Re: Train crash Freight Victoria at Ararat

["Lineman" <grime@dcsi.net.au>]

Hi Rod
Yes its a very scary scenario,when you realise the points are laying for the
occupied road and the load is pushing you on.Its also a bloody hard job
getting off the side of a S,B,A,G type loco in a hurry,the jump would scare
you to death.Do you ride it in and hope the crash protection actually works
or jump into the unknown?
I have been in a situation where( person unknown) 5P lock& bar has been
unlocked and the Wsa lever had been pulled to lay for the siding, and the
sinking feeling is horrendous after youv gone for the big hole and nothing
seems to be happening.
In this particular instance the padlock had been neatly locked back on the
pin.
I hope both crews make a speedy recovery from their injuries,and thanks for
your report.
Lineman Graeme

"Rod" <comtrain@mpx.com.au> wrote in message
81q8ql$8nc$1@news1.mpx.com.au">news:81q8ql$8nc$1@news1.mpx.com.au...
> Well I cannot believe that it could happen on our New Interstate Rail
Line!
> But there again, with a hostile  Transport Ministry [Road bought?] I guess
> you can build a US type multi laned seperated Interstate Freeway network
for
> the Truck Lobby, and you have just about enough left to provide a
Flintstone
> Railway between the five Industrial, Consumer regions of Australia!
> When I first ran a train to Dimboola on the "new" Western SG, I was
shocked
> and amazed that the 130 tonne CLP I was driving, at the head of the
Overland
> was restricted to 50 kph for a better part of the new line!
> This lasted for years! We had to pick up a staff and carry it from
Pyrenees
> towards Maroona, and yet Ararat was CTC in the BG days, they removed track
> circuiting! This lasted for a few years, and finally they got rid of the
> staff,and the staff [human variety] and used ASW.
> The loop that was left was eventually connected to the SG from Maryborough
> and beyond. This siding is connected to the main Adelaide Coridor by a
> Annett key which is locked in a metal box, [phone?] with a lockwood
padlock,
> you know the sort, no key? its all right hit it with the shifter!
> Safeworking? nope, no Safeworking here!
> An informed scenario could be as follows [ I guess we are human, and we
want
> to know what happened!, but for God's sake this is still not FACT, the
> relevant authorities will be charged with the job of piecing together the
> complete story!]
>      I have not been to this place for five years, but I am reliably
> informed that the points were left unlocked and laying towards the main by
a
> person or persons unknown. The box was unlocked. The Crew on the Ballast
> train
> had arrived at the siding after another drama just a little out of town,
> when they rescued a young toddler up to its waist in a swamp alongside the
> track . The child was already the subject of a local search, and was
almost
> certainly saved by these guys!  They arrived into the siding from the
> Maryborough end, in a state of excitement, after their good deed, but were
> soon feeling uneasy about something in the yard. They apparently called up
> the oncoming train, but it was already near the swimming pool. and
expecting
> the main at the Dimboola end, running at track speed. The Maryborouh crew
> jumped the Ballast and ran, as the wheat train collided with their train
at
> 50 kph. Thank God our Maryborough  Drivers are only suffering minor
> injuries, the two Portland Drivers should recover their injuries, severe
as
> they are.
> The Locomotives and the Rolling Stock is another thing. We are going to
have
> a real problem replacing them.
> It seems to me that the Maryborough Crew may not only have saved the baby
in
> the pond, but their heroics may have continued when the warned the
Portland
> crew and reduced the impact speed!
> We need to know who left the points unlocked and we trust that it was not
> another Railway Crew. The other train that could use this siding would be
a
> Horsham Freight Gate, I am not sure if this train still runs, when it does
> it leaves a flat with a couple of containers at Ararat and the rest at
> Horsham. But the points would need to be reversed after the passing of the
> last National Rail, ASW or Tolls train. As  you can imagine their are many
> many more questions than answers at this early stage.
> Rod
>
>