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Author Topic: Tree Strike - 1K71 0515 Bristol TM to Padd on 14/6/18  (Read 5558 times)
hoover50
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« on: June 15, 2018, 08:02:33 »

On 14/6/18 the 1K71 0515 Bristol TM(resolve) to Padd train hit a tree across the line whilst travelling at 100mph near Chocolate Poodle Bridge (ST995549) This is near Littleton Pannell, Devizes.

I guess not much damage was done to the HST (High Speed Train) as it managed to carry on its journey 27mins late. However, a few subsequent trains were cancelled whilst the track was cleared.

Info and pictures taken from a tweet on Twitter.
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chuffed
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« Reply #1 on: June 15, 2018, 08:14:28 »

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse ....now, even the trees are going on strike! Huh Cue the usual arboreal puns ! Lovely name for a bridge...I'm sure Finn will get to have a good sniff around it, one of these days !
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hoover50
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« Reply #2 on: June 15, 2018, 08:29:38 »

Cue the usual arboreal puns

I just twigged - This is not too far from the former branch line to Devizes before it was axed by Beeching. Good thing they kept the trunk route open.

I've heard that in order to try and prevent further tree strikes, Network Rail have turned over a new leaf and are getting to the root of the problem by trimming back vegetation close to the railway line.
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Thatcham Crossing
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« Reply #3 on: June 15, 2018, 14:04:36 »

Ironically, only last week, some residents a bit further up the line near Newbury were revolting over excessive tree-clearance by Network Rail....https://www.newburytoday.co.uk/news/home/24506/network-rail-heavily-criticised-for-tree-felling-in-newbury.html
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Bmblbzzz
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« Reply #4 on: June 15, 2018, 21:51:46 »

OT, but how on earth did it get the name Chocolate Poodle Bridge? I suppose, on reflection, it refers to a brown dog not, as my immediate reaction, one made of chocolate or completely useless! Google shows a nearby building that looks like it might have been a pub – perhaps Chocolate Poodle was the name of the pub?
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grahame
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« Reply #5 on: June 16, 2018, 01:59:27 »

OT, but how on earth did it get the name Chocolate Poodle Bridge? I suppose, on reflection, it refers to a brown dog not, as my immediate reaction, one made of chocolate or completely useless! Google shows a nearby building that looks like it might have been a pub – perhaps Chocolate Poodle was the name of the pub?

Former pub name - correct.  The Chocolate Poodle survived until (?) 10 to 15 years ago as a pub on the Devizes to Salisbury Road. The Black Dog about a mile to the north is far longer gone, but that name also survives in the form of "Black Dog Crossroads".

From Urban 75

Quote
Chocolate Poodle
Bridge (ST995549). Line from Patney & Westbury Junction to Westbury opened 1900, Great Western Railway, with Lavington station, signal box and adjacent bridge. Station closed 1966. Signal box replaced by ground frame (released from Reading) 1977. Line, ground frame and bridge remain open. Bridge unofficially renamed Chocolate Poodle bridge circa 1970. Next to The Chocolate Poodle, High Street, Littleton Pannell, Devizes SN10 4EL. The pub is closed. The building, located adjacent to the entrance to Littleton Mobile Home Park, now contains rental flats, having previously been a guest house.

Also a history of the location at https://marketlavingtonmuseum.wordpress.com/2013/06/page/2/
« Last Edit: June 16, 2018, 02:44:49 by grahame » Logged

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Bmblbzzz
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« Reply #6 on: June 19, 2018, 08:58:30 »

Thanks for the history, Grahame, as well as the link to an interesting-nerdy-bizarre forum (as if we didn't have enough of those already!).
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Clan Line
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« Reply #7 on: June 19, 2018, 17:32:29 »

The Chocolate Poodle strikes again !
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/547c8feced915d4c10000159/R082011_110407_Lavington.pdf

"The nearest access point was at Lavington Sands bridge, approximately 200m
from the rear of the train (figure 2).  An alternative access point was at the former
Lavington station, approximately 600m from the front of the train and beyond
both Lavington viaduct and ‘Chocolate Poodle Bridge’"
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grahame
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« Reply #8 on: June 19, 2018, 18:03:35 »

To some, this is a remote spot and there was quite a delay in identifying where it had stopped:

Quote
Observations

Identification of the exact location of the train
79
The actual location of train 1C84 was not established until 30 minutes after the
accident.
 
Although this did not affect the outcome of this accident, it could have
caused a delay in the arrival of the emergency services, had their attendance
been necessary.

80
raincrew, signallers and controllers made at least sixteen telephone calls to
exchange information during the first 48 minutes after the collision; there was a
mix of correct and incorrect information relayed.  The descriptions of the train’s
location referred to various local features, rather than making reference to unique
railway assets such as signal numbers and mileposts and when mileposts were
used, they were sometimes used incorrectly.  Examples of the references used to
describe the location of the collision with the tree or the train’s stopping position
included:
a. the ‘Chocolate Poodle’ bridge and/or public house and/or viaduct;
b. the location of the former Lavington station;
c. a 90 mph curve (repeated back by the signaller as the 90 milepost);
d. a 90 mph speed restriction board; and
e. the train being reported as having stopped at or around the 85¾ and 85½
mileposts (it was actually standing alongside the 86½ milepost).

The train manager provided the FGW (First Great Western) senior controller with a comprehensive and
accurate description of the location of the train, half an hour after the train had
come to a stand.

Personally, as the line though Parham Wood was the closest railway to where I used to live, "between the Sands Road and the Poodle" would have been plenty!   And, yes, Parham and other woods there about are (or were) very intersting places.
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hoover50
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« Reply #9 on: June 21, 2018, 08:40:03 »

Identification of the exact location of the train
79
The actual location of train 1C84 was not established until 30 minutes after the
accident.

That report must be about a totally separate incident as 1C84 is the 1403 Padd - Penzance train whereas the tree strike that this thread is all about involved 1K71 Bristol TM(resolve) - Padd
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grahame
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« Reply #10 on: June 21, 2018, 09:54:52 »

Identification of the exact location of the train
79
The actual location of train 1C84 was not established until 30 minutes after the
accident.

That report must be about a totally separate incident as 1C84 is the 1403 Padd - Penzance train whereas the tree strike that this thread is all about involved 1K71 Bristol TM(resolve) - Padd

Yes indeed - I should have clarified that was a previous incident!
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