Re: Indian Pacific Crash

[David Langley <del@ancc.com.au>]

Exnarc wrote:

> Don't know the location personally, or if the remote control points were
> working, but if they weren't, there would have to be a way of manual
> operation. ie: DCPM.

The situation at that end of the railway is (in March this year at least) no
different to the eastern end. The setup is each end of the loop has motor
operated points (switches) and a searchlight point indicator facing approaching
trains. Because this is not in any form CTC, there is no approach locking hence
a 50km/h restriction on trains passing through on the main. The procedure at a
cross (by observation at a number of locations between Tent Hill and Pimba) is
for the train entering the loop to stop and let itself in and when clear the
points would self restore. The train would stop at the fouling point at the
departure end and then the other train, if was there, would depart. We never saw
two trains moving together. The non driving crew member on the stopped train
would go down to the points and after the through train had cleared, giving a
roll by at the same time, would set the points for his train to depart and
rejoin the train as it left. The points would reset after the rear of the train
cleared the fouling section. There is, Mr. Notagunzel has explained it
elsewhere, a small detected area around the points only merely to prove the
points area clear of trains before motor operation can take place. There appears
nothing to stop the points being reversed prior to the through train passing
through i.e. diverting it onto the loop, save for the vigilance of the crew
member standing on the ground.

> Switch Stands, aren't all mainline points on the TAR fitted with them?

No, searchlight signals with flashing indications are used instead. Flashing
green points set for main and locked, flashing yellow points set for loop and
locked, flashing red points not set for anywhere in particular and certainly not
locked.

>  As for the crew member being at the points, the old rules for CR T.O.
> working required that a member of the other crew admit the second train to
> the cross by showing a green flag or light from the points, not sure how
> they do it, now that radio has become the main form of safeworking in TO
> Territory.

I suggest that radio is now used although every time we were observing a cross,
we were away from the scanner taking photos.

David Langley.