Useful video to see sequence of events although we've seen worst footage of waves along this stretch but granted leaving these trains to be continually covered in salt spray wasn't going to help the situation. So either the drivers were given a fix to restart engines or a fitter with a laptop turned up or perhaps they just dried out.I had a quick look through the thread and it doesn't look like this was posted yet. Railcam footage of the Dawlish IET Massacre:
Thanks to najaB for putting that together. What stood out is just how much kit there is on the roof.Useful video to see sequence of events although we've seen worst footage of waves along this stretch but granted leaving these trains to be continually covered in salt spray wasn't going to help the situation. So either the drivers were given a fix to restart engines or a fitter with a laptop turned up or perhaps they just dried out.
I only found it, it was the work of the Dawlish Beach Cam group.Thanks to najaB for putting that together. What stood out is just how much kit there is on the roof.
Most of it is the air conditioning pods plus the braking resistors on motor coaches which i guess are the source of earth faults that cause the engines to shut down.Thanks to najaB for putting that together. What stood out is just how much kit there is on the roof.
A Hitachi Rail spokesperson said: “The new Intercity Express Trains are designed to cope with the South West’s sometimes stormy weather conditions and have already been rigorously tested including weather simulation tests at our Japanese factory.Can IETs be retrofitted to be rescued by HSTs /15x or any other traction/DMU that has run up and down that line since 1846 ???
I sailed on a Hitachi built ship in 1964 (when it was less than a year old) lovely design but the fit-out had a life expectancy of about 6 months.
Mission critical kit was literally falling over on the bridge after less than 12 months in service
Nice people but you wouldn't buy a car from them, let alone a fleet of trains
Funny enough I did spot a Hitachi van appearing at Dawlish this morning, so one must have been not too far away.A fitter did attend to 1A77 not long after it was declared a failure, but it remained failed for a long time after. Hence the rescue train…
A 755 has had a low speed collision with a tree at Somerleyton. The Lowestoft to Reedham line is currently blocked.For those that are wondering what all the fuss is about, the strong winds haven’t actually arrived yet.
Overnight and early tomorrow morning, gusts up to 60-70mph will affect Wales. South Western, Central and parts of the North will be widely 45-55mph gusts.
In the South East, East Anglia, the far North West and Scotland, it should be relatively calmer.
Been a bit of a non event compared to Arwen. More a business as usual autumnal storm
Been a bit of a non event compared to Arwen. More a business as usual autumnal storm
Given that Storm Force 11 winds have just been recorded at Mumbles Head, with Force 9/10 all up the Welsh coast, I’d say that may be a little premature!
Funny enough I did spot a Hitachi van appearing at Dawlish this morning, so one must have been not too far away.
What is also worth remember with todays incident is that these are the First Group ordered and conventionally leased 802s - though it seems there were a pair of the DfT 800s in Penzance this morning. That doesn't excuse the issue persistent design flaw though.
That fitter is a superhero. Hats off to him/her.A Hitachi fitter had been provided at Dawlish in the event that something could happen as a proactive measure. The fitter was eventually able to "trick" the TMS on one of the sets that wasn't in special mode to get it moving again. Both the stranded trains got engines running at around the same time, which I imagine was when the weather got slightly less severe.
Indeed, he's certainly did well there and probably got quite the soaking for it. Though it isn't great to hear that 1A77 left limping towards Exeter on one sole working GU - at least 2 GU's were out of action when it left Plymouth, so it wasn't in the best of conditions when it approached the sea wall.A Hitachi fitter had been provided at Dawlish in the event that something could happen as a proactive measure. The fitter was eventually able to "trick" the TMS on one of the sets that wasn't in special mode to get it moving again. Both the stranded trains got engines running at around the same time, which I imagine was when the weather got slightly less severe.
The weather was at its most severe in SW Ireland. It was their Met Office which named the storm. In the UK it was a major storm of the kind which occurs most but not all winters.There’s still properties without power after Arwen, still roads and facilities closed. It’s a standard autumn storm. Force 10 is roughly 55-60, Arwen was force 12 on the scale, nigh on 100mph and gusting at 70mph.
It’s British wind, something we’re equipped for and deal with well.
The weather was at its most severe in SW Ireland. It was their Met Office which named the storm. In the UK it was a major storm of the kind which occurs most but not all winters.
Depends where you live. Arwen didn't really affect the west too much ,this one seems worse to me.Been a bit of a non event compared to Arwen. More a business as usual autumnal storm
Depends where you live. Arwen didn't really affect the west too much ,this one seems worse to me.
It's all well and good tossing a bit of salt water over a train in a testing facility, but they should've sent prototypes up and down Dawlish during storms.A Hitachi Rail spokesperson said: “The new Intercity Express Trains are designed to cope with the South West’s sometimes stormy weather conditions and have already been rigorously tested including weather simulation tests at our Japanese factory.
I think this one seemed quite localised with big variations in how severe it was even over relatively short distances. Here in Nottinghamshire there was about 3 hours of very heavy rain and strong winds around lunchtime yesterday but by mid afternoon the sky cleared and the wind really dropped. Only 40 miles away where my sister lives in Lincolnshire it was far more severe and lasted well into the evening.Barely noticed this one in London.
Barra Best has also walked some 'lost lines' for BBC NI television.Met Eireann in Dublin came up with the name Barra as part of the joint naming process for storms, but it was inspired by a BBC Northern Ireland weather presenter, named Barra Best. Who better to name a storm after than a weather presenter? See:
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/...-after-bbc-ni-weather-presenter-41123992.html