".

 

[Strat-tastic]

A device that sits next to the rail and automatically places a detonator on the track when the signaller pulls the lever.

Well I never. Thanks

 

[Annetts key]

What's a detonator placer?

There’s some photos on this forum