Re: New questions for rail experts

[Chris Gordon <cmgord@alphalink.com.au>]

> > Correct, that is why they have a second person (or did have a second
> > person).
> 
> Endeavours? XPT's? Xplorers? 620's?

Yep, I think they should be fitted with trip arms. 

But I suppose you do have a guard in these cases, so if he/she is alert
and notices the train going down the wrong line, through a red signal
etc.. then he/she should "pull the tap" and stop the train.
 
> > I think that a train with no trip arm or no second person is not safe.
> > I don't think driver only operation of a diesel train is a good idea.
> 
> Happens all the time, all over Australia.

I know, and I think it is unsafe.
But at least Passenger train still have guards.  One man operation of
goods trains don't.  It is all very nice to have all this interlocking,
safeworking etc... but if you have only one person operation and he/she
does the wrong thing (like pass a signal at stop), then the system has
failed.  A least a second person says "hey, that was a red signal" or a
trip arm stops the train.
 
> > I also don't think you should be de-railing trains that have past a red
> > signal, that is what overlaps and correct deisgn is ment to protect.
> >
> > > >  That is why Sydney had so many derailments, and
> > > > Melbourne only has SPADS, or the odd crash where a train is doing like
> > > > 130 km/h through a red signal and crashed into the back of another
> train
> > > > (Sydney station accident about 10+ years ago).
> > >
> > > Which accident was that?
> >
> > Smashed up a Hitachi motor totally bent in half.  I don't know the
> > correct detials, but something along the lines of train driver going too
> > fast down hill, straight through two red signals, because he was going
> > too fast the train stop/trip arm had little effect and ran straight into
> > the back of the train sitting in Sydnal Station.  (both trains were
> > going in the up direction).
> 
> So a catchpoint *might* have worked then?

A catchpoint would have just derailed the train, down the embankment and
still smashed it up.  A catchpoint would not have helped, it may have
made it worse.

Maybe speed proving trip arms they would have tripped the train earlier
and stopped it or at least slowed the train down more before the crash.


Can someone please fill in the details of the Sydnal crash.  I have very
limited understanding of what happened.

-- 

Chris Gordon

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