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IETs (not) banned through Dawlish during rough seas

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fgwrich

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The whole set up is at the heart of the matter, minimal time at outstations overnight, diagrams that keep units in the WC for an extended time, making it difficult to get them back to a main depot if they have a repair that needs doing. The contracts that make use of units across the board nigh on impossible.
It’s not the staff on the ground or in control, be they GWR or Hitachi that are to blame, they are doing their best to manage a set of contracts that were ill thought out from the off.

I do agree, Perhaps it would help the situation a little better having a Hitachi depot down there, or Hitachi & Agility allowing GW a little more freedom over their fleets.
 
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yorkie

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Can we please stick to the topic title please?

There is absolutely no issue with anyone posting about something else, but there is no need to try to shoehorn lots of discussion into one topic regarding the IETs performance in the Dawlish area during high seas.

If there is more to be discussed on the original topic, feel free to continue the discussion. If you wish to post anything else, please use/create another thread.

Just a gentle reminder that any suggestions for changes to provision (infrastructure, services, or stock) do belong in Speculative Ideas please.

And finally can we please ensure that posts are polite and respectful.

Thanks :)
 

virgintrain1

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Another IET declared a failure on the sea wall (1A81) after being hit by a wave. All engines are shut down. Currently being rescued by a 1Z99. Ironically in the way of a XC HST at NTA.
 

JN114

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Same storm took out several windows on a 143 passing opposite direction shortly afterwards - the weather conditions on the sea wall were extreme late morning this morning.
 

samuelmorris

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I don't think we can really complain about lack of resilience to the waves if they're strong enough to break the glass on the side of other trains...
 

HOOVER29

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Never underestimate the power of the sea. Marine Parade at Dawlish is often awash with small stones from the beach that have been flung up & over the tracks during rough sea. I’ve even had to move the car into town as I didn’t want it pebble dashing. Woke up one morning to find seaweed on my cars bonnet & the the next cars boot lid.
 

DannyMich2018

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Seriously though with Class 802 units failing and what's happened today an alternative to this line needs to be looked at, it may be very pretty but with maintenance costs very high and low line speeds and with more extreme weather too this will only get worse.....
 

The Ham

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Seriously though with Class 802 units failing and what's happened today an alternative to this line needs to be looked at, it may be very pretty but with maintenance costs very high and low line speeds and with more extreme weather too this will only get worse.....

The government could even look to cut the subsidy that they provide for the London (was Heathrow, soon to be Gatwick) to Newquay services, which is provided (as I understand it) in part due to the lack alternative rail route of there's problems at Dawlish.

I doubt that the journey time by train is that much slower than flying if going to many places in Cornwall other than Newquay, given how out if the way Newquay is.
 

Ashley Hill

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Trouble is though if this keeps happening will GWR throw the towel in like XC does during rough seas? The delay minutes must have been astronomical today.
 

JN114

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Are the 80x units affected in exactly the same way as the 22x units?

No. The issue with the 22x units is salt spray causing electrical issues when it gets into the brake resistors on the roof.

The issue with the 80x units is the engines shutting down when struck by waves (not uncommon on any trains) - and the computer not allowing the driver to restart them (the true issue).
 

greatvoyager

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No. The issue with the 22x units is salt spray causing electrical issues when it gets into the brake resistors on the roof.

The issue with the 80x units is the engines shutting down when struck by waves (not uncommon on any trains) - and the computer not allowing the driver to restart them (the true issue).
Ah okay, thanks for explaining.
 

Clarence Yard

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The 22x and 802 issues are the same. The brake resistors on the roof get shorted out by the salt water, the 802 being more resistant to spray then the 22x series but large amounts of salt water swilling about on the roof on an 802 will always cause havoc.

In an 802, once a short is detected, the traction system will shut down as a precaution and the driver then had, I believe, only two chances to restart before it becomes a failure. The mod proposed by Hitachi increases the number of resets allowed (10, iirc) in a very restricted geographical area (to avoid expense misuse elsewhere) before it becomes a total failure.

You can’t do much with the traction system until the salt water on the roof has dissipated and a normal electrical path can be re-established. Fortunately it does drain away relatively quickly.
 

samuelmorris

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The 22x and 802 issues are the same. The brake resistors on the roof get shorted out by the salt water, the 802 being more resistant to spray then the 22x series but large amounts of salt water swilling about on the roof on an 802 will always cause havoc.

In an 802, once a short is detected, the traction system will shut down as a precaution and the driver then had, I believe, only two chances to restart before it becomes a failure. The mod proposed by Hitachi increases the number of resets allowed (10, iirc) in a very restricted geographical area (to avoid expense misuse elsewhere) before it becomes a total failure.

You can’t do much with the traction system until the salt water on the roof has dissipated and a normal electrical path can be re-established. Fortunately it does drain away relatively quickly.
Is there no way to run the rest of the traction system without the rheostatic braking?
 

angryskipfan

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This was proposed on voyagers but it changed the braking feel sufficiently that drivers would not accept dynamic brake isolation especially on a temporary geographical basis. Permanent isolation increases maintenance costs significantly.
 

samuelmorris

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This was proposed on voyagers but it changed the braking feel sufficiently that drivers would not accept dynamic brake isolation especially on a temporary geographical basis. Permanent isolation increases maintenance costs significantly.
I'm sure it would, I was only suggesting doing so in an emergency situation to detrain and return to depot, rather than carry on in regular service. It just seems daft to have the entire unit stranded for that.
 

Meerkat

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This was proposed on voyagers but it changed the braking feel sufficiently that drivers would not accept dynamic brake isolation especially on a temporary geographical basis. Permanent isolation increases maintenance costs significantly.
The drivers wouldn’t even accept it as a restricted speed mitigation on storm days on that short bit of line?
 
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