OHLE strike, Kelvedon

[apinnard]

By the looks of it, a 90+MK3 set has brought down the overheads just south of Kelvedon on the GEML and is at a stand.

One unit has gone through towards London bang-line.

Looks like a long night for folks in the Anglia region.

 

[Class 170101]

Buses (or if lucky limited train service) til the end of the day according to twitter.

 

[apinnard]

I think 9G99 was the rescue unit.

 

[306024]

Bi-Directional working over the down line between Marks Tey and Witham it appears.

 

[apinnard]

Yep. They can only use two of the four platforms when working with that particular blockage, not too bad on a Sunday evening though.

 

[uey0293]

Some interesting tweets about this...

https://twitter.com/vincefernandez9/status/1008416383221293059

Because it’s being used to evacuate passengers on the train that was struck by a large object thrown by vandals. It’s also damaged overhead power lines so London bound trains can’t move.

https://twitter.com/StephCoy2011/status/1008431025796648961

There’s a rumour that the train has been vandalised quite badly and your driver is lucky to be alive. If this is true I hope your driver is ok and they find the idiots who done it

Would an object thrown at a train really put the drivers life at risk? I presume there built to withstand crashes, so struggle to see how that 2nd tweet would be nothing more than rumour? I presume the windscreen glass is reinforced?

 

[306024]

Guess it depends on the size / shape / density of the object. A Norwich - London train under clear signals would normally be doing 100 mph at Kelvedon so even hitting a pigeon at that speed goes bang.

In a similar incident at Kelvedon a few years back the driver of a 321 noticed the OHL drooping and an insulator hit the windscreen. The damage to the train, and the drivers coat which fortunately he wasn’t wearing, was considerable.

 

[apinnard]

Some interesting tweets about this...

https://twitter.com/vincefernandez9/status/1008416383221293059

https://twitter.com/StephCoy2011/status/1008431025796648961

Would an object thrown at a train really put the drivers life at risk? I presume there built to withstand crashes, so struggle to see how that 2nd tweet would be nothing more than rumour? I presume the windscreen glass is reinforced?

There are a small handful of over bridges and one level crossing between Kelvedon and Rivenhall, so not unlikely that this could the case.

A 90 plus coaches on that stretch can be doing anything up to line speed, so around 100.

Not sure how they’ll affect rescue of the stricken set, but there are a couple of spare 68’s at Norwich this evening I believe... Hoping NR can get something fixed before tomorrow’s morning rush.

 

[yorkie]

Would an object thrown at a train really put the drivers life at risk?

If depends on the object, but potentially yes.

 

[GB]

Would an object thrown at a train really put the drivers life at risk? I presume there built to withstand crashes, so struggle to see how that 2nd tweet would be nothing more than rumour? I presume the windscreen glass is reinforced?

Yes. A few years old but....
*Warning* Fairly graphic picture of the driver in hospital.
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/shame-of-train-horror-louts-46492

A YOUTH pleaded guilty to endangering a train driver's life after he threw a 45lb lump of brick at a speeding freight train.

Daniel Ratcliffe, 17, of Broad Street, Kidderminster, admitted two charges of damaging property and being reckless as to whether another life was endangered.


The masonry, fixed together by mortar, struck the driver's cab after it was thrown from a bridge in Kidderminster, knocking father-of-two Joseph Paxton unconscious.

The runaway freight train, which was carrying 1,770 tonnes of steel, was finally brought to a halt nearly half-a-mile down the track when a failsafe mechanism kicked in.

Doctors later told Mr Paxton, aged 57, from Perry Barr, Birmingham, that he was lucky not to have been killed after he suffered 27 broken facial and head bones, including a broken jaw.

 

[SPADTrap]

And the recent body through the Voyager windscreen incident at XC which badly injured the driver. They're not infallible by any means.

 

[47513 Severn]

The affected 90+Mk3 set was still in the up loop at Witham when I passed at 1030 this morning. The second man's side windscreen on the loco looked very smashed but was still in place.

Some residual disruption today. 0830 ex Norwich was cancelled and the 0900 was 2x class 321.

 

[Class 170101]

Hauled back a Class 37 later that day to Crown Point.

 

[randyrippley]

Some interesting tweets about this...

https://twitter.com/vincefernandez9/status/1008416383221293059

https://twitter.com/StephCoy2011/status/1008431025796648961

Would an object thrown at a train really put the drivers life at risk? I presume there built to withstand crashes, so struggle to see how that 2nd tweet would be nothing more than rumour? I presume the windscreen glass is reinforced?

i was passenger on a WCML train around 30 years ago and the 87 at the head took a concrete block (suspended from a bridge) through the drivers window. Laminated glass, but it still caved in and the block entered the cab. Stuck for two hours plus around Crewe until they found a pilot loco. I never heard what happened to the driver, but the cab was in a hell of a mess. At 100, it takes little to cause a lot of damage

 

[daikilo]

Any object either dangled, dropped or thrown at the cab of a train could well be considered to be attempted murder. The forward-looking CCTV could confirm what happened and who did it.

 

[TheEdge]

The forward-looking CCTV could confirm what happened and who did it.

Which 90s don't have...

 

[1e10]

And the recent body through the Voyager windscreen incident at XC which badly injured the driver. They're not infallible by any means.

When/where did this happen?

 

[Z12XE]

Didn’t this turn out to be a loose dropper?

 

[TheEdge]

When/where did this happen?

A few months ago somewhere between Bristol Parkway and Gloucester, I forget exactly where though.

Didn’t this turn out to be a loose dropper?

Possibly a bit of the registration arm.