Potential weather disruption Tuesday 7th onwards - Storm Barra

[najaB]

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:

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

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:

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.

 

[Wychwood93]

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.

Thanks to najaB for putting that together. What stood out is just how much kit there is on the roof.

 

[najaB]

Thanks to najaB for putting that together. What stood out is just how much kit there is on the roof.

I only found it, it was the work of the Dawlish Beach Cam group.

 

[Annetts key]

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…

 

[Geoff DC]

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

 

[Leisurefirst]

Due to be travelling tomorrow morning Euston to Glasgow.
Was going to try to Seatfrog upgrade.
If the blockage is not cleared by then and I have to travel by LNER from King's Cross via Edinburgh instead (tickets are being accepted) could I still Seatfrog upgrade on the LNER service?

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

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.

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

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.


Quote from article Class 802 Intercity Express Trains Will be Salt Water Proof

 

[fgwrich]

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…

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.

 

[Master29]

One thinks that rather than cucumber green IET's should be lemon yellow.

 

[londonmidland]

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, the far North West and Scotland, it should be relatively calmer.

 

[dk1]

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.

A 755 has had a low speed collision with a tree at Somerleyton. The Lowestoft to Reedham line is currently blocked.

 

[M&NEJ]

It looks like the WCML is open again north of Lockerbie. From Realtime Trains, 107T Shieldmuir - Warrington is passing Beattock about 100 minutes late and 1S74 TP Liverpool - Glasgow approaching Lockerbie 89 minutes late.

 

[CHAPS2034]

Tree on the up slow somewhere around Harrow & Wealdstone according to NRE.

All other lines appear to be open.

 

[jkkne]

Been a bit of a non event compared to Arwen. More a business as usual autumnal storm

 

[gazzaa2]

Been a bit of a non event compared to Arwen. More a business as usual autumnal storm

Just more typical strong winds.

I've never known anything like the one the other week where I am.

 

[Bald Rick]

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!

 

[jkkne]

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!

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.

 

[Horizon22]

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.

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 was when the weather got slightly less severe.

 

[dk1]

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.

That fitter is a superhero. Hats off to him/her.

 

[fgwrich]

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.

 

[InOban]

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.

 

[Horizon22]

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.

That's not strictly true. The British. Dutch & Irish Met Office together name the storms each September: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-storm-centre/index

 

[Elwyn]

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

 

[InOban]

They jointly choose the list of names each September. But it's up to each Met Office to decide when a particular storm is worthy of being named. The next serious event could develop in the North Sea and only be of concern to the Dutch. It will still get the the C name. Just as Arwen wasn't a concern to Met Eirann.

 

[irish_rail]

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.

 

[bramling]

Depends where you live. Arwen didn't really affect the west too much ,this one seems worse to me.

Barely noticed this one in London.

 

[LOL The Irony]

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.

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.

 

[ChrisC]

Barely noticed this one in London.

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.

 

[No Spirit]

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

Barra Best has also walked some 'lost lines' for BBC NI television.