• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Union of South Africa damages Carriage gangway on the ELR

Status
Not open for further replies.

rdlover777

Member
Joined
4 Feb 2014
Messages
450
Location
Kent
So, this happened. a mate of mine sent me this today on twitter and its a video of Union of South Africa tearing off the gangway of a coach it was pulling away from.


How is this even possible?
 
Last edited:
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

36270k

Member
Joined
7 Jan 2015
Messages
210
Location
Trimley
so a mate of mine sent me this today of twitter.


How is this even possible?
The van has a screw coupling and a british std gangway, the A4 has a buckeye couple and pullman gangway. A british std gangway has a locking lever on each side that must be opened.

From the video, it looks like the lever on the platform side was released but not on the other side.
 

racyrich

Member
Joined
25 Jan 2014
Messages
206
Is it normal to always connect a corridor tender's corridor connection? It seems like alot of aggravation when it's not actually going to be used.
Or do unconnected connections cause problems?
 

d9009alycidon

Member
Joined
22 Jun 2011
Messages
837
Location
Eaglesham
I think the RAIB will need to investigate this, someone on the platform could easily have been injured by flying debris.
 

43096

On Moderation
Joined
23 Nov 2015
Messages
15,162
I think the RAIB will need to investigate this, someone on the platform could easily have been injured by flying debris.
Not necessarily. Whilst it may be reportable to them, they may decide that it doesn’t need investigation as the cause is known and there’s no real recommendations to be made.
 

SPADTrap

Established Member
Joined
15 Oct 2012
Messages
2,352
The fact that they slinked off after this is extremely poor, not even so much as an inspection.
 

30907

Veteran Member
Joined
30 Sep 2012
Messages
17,866
Location
Airedale
The fact that they slinked off after this is extremely poor, not even so much as an inspection.
A visual inspection, involving someone dressed as footplate crew, is seen taking place in the video.
 

Aictos

Established Member
Joined
28 Apr 2009
Messages
10,403
So how much will it cost to repair the damage caused and how long to do the repairs?
 

30907

Veteran Member
Joined
30 Sep 2012
Messages
17,866
Location
Airedale
According to Nigel Harris of Rail on Twitter, may have been something snagged rather than any act of omission.

https://twitter.com/RAIL/status/1209154154381369349
Please call off the dogs on the ELR, at least for now? My understanding is that the gangway clips between No. 9’s tender and the Stove R were NOT connected in any way - but that one clip had somehow become snagged, with the results seen. The A4 was coupled with a screw shackle 2and not the buckeye. I stress that this is anecdotal and not official info - but if confirmed this means it was a freak accident with lessons to learn. I repeat: this is ‘intelligence’ and I suggest now waiting for the official report before further conclusions are jumped to!
 
Last edited by a moderator:

alexl92

Established Member
Joined
12 Oct 2014
Messages
2,268
The van has a screw coupling and a british std gangway, the A4 has a buckeye couple and pullman gangway. A british std gangway has a locking lever on each side that must be opened.

From the video, it looks like the lever on the platform side was released but not on the other side.

The A4 also has a standard screw coupling so not sure why that’s relevant? (Forgive me if I’m missing something obvious!)

Is it normal to always connect a corridor tender's corridor connection? It seems like alot of aggravation when it's not actually going to be used.
Or do unconnected connections cause problems?
A few people online have mentioned this - does anyone know if it’s standard practise to always connect it up?
 

randyrippley

Established Member
Joined
21 Feb 2016
Messages
5,080
From what I've read elsewhere, I had the impression the two types of corridor weren't compatible
 

superkev

Established Member
Joined
1 Mar 2015
Messages
2,682
Location
west yorkshire
Is it normal to always connect a corridor tender's corridor connection? It seems like alot of aggravation when it's not actually going to be used.
Or do unconnected connections cause problems?
Perhaps they where intending to change crews east cost style between Bury and Ramsbottom :)
 

Edders23

Member
Joined
22 Sep 2018
Messages
549
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 !
 

Edders23

Member
Joined
22 Sep 2018
Messages
549
Just heard that they have temporarily renamed the loco Disunion of south africa
 

rdlover777

Member
Joined
4 Feb 2014
Messages
450
Location
Kent
if i may ask, how does Union's gangway work with the coaches gangway if Union has a standard LNER/Pullman one while the coach has an NER like one
 

alexl92

Established Member
Joined
12 Oct 2014
Messages
2,268
But why would they use the corridor connection? Surely they’d just be better off leaving them unattached?
 

dubscottie

Member
Joined
4 Apr 2010
Messages
910
AIUI they didn't. See link in post #12

The gangway on the van would have been retracted and clipped and feet away from the faceplate of 60009s tender.

Note how the faceplate on the tender is pulled out in exactly the same place that the clips on the BSG are located.

They MUST have been connected regardless of what Nigel Harris says. It is the only way it could have happened.
 

Merle Haggard

Established Member
Joined
20 Oct 2019
Messages
1,979
Location
Northampton
Coupling coaches with British Standard and Pullman gangways was very common. All GW and LMS coaches had BS gangways and, as the proportion of BR Standard coaches with Pullman gangways increased, inevitably such connections had to be made - most trains were far from uniform and some LMS and at least one GW coaches lasted long enough to be repainted blue & grey.. In those days I never heard of the clip 'snagging' but people did check.
An incident occurred on another 'heritage railway' where an LNER Pacific (with buckeye corridor tender) was coupled to a matching set of coaches. Unfortunately, the saddle was not lifted from the buffer stem of the adjacent coach. It was quite difficult to couple up, though this was eventually achieved by some straining; but, unsurprisingly, extremely difficult to separate.
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.
 

Edders23

Member
Joined
22 Sep 2018
Messages
549
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
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top