Freight derailment in Tameside (Greater Manchester), with one minor injury (06/09)

[DelW]

How would you do it - the tops are quite tight and the sides rather flimsy for swinging a grab around, so it would be a slow job that way.

Possibly vacuum excavation?

Suction excavator - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

(Wikipedia article summarising vacuum excavation equipment and techniques)

Pure guesswork on my part though!

 

[ac6000cw]

Possibly vacuum excavation?

Suction excavator - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

(Wikipedia article summarising vacuum excavation equipment and techniques)

Pure guesswork on my part though!

NR has some 'Railvac' machines, used to excavate ballast - see https://www.networkrailmediacentre....-main-line-weekend-upgrades-in-stoke-on-trent


(NR photo from the article)

 

[Nym]

You wouldn’t get a brake demand anyway as the brake pipe (E70) would’ve been isolated.

And if it wasn’t, you wouldn’t get a brake pipe in the first place!

Not if you hit the Emergency plunger in either cab.
(Also not if the ETCS (European Train Control System) BAD (Brake Operating Device) operates without demand, but that would be less likely and would depend on the operating mode of the EVC (European Vital Computer) and if the BAD was properly isolated)

Edit to include initialisms. (Apologies).

 

[StretfordEnd96]

Is a fair portion of the failed train still sat on the rail overbridge above the Manchester Piccadilly->Guide Bridge line?

It's not on this line where the incident happened, it's on a freight only section of line which runs from the Stockport-Guide Bridge line and joins the Ashton-Victoria section close to Ashton Moss. Not sure whether failed train is still there.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Is a fair portion of the failed train still sat on the rail overbridge above the Manchester Piccadilly->Guide Bridge line?

It's not on this line where the incident happened, it's on a freight only section of line which runs from the Stockport-Guide Bridge line and joins the Ashton-Victoria section close to Ashton Moss. Not sure whether failed train is still there.

Isn't it? Doesn't the 'Down Crowthorne' line cross above the Manchester->Guide Bridge line about half-a-mile after Denton Junction? And it would have been a long train!

 

[pokemonsuper9]

Isn't it? Doesn't the 'Down Crowthorne' line cross above the Manchester->Guide Bridge line about half-a-mile after Denton Junction? And it would have been a long train!

The bit that derailed is over a public footpath, not a railway, I believe the rest of the train has been moved.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I believe the rest of the train has been moved.

The front portion, or the rear? So, what would have been above the Manchester->Guide Bridge line last Saturday?

 

[ac6000cw]

The front portion, or the rear? So, what would have been above the Manchester->Guide Bridge line last Saturday?

If you look at the aerial drone footage in the video in post #79 and relate it to Google maps satellite view, you can probably work out what was where 11 days ago (after the front part of the train had been moved forward a short distance clear of the derailed part).

 

[Ash Bridge]

The front portion, or the rear? So, what would have been above the Manchester->Guide Bridge line last Saturday?

I think a rake of NR ballast or spoil type bogie wagons were brought in, perhaps former EWS Gondola wagons? I’m guessing they could have been sat roughly over the Manchester - Guide Bridge line after delivery?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I think a rake of NR ballast or spoil type bogie wagons were brought in, perhaps former EWS Gondola wagons? I’m guessing they could have been sat roughly over the Manchester - Guide Bridge line after delivery?

Noted. Thanks. That could well have been the case!

 

[Ash Bridge]

Some more footage of the recovery process just been posted if I may link to it……

 

[endecotp]

There’s an interesting still at 4:39 that seems to show the bridge being propped from below.

 

[Ash Bridge]

Hadn’t noticed that, perhaps additional support whilst the rail mounted crane needs to be directly above to perform wagon lifting etc.?

 

[mcmad]

Given the crane is lifting without its outriggers due to the lack of width available then the axle loading will be well beyond what the bridge would have been designed for even if it was in perfect condition so the propping isn't necessarily an indication of a bridge fault as cause of the derailment.

 

[Nym]

I find it more concerning that we have umpteen rail workers on site, all seemingly certified with some significant lack of consideration for basic safety on matters like smoking and mobile phone use...

 

[66701GBRF]

Smoking and mobile phone use is not prohibited providing you are not directly involved in a safety critical activity.

