Union of South Africa damages Carriage gangway on the ELR

[Merle Haggard]

the thing is preserved railways rely on volunteers many of whom would not know all the ins and outs of coupling locos and carriages. Things can go wrong but as long as the consequences are not dangerous they are a learning opportunity

Hands up anyone on here who has never made a mistake

In at least two cases on 'heritage railways' fairly recently, people who didn't know the ins and outs of coupling were killed, as I mentioned above.

 

[eldomtom2]

The number of incidents (some fatal) on these lines that have attracted the attention of RAIB is interesting, and incidents like this one do suggest enthusiasm is trumping expertise.

Wouldn't it be enthusiasm trumping caution? But then it's hardly surprising that someone who puts heritage railways in scare quotes would have a dim view of them.

 

[theironroad]

Ah well gave the crowd a story to tell everyone but not really a major incident might cost a bob or two to repair but hardly a major mishap

and in a way it's quite funny !

As the metal is pulled a part a piece is jettisoned under stress into the 6 foot.

Had this piece gone the other way towards the platform , it could easily have done some serious harm to one of the many small kids , some in prams, on the platform.

I don't know the mechanisms of why this happened, but the ELR should be counting themselves extremely lucky right now this didn't turn out differently.

Whether or not the raib decide to investigate, I'd imagine the ORR will be looking into it with their increasing interest in the safety of heritage railways.

Glad you found it funny though......

 

[Raul_Duke]

We don’t need the RAIB, we have the RFAIB who have the advantage of not needing to visit a site

 

[theironroad]

We don’t need the RAIB, we have the RFAIB who have the advantage of not needing to visit a site

Lol, that made me chuckle...

 

[BigB]

Lol, that made me chuckle...

Yes, the comments from some parts was the funny part of all this. The incident could have been very different as Theironroad points out (I was waiting for someone to point this out).
For the armchair nay-sayers, coupling and uncoupling carriages is not something volunteers can just go and do not matter how enthusiastic. It is a competency that should only be given once an assessment is made and re-examined at regular periods. I don't know the ELR safety management systems but I have no reason to doubt that this would not be the case there.

We are looking at a failure to uncouple properly which may have a variety of causes - coupled by someone and uncoupled by someone's else assuming gangways were uncoupled, a clamp that was originally unfastened falling into place because a gangway was not stowed back etc. etc. - it's not clear at the moment, but whatever happened it's clear that there is a potential for this to happen, and I'd expect that there should be some learnings from it.

 

[Nighthawke]

Glad you found it funny though......

Not just me who didn't then! 35 years in a high risk industry where safety is paramount I always react strongly to those who find humour in potentially life-threatening incidents.

 

[eldomtom2]

The Benign Violation Theory is a popular explanation for humour, and would posit that it's funny because there was the potential for harm.

 

[Nighthawke]

Theories are all very well but real life is not theoretical. In my line of work this would be classed as a VSI (very serious incident). The guys and girls I work with have a great sense of humour but no-one laughs at VSIs. I very much doubt that the parents close to the flying debris were finding it funny either.

 

[eldomtom2]

Well yes - to those at risk of harm the "benign" (note that this is in relation to the person finding humour in it, and does not indicate that it either was or was perceived as benign in reality) aspect is rather lost. Noone laughs at the death of family members, but a great deal of comedy has been mined out of the deaths of strangers...

 

[theironroad]

The Benign Violation Theory is a popular explanation for humour, and would posit that it's funny because there was the potential for harm.

Well if the Wikipedia definition of the theory is correct then it would appear not to apply to a situation such as this where the the threatening situation is potentiality not benign , but possibly fatal.

 

[eldomtom2]

Threatening situation that was potentially fatal. After it has occurred, it can be classed as benign for the sake of theories on humour (though not to the RAIB!).

 

[devonexpress]

This incident wasn't a bad as it looked, from what is looks like and from the information shared it appear a pin got caught and cause the gangway to rip off, there seems to be more damage to Union of South Africa where the tender gangway is bent.

 

[dubscottie]

This incident wasn't a bad as it looked, from what is looks like and from the information shared it appear a pin got caught and cause the gangway to rip off, there seems to be more damage to Union of South Africa where the tender gangway is bent.

It was a potentiality serious incident. Nothing got caught. It appears that it was left connected on one side.

The BSG on the van should have been unclipped from the tender and put into the stowed position before the coupling etc was disconnected.

That is the procedure the old LNER used anyway to avoid incidents that this.