Train on Fire at PAD?

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

Just a word on how the automatic fire bottles operate:

They are for the engines only and do not operate when there is a saloon fire - manually operated extinguishers have to do the job then.  A heat detecting circuit runs round the engine and when it detects abnormal heat then the fire alarm sounds in the drivers cab and when the speed of the train is reduced to less than 6mph the automatic extinguisher activates.  If there is an engine fire and that doesn't put it out, then there's a separate extinguisher which can be operated by a pull handle manually.  The driver is aware which engine is affected by that carriages 'cant rail' light being lit.

So, if there wasn't a fire it must have been a defect with this heat detecting circuit.  They have been known to set the extinguishers off at very low temperatures (explain that one if you can!), but it's unusual (though not unheard of) for them to go off under normal running conditions.  Ironically when the extinguisher contacts the hot engine there's a hell of a lot of steam which actually makes it look as if there is an engine fire, even if there isn't! 

I only briefly saw and commented on this topic earlier yesterday. I'd forgotten all about it until getting back online  today. But it was obviously there in my subconscious because I took this photo at Bristol Temple Meads last evening:



Thanks to II's explanation I now know what these bottles are for and how they are activated, but they do rather look like three mini ICBMs* ready for launch....


*Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. No.... I won't be adding the abbreviation to the list.

[smokey]

In circumstances like these, rather than immediately bring the train to a stand, possibly in the middle of nowhere / very difficult to reach - shouldn't consideration be given to allowing the train to coninue to next station - maybe only when location is close to PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) as the stations aren't far apart & evacuation would be simple.

With train fires the best place to stop is ASAP, hopefully the Driver would use Judgement and avoid Stopping in/on
 
Tunnels, (worse possible place to have a fire), fill with smoke and Tunnels act as Chimneys.

Viaducts, causes Access problems for Emergency services, plus often very windy,

Stopping at a Station may seem a good Idea, is it? a fire can get out of control and why let fire take out a Train and Station canopy and buildings!

The best place to stop a train has to be near a Road access point
Level crossings come top for once.

IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly) A train caught fire in the USA, the crew asked for permission to move the train whilst still a small fire.
Control said NO leave it, so the burning wagon(s) took out the wooden viaduct they were standing ON. 

[inspector_blakey]

A couple of examples of how nasty train fires in tunnels can get: these involved goods trains carrying flammable/hazardous goods, but very fortunately there were no serious injuries in either case. However both incidents caused huge disruption:

Summit Tunnel, UK^▸ (United Kingdom), Dec 1984
Howard Street Tunnel, Baltimore, USA, Jul 2001

[ellendune]

A couple of examples of how nasty train fires in tunnels can get: these involved goods trains carrying flammable/hazardous goods, but very fortunately there were no serious injuries in either case. However both incidents caused huge disruption:

Summit Tunnel, UK^▸ (United Kingdom), Dec 1984
Howard Street Tunnel, Baltimore, USA, Jul 2001

I was working for one of the local authorities concerned at the time of the Summit Tunnel Fire.  Indeed it was very nasty. Disruption was not only to rail users.  Some people had to be evacuated from their houses and a major transpennine road was closed for some days. There was also a significant water pollution incident. I was also very late home from work.

Very fortunate no injuries.

[Electric train]

A couple of examples of how nasty train fires in tunnels can get: these involved goods trains carrying flammable/hazardous goods, but very fortunately there were no serious injuries in either case. However both incidents caused huge disruption:

Summit Tunnel, UK^▸ (United Kingdom), Dec 1984
Howard Street Tunnel, Baltimore, USA, Jul 2001

I am working on the Thameslink Program new piece of infrastructure called Canal Tunnels, these tunnels link St Pancras low level to the ECML^▸ (East Coast Main Line) at Belle Isle (that's between Gas Works and Copenhagen Tunnels just under where HS1^▸ (High Speed line 1 - St Pancras to Channel Tunnel) bridge crosses the ECML the Tunnels were bore when St Panc low level was constructed.

Part of the project work is the fire evacuation procedure working with the London Fire Brigade, the fire brigade accept that fires on trains are a very rare occurrence.   Generally the best place for a train on fire to stop if its carrying passengers is at a station in an open part of the platform that is don't stop under a canopy, over bridge or even over a subway, the best advice for passengers is to move out of the vehicle that is on fire into an adjacent one evacuating passengers out onto an open railway is extremely dangerous as the fire on the 8 Sept 1995 on board the 18:30 Padd to Swansea demonstrated where a male passenger was struck by a train on the UM  http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docsummary.php?docID=401

[ellendune]

... the best advice for passengers is to move out of the vehicle that is on fire into an adjacent one evacuating passengers out onto an open railway is extremely dangerous as the fire on the 8 Sept 1995 on board the 18:30 Padd to Swansea demonstrated where a male passenger was struck by a train on the UM  http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docsummary.php?docID=401

I got on that train, realised I would never get a seat before Reading and decided to wait for the next. Another night I got home very late (actually early the next morning) from work!