Re: Crossing loop design (r.e. Southern Aurora crash)

[krel4203@netconnect.com.au (Krel )]

>In Victoria, at Lara and Laverton (and probably some other places), loop
>roads have 'slips' installed which are rodded to the points.  If the
>points are set for the main, the slip is open, train cannot exit loop
>road onto the main - it is derailed.  If the points are set for the
>loop, slip closes, train can safely exit loop road.
>
>It appeared on my travels that loops throughout NSW are set up the same,
>and talking to the train controllers at Junee suggested that this is
>indeed the standard set up.  He also suggested we were mad not to do so
>here.
>
>This begs the question - why is this not standard practice elsewhere?
AIUI VR had a phobia about running passenger trains over catch points,
even when they were closed.

>Didn't the Aurora go through no. 2 road?  

No, It ran through on no. 1 road. Another VR phobia was about putting
a passenger train away for a freight. Even if the pass got there first
it held the main and the goods/freight ran into the loop (no. 2). this
still happens today occaisionally.

>Had Violet Town been equipped
>with an NSW (or Lara and Laverton) style loop, when the Aurora passed
>the stick with the road set for the main (and hence the slip open), it
>would been derailed - rather than proceding head on into the oncoming
>goods.
>
If the road had been set for the Aurora to run into the loop it may
have derailed as it ran into no 2 road. It certainly would have
alerted the other staff on the train that something was up!! If it
made it through the 25 mph turnout at 71, it would have run out of
rails just past the Home Departure signal and derailed (probably
saving some lives) IF the loop have catch points fitted.

>Yes I concede there is the possiblity of something of a 'pile up' with a
>pass train being derailed at 115km/h, hence fouling the main line and
>being struck anyway, but wouldn't "some risk of collision" be preferable
>to "guaranteed collision"? 

A slightly similar incident happened a few years ago at Henty, NSW.
The south bound XPT departed from the platform (in the loop/no. 2
road) and failed to stop at the end of the loop. It ran through the
catchpoints and was derailed away from the mainline. A northbound
freight train was appproaching and if the catchpoints had not been
there we could ahve had another "Aurora Smash" on our railways. As it
was 4 people were injured, none seriously. The freight train stopped
safely at the Home signal. ( The only real drama was the truck driver
who was heading north on the Olympic Way and saw the XPT leap into the
air and aim for his truck on the roadway!!).
 
>And given the push for driver only for long
>shifts on bigger and harder to stop freight trains, is it inevitable
>that more trains will overshoot loops and such collisions be more
>likely?
>
VR already acknowledge the problem by providing an overrun of about
100-200m between the Home Departure signal and the fouling point on
most crossing loops.

Cheers

Krel

Just another eccentric crank.