Line Blocked: The Polmont Rail Crash | Plainly Difficult

[@PlainlyDifficult]

My second channel: youtube.com/@madebyjohnmusic?si=60V3gMhRKAjfh0kj ►Thanks for watching, check out me other bits! ►My new EP: madebyjohn.bandcamp.com/album/retail-simulator ►Outro Song: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gnu5f6eVp9p4gJIsi=KaHhrFbCex3kJBKk ►Instagram: instagram.com/plainly.john/ ►Patreon: www.patreon.com/Plainlydifficult ►Merch: plainly-difficult.creator-spring.com ►Twitter:twitter.com/Plainly_D ►Sources: www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docsummary.php?docID=270 www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/eventsummary.php?eventID=150 www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/history/remembering-horrific-edinburgh-glasgow-train-23479346

[@CantHandleThisCanYa]

I forget that you're a vegetarian until you remind us with clips of (nasty) tofu or say that cows are useless (they're extremely tasty!)

[@MountainCry]

Congratulations on hitting a million subscribers! 🥳

[@unmanaged]

Your videos are one of my favorite KZbin channels, kind obsessed with the psychology...

[@fredashay]

You should call your other channel, "Plainly Easy."

[@shanegill25]

John, your voice isn't dodgy at all. You could probably do ASMR videos if you felt like it.

[@SFNightOwl]

As a rescue rancher I can tell you most fences are merely a suggestion to bovines, especially bulls. And it's true, cows ARE bastards, most of my cattle are unmarried. Congrats on 1M!

[@mbvoelker8448]

I have often been amazed by the sight of a small group of beef cattle being kept in a field by a single strand of electric wire. As often as I see it I think that they must *really* be kept in that field by the idea that the field is a better place to be than the not-field on the other side of the wire.

[@robertparkinson2102]

​@@mbvoelker8448 I grew up on a farm. One wet day I used a sodden stick to lift the wire above my head. I woke some distance away inspite of wearing rubber wellingtons.

[@giorgiofenu5563]

I won't stand fot cow slander, sheep are way worse to deal with, they're far dumber than cows, afraid of everything and if it gets too hot they just surrender to starvation if you don't push them to graze. The cow ranching experience seems so chill compared to it, but I might be biased

[@aquachonk]

@@giorgiofenu5563 Agreed, cows are docile and lovely compared to so many other typical barnyard perpetrators. Roosters are psychotic, horses are like crazy ex-girlfriends, donkeys are manipulative, dogs become Cujo when untrained (and 95% are untrained these days), llamas are demons, alpacas are mini-demons, sheep are stupid, turkeys are sheep with a sharp beaks, ostriches are sheep with giant beaks and legs that can rip apart your ribcage with one kick, goats will eat everything you love, and pigs will eat YOU given half a chance, even your bones. Cows just turn nasty grass into delicious hamburgers and ice cream, don't diss the bovines.

[@brigidsingleton1596]

Congratulations on the substantial sum of one million... It's well deserved. Onwards and upwards now, eh?! 😊 Re the sad deaths resulting from this crash .. I assume (?) the thirteen totalled were not inclusive of the cow.🐮😟 poor cow. (14 in all then?) R.I.P. to all victims. Condolences to all affected by the event. Thank-you for your (um) 'deliverance' of the bad, sad news. I don't fly, and since becoming wheelchair-bound (arthritis etc _not_ due to any accident) I don't travel by public transport... Aaand...after watching so many _air_ _rail_ and _road_ accident videos, I now only travel (to and from three different London hospitals) via pre-booked hospital transport...hopefully - and so far, Touch Wood - unaffected by such incidents as you report on, fortunately. Thus, my 'perhaps' unwarranted nervousness - I'm agoraphobic too - is needless, but... 'c'est la vie...?! 🤔🤨

[@Michelle_92]

Considering the cow could be counted as a victim and it being named the direct cause of this incident, does that mean we can cross of victim blaming on the bingo?

[@margeebechyne8642]

The cow is a victim? Well, then it is also a criminal trespasser.

[@markbrusberg9808]

@@margeebechyne8642 Both your comments made me crack up.

[@voltare2amstereo]

The cow had a steak on the collision

[@trainion9626]

But the cow was the one that caused it

[@amrastheluckywoof5524]

I feel obliged to make mince meat of your statements

[@wernerderchamp]

In Germany, we did it with a flock of sheep in 2008. Caused a derailment at 210km/h. 21 passengers and the conductor were severely injured, thankfully everybody survived. Stray dogs apparently chased the sheep into a tunnel.