 

[ainsworth74]

The RAIB have announced that they're investigating the accident via an update on their website which I've included below:

At around 11:25 on 6 September 2024, a freight train travelling between Peak Forest and Salford derailed as it passed over a bridge in Audenshaw, Manchester.

The train involved was made up of 2 class 66 locomotives and 24 wagons, which were loaded with aggregate. The 2 locomotives and the leading 10 wagons passed safely over the bridge, but the next 9 wagons derailed, with the last of the derailed wagons coming to a stand on the bridge itself.

No injuries were caused by the accident. However, the derailment caused substantial damage to railway infrastructure and damaged some of the wagons involved.

Our investigation will seek to identify the sequence of events that led to the accident. It will also consider:

• the condition of the infrastructure at the time of the derailment
• the status and condition of the wagons involved
• any underlying management factors.

Our investigation is independent of any investigation by the railway industry or by the industry’s regulator, the Office of Rail and Road.

We will publish our findings, including any recommendations to improve safety, at the conclusion of our investigation. This report will be available on our website.

We may as well now wait for the outcome of that before continuing our discussion further so I've locked the thread. Once they report we can look at getting this thread re-opened.

 

[Daytona]

Not much of a surprise, but a huge amount of checking to be done on other structures -

"The rails on the bridge were supported on PAN M6 baseplates held to the timber by only two LSA chair screws.

On site, RAIB recovered 13 failed LSA chair screws from the baseplates of the low-side rail. None of these screws were marked with ‘HT’ on their heads, which indicates that these chair screws were probably not made of high-tensile strength material.

Early results from metallurgical analysis of these failed chair screws show that they all exhibited signs of low-cycle and high-cycle fatigue failure in bending (figure 1). A number of them also exhibited a small area of unfatigued material which eventually fractured by overload (figure 2). The plane of failure in most cases was just below the top level of the timber, typically one or two threads below the screws’ shanks.

This mode of failure of the chair screws is not easily detectable by visual inspection means."

Urgent Safety Advice 01/2024: Derailment on bridges with longitudinal timber systems

www.gov.uk

 

[M60lad]

I know its only a freight line but are we any nearer to knowing when the line will reopen and when work (if it hasn't already started) will start getting it reopened? Also what's the latest regarding the bridge structure itself will a new bridge be needed or can the old one be fixed?

 

[billh]

Work has been going on since the incident.

The rolling stock has all been removed- I understand that three most damaged wagons have been or will be taken by road to France for repair!

Work on the bridge continues during daylight hours with a road rail vehicle being used to transport materials between the bridge and the former Crowthorne Junction where there is road access.

The bridge is being supported by adjustable props from underneath while being worked on.

I expect the line to be re-opened within a couple of weeks.

It would be very interesting to know the cost of this incident, the diverted trains some having to be top and tailed , two locos, compensation to customers for late arrivals in addition to the cost of repairs and repercussions on a national level for other similar bridges.

 

[Elecman]

I know its only a freight line but are we any nearer to knowing when the line will reopen and when work (if it hasn't already started) will start getting it reopened? Also what's the latest regarding the bridge structure itself will a new bridge be needed or can the old one be fixed?

Line scheduled to reopen November 4th

 

[billh]

I see there's a stone blower arriving at Guide Bridge as I type. Will this be used to re-align and ballast the track around the site of the derailment before trains can run next week?

 

[KnobbyGB]

How would you do it - the tops are quite tight and the sides rather flimsy for swinging a grab around, so it would be a slow job that way.

If you watch "part 3" of the videos liked above (the night-time one) it shows the contents being "sucked" out and deposited in trucks on the road below the bridge. I watched "part 2" first (as you would) and wondered how they'd emptied the wagons before re-railing.

 

[billh]

Line re-opened today, most of the usual trains using it. Almost two months closure.

 

[Daytona]

If you watch "part 3" of the videos liked above (the night-time one) it shows the contents being "sucked" out and deposited in trucks on the road below the bridge.

I can't see that. Could you post a link and timestamp ?

 

[Freightmaster]

I can't see that. Could you post a link.

Here you go:

and timestamp ?

Video should start playing at the right location; if not, the timestamp is 12:45




MARK

 

[Daytona]

Ah, OK, thanks, it was The Urban Legend UK's video from the previous page. I thought KnobbyGB meant one of trainsurfers video, as it was the most recently posted here.