Derailed train at Penzance sidings - 26 June 2010

[whole diary]

[Coombe Stn]

If and I mean IF the derailment was in the same place (as it looks) the guilty pointwork (double slip) has just been re laid and fitted with locking point handles (ala EWS^▸ (English Welsh & Scottish Railway Ltd, now known as DB Schenker Rail (UK^▸ (United Kingdom)))/DBS^» (Deutsch Bahn Schenker - UK website)) so they didn't have to clip them for every movement

[woody]

Yep King is supposed to be going right through to Par, now they are cleared over the Royal Albert brirge, with Western onto Penzance,

6024 King Edward I today from Paddington to Exeter where 5029 Nunney Castle is attached for the run to Par then D1015 Western Champion to Penzance. The return train on Monday should be hauled  by 5029 and 6024 throughout
 

Nunny Castle was temporarily taken off at Taunton due to problems caused by poor quality coal and D1015 Western Champion was attached to the "King" as insurance to make sure it made it over Whiteball  to Exeter where the Western was detached.Eventually the train left Exeter later than planned (about 5pm ish) with the King and the Castle while the Western ran ahead light engine to Par ready to take over the final leg to Penzance. 

[fatcontroller]

As quite rightly pointed out already - it was the rear two coaches and rear powercar that went different ways on the depot. Unfortunately it was in the PRECISE location on the depot to prevent the only other HST^▸ (High Speed Train) on the depot from leaving.

It means the depot is completely closed until the breakdown crane arrives from Margam (S. Wales), sometime tonight.

The last coach travelled over two different tracks subsequently squashing a location cabinet on the depot. The Cabinet is somewhat critical to the operation of the depot infrastructure!

Restricted working is expected to be ongoing until Wednesday.

On a different note - the Newquay Class 150 (150279 to be precise) was a result of the HST Train Manager calling in sick and no suitable replacement with the required Traction and Route Knowledge.

[devon_metro]

Just seen some photos. Ooops!

[LiskeardRich]

Just seen some photos. Ooops!

are the photos available to see, or is it internal only?

[Coombe Stn]

It means the depot is completely closed

Entering from the Penzance end from the pictures I have seen the fuel road and No 4 running road available,
all they have to do is remove the Penzance end vehicles as far back as the derailed ones and that would give them the shed road back.

The last coach travelled over two different tracks subsequently squashing a location cabinet on the depot. The Cabinet is somewhat critical to the operation of the depot infrastructure!

critical for emptying Voyager toilets that is !

[jester]

Oops!

[JayMac]

Does indeed look like the location of the double-slip points where 153318 came a cropper earlier in the year.

[Mookiemoo]

Explain to the non kagool wearers

I have recent;y been to penzance - as you know - the platforms look harmless

How does something - a 153 let alone an HST^▸ (High Speed Train) - derail there

Seriously - laymans terms please

[Coombe Stn]

De railments not in Penzance station but the maintenance depot near by FallenAngel.
Easier for things like that to happen on track that is not up to the same standards as the main line, also there is no intrlocking of the points as there is with ones controlled from signalboxes.

[Coombe Stn]

It means the depot is completely closed until the breakdown crane arrives from Margam (S. Wales), sometime tonight.

The crane is kept at Bescot there is only a Bruff at Margam

[marky7890]

Looking at the mounts bay webcam it looks like hsts are being stored at Penzance station overnight. Usually its just DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit). It looks like all platforms are being used.

[JayMac]

FA....

The derailment appears to have taken place on a set of 'double slip' points which look something like this:



Most obvious cause is point blades moving (for whatever reason) whilst a train passes over, sending one part of a train onto the wrong track. As can be seen in jester's pic the rear bogie of Coach H of the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) set has headed off on the wrong track along with the rear power car.

The location was Penzance Traction Maintenance Depot, also known as Long Rock TMD^▸ (Traction Maintenance Depot) about 1 mile up the line from Penzance station. A Google earth view shows the location of the 'double slip' points - above and to the left of the Wikipedia logo. If something goes wrong on this set of points you can see that it has the potential to block any other trains from exiting the sidings to the right.



EDIT: Turns out it was a coach G, not H

[slippy]

More photos here: http://southwestrailphots.fotopic.net/c1343521.html

Would say its highly unlikely the rail crane will turn up. More likely a road crane as its easily accessible...

[grahame]

I was amazed in France recently to see just how many double slip points they have on their system - and on main lines too.  The pictures here are outside Paris Gare de L'est and Le Havre; not good ones, but ones that I just happened to catch in with other things I was snapping.  But in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom), we seem to have a fear of them - preferring two simple points where space allows.  I won't deny that going round the corner over them can be a jolting experience. I used to make a daily commute over one outside Blackfriars on what was then the Southern Region, but I don't recall the train every doing "the splits". Perhaps they are now so rare in the UK that the specialists who know how to keep them running reliably are all retired?



Thanks for the feedbacks on the Newquay - very interesting.  I made the wrong guess on "why", didn't I!.   I was also fearful of posting my question "will 2 coaches be enough" as I feared my answer would show EITHER a problem of overcrowding OR a service that's underused.   I love the answer "OK at the moment before the peak season, but would have been a problem in a few weeks" - it shows (why should I have doubted it?) a well specified service and a sensible solution to an immediate problem!