[@thefisherking78]

How did the sheep even have access to a train tunnel though

[@wernerderchamp]

@@thefisherking78 they swam through a small stream which was one bound of the enclosure.

[@des_smith7658]

Accidents will happen

[@Kevin_Rhodes]

@@des_smith7658 Which is why it is smart to design trains to hit things, and not depend on your railways being perfectly fenced off.

[@tommihommi1]

​@@Kevin_Rhodesyou design the train to be able to handle 20 sheep, along comes a flock of 25

[@TheGelasiaBlythe]

My husband used to work overnights on tracks in Vermont, USA, laying fiber optic cable. The train ran at idling speed, with an attachment off the side digging a hole, laying cable, then covering the hole back up. He said it was all nights filled with luna moths attacking the light and curious cows following the train until fences stopped them. Then the next group of cows would take over, rinse and repeat. I told him that it must have been the most interesting thing happening at that hour. Thanks for the amazing video, and congratulations on 1M subs!!

[@henke37]

For the cows? I bet!

[@KaiyaCorrbin]

You know...I've lived in a dairy state nearly my whole life, and I never thought about the fact that cows probably wandered curiously at night. I always thought they slept during the dark hours. I'm sure I've heard a story or two of herds getting out at midnight, but it never clicked until now. xD

[@TheGelasiaBlythe]

@KaiyaCorrbin I'm positive that they sleep a good portion of the night; but you know how curious they are. Something big was moving along slowly, making noise at a usually quiet hour, and they just *had* to check it out.

[@SeverityOne]

@@TheGelasiaBlythe A bit like cats then, just a bit bigger.

[@KaiyaCorrbin]

@@TheGelasiaBlythe Totally makes sense! I'd be curious, too. 😂🐄

[@mattilindstrom]

Cows are not only bastards, they are extremely curious bastards. If the matriarch of the bunch is adventurous enough, the cows will get to some mischief faster than one can pronounce the terms "bloody hell".

[@glennllewellyn7369]

Yep, kinda sorta. Beef farmer, Australia

[@jacekatalakis8316]

Oh they really are. Cows are majestic, terrifying and ohh so stupidly hilarious animals. One of them tried to break down a door to come watch TV with a vet friend of mine because there was a cow on the program. We nicknamed that veterinarian the cow whisperer from then on. Same cow would stand outside and watch everything in the kitchen. I ain't sure six foot of wall and double glazing are gonna stop the cow if it wants to come hang out in the kitchen though...h

[@LDKindred]

Do true, cows broke in to my partners garden and destroyed 10 demijohns of brewing peach mead, slightly drunk baby cows are very destructive!

[@glennllewellyn7369]

@@jacekatalakis8316 I’ve owned two cattle(cows) that have learnt to open gates. They get super annoyed when a padlock is used. I walk past, hands in the air and say to them “opposable thumbs!” They give me a stupefied look.

[@revenevan11]

Cows can be so smart, too damn smart for their own good in fact... because if they get curious and set their mind to it, they *will* figure out a way to do something immensely stupid 😅. To be fair to them though, their psychology is even less suited for our modern constructed world and its arbitrary boundaries and dangers than our human minds are lol. Sometimes the stuff cows get up to seems kinda like how dumb golden retrievers can be/act. Adorably infuriating.

[@modenasolone]

I saw a cow hit by the north-bound Silver Meteor as a child, it bust like a giant flesh covered water balloon.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Explosive

[@saiboogu]

​@PatronaKatlinStop spamming. One comment was fine, 3+ is abusive.

[@nekomasteryoutube3232]

how to turn a cow into bloodmeal in an instant.

[@thefisherking78]

😱😱😱

[@606Jelly]

​@@saibooguIt's not a real person. Report as spam, no point replying. Not that reporting as spam seems to be achieving much. KZbin obviously don't care, or they'd do the bare minimum and auto detect accounts making multiple identical comments.

[@PauperJ]

The train engineer, just before the accident, was heard yelling, "Mooooove off the track!!!"

[@glennllewellyn7369]

The cow said “Nooo, I’m trying to get to the moooovies!”

[@glennllewellyn7369]

@PatronaKatlin I feel you.

[@PauperJ]

@@glennllewellyn7369 The cow must've been trying to free all that wonderful movie popcorn butter from being eaten. It's a Cowspiracy.

