Last done in 1996 (Watford accident) - and then only for RES Mail trains.
ISTR Royal Mail trains going over the DC just after Christmas 2000 during the Euston / Willesden resignalling.
A bit harsh - recovery from an incident of this nature is not just a case of turning trains back like on a model railway - especially as reversing south to north at Watford can only be easily done in Platfrom 9. Crews and sets massively displaced.
Not harsh at all; I have been around long enough to realise that disruption on that scale is not easy to recover from but what I do object to is conflicting or downright lack of information as to what is happening.
Some examples from yesterday:
LOROL staff announcing that the DC was suspended due to a cable fault when I guessed, then confirmed with my contacts, that the real reason for there being no trains was an emergency isolation to allow passengers to be evacuated from the stranded train.
Arriving at Watford Junction to see that the 16:11 to Northampton was on the screens and being announced (several times) as departing from Platform 9. Train arrives from North, pax alight and punters on platform get on guard hasnt a clue what is going on (no reflection on him BTW), announcements dry up with the result that two lots of passengers are now milling around on the platform.
Eventually it is decided that the train will go to Euston, by which time most of the people who were on it have disappeared off to take their chances by some other means. There is then a further delay before somebody either:
a) Bothers to tell the signalman which way it is going so he can clear the signal
b) Gives up the block on the Up Slow so that the train can proceed, in the meantime it is blocking the only usable up platform.
After this little farce there are very few announcements, the only info I have is via National Rail Enquiries on my phone which shows another southbound train not too far away.
Train pulls into platform, it is an eight car advertised on the side as terminating at Watford and absolutely heaving. Passengers are told to alight and catch the DC or bus to Watford MET, yet again nobody has a clue what this train will do next, passengers for Northampton are told that the 17:11 will run and will depart from Platform 6. When the mass of humanity has finally shoe-horned its way down the stairs, I stroll over to P.6, expecting a long wait as nothing has left Euston.
Whilst lurking on P.6, I become aware of the sound of a 350 pulling away; it is the train on P.9, now presumably devoid of passengers and heading South no announcements no nothing. Perhaps it went ECS to Euston and there might have been a good reason for that if it did but, it arrived with a crew on board and a load of very inconvenienced people so why not take them as well?
Over on P.6, the 1st train was showing as the 17:11 to Northampton, my phone was showing at least three Virgin trains in front of it, the first of which is a Glasgow which duly rolled up with no announcements. After sitting there for several minutes one was made that people for Milton Keynes and Rugby could board this train. Second train appears which is for Manchester, nobody seems to know where it is going (surely it would show on TRUST or the overview screen if it was on the public NRE?).
By this time a gut instinct had told me that the Northampton would be off P.8 which turned out to be correct (TBF, this was announced in enough time for people to get over there)
The biggest problem IMO was that there was nobody calling the shots as used to happen in the days of rose-tinted spectacles also, one thing I was always taught (being a dinosaur from that age) was that once a decision had been made, inform everybody then
stick by that decision unless there is a real need (such as a safety issue) to change it.