[@RedTail1-1]

Making jokes when people have lost their lives is always so classy...

[@frstwhsprs]

​@@glennllewellyn7369 That's a bot.

[@andywomack3414]

My dad was a locomotive engineer for the B&O. One of my last rides with him was on a locomotive pulling an Amtrak train into Washington, DC. Running at 70mph we hit two cows on the track. We felt a slight bump as we struck and ran over the blasted remains of those cows. A few minutes later the conductor showed up in the cab and asked what we had hit.I doubt that anyone not familiar with rail operations would have noticed. We could barely feel the impact in the locomotive. Upon arrival in DC I noticed how the front of the engine was splattered with green slime with streaks of red.

[@SupersuMC]

"I swear, FBI director, it was just a couple of cows!"

[@andywomack3414]

@@SupersuMC Terror on the rails. An ecological catastrophe.

[@Kevin-go2dw]

Note in log book for repairs; "Clean animal remains from underside of locomotive". Staff under taking such a task would often be nauseas from the bloody mess.

[@budwhite9591]

@@andywomack3414 green 💩💩

[@thedoublek4816]

​​@@SupersuMCThe MIB guy: **pulls out his neuralyzer**

[@samuelplyler1511]

You need to find a way to add "Idiots outside of the authority" as an option on these bingo cards as it seems that many accidents do involve outide involvement by people with no business being where they are.

[@Dee_Just_Dee]

Or maybe something along the lines of "poor social planning". The seemingly persistent issue of people vandalizing the fencing to cross the tracks could probably have been fairly well addressed by building a pedestrian overpass or tunnel. The British Rail company ought to have looked at the repeated vandalism of their fencing as a problem that needed solving rather than a simple nuisance. It's honestly a pretty simple notion: If people keep treading a path where they're not supposed to, maybe you should just make a proper and safe path there.

[@RaglansElectricBaboon]

@@Dee_Just_Dee I came here to say the same.

[@24jrodb]

@@Dee_Just_Deeno. If you’re not supposed to go there it’s for a reason. You don’t give in to the people. You put your foot down and keep the people out. People think they can just do whatever the hell they want with zero consequences and expect everyone to adhere to them.

[@wojciechmuras553]

​@@24jrodbWho hurt you?

[@paulqueripel3493]

@@24jrodb Dee suggested building a footbridge, not letting them walk across the track.

[@AppliedCryogenics]

Congratulations on the milestone!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!!

[@RJ.the.artist]

So how do we start off the video celebrating 1 million subscribers? “Cows are bastards.” Love it.

[@grandicellichannel]

I was about to say the same! 😅 Way to go John! 🎉 Now you risk to go back to 999K for the animalists and environmentalists that left the channel for an hell of a bastard of a cow! 🥳👌🏼

[@MarkCorder]

The Cow animation is your best yet!

[@Motoko_Urashima]

really takes me back to the mad cow episode of scandal. in an uncomfortable way.

[@sianedwards7493]

The shakey cow animation is what made me think of the BSE outbreak. Which incidentally had started around the same time. There would definitely have been cattle roaming the UK displaying signs of infection earlier than December 1984. The scientists didn't even figure out exactly what it was until 1987. By which time there were a lot of shakey cows...

[@dominicfindlay]

​@@sianedwards7493 He used that animation in his mad cow disease video kzbin.info/www/bejne/gHjJZWSKdqupitksi=8_RPjL-WmmhfIneY

[@zinniagarden]

Agreed! The cow animation was great.

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

the weirdest animal caused accident I heard of was caused by a raven releasing the brake handle on a stationary freight train with no one at the controls... the station was on an incline, with the driver having gone to the section controller box to get a pass-ring for the next section, leaving the door to the cabin wide open, since, this was in the middle of nowhere, he did not expect unauthorized entry. resulted in five deaths as the train derailed onto a small trackside community down the line, by that point going around 80km/h

[@gonun69]

How did they figure out that it was a crow?

[@SupersuMC]

Do it, John!

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

@@gonun69 security camera footage... its out there on KZbin, which is how I found out about the story.... no, I am not a Psychic Genius, I just watch random stuff on the internet....

[@dpfreedman]

If ever a KZbin channel deserved a million+ subscribers it's this one! Congratulations, John.

[@2Fast4Mellow]

This is why American locomotives are often equipped with a cow catcher, commonly known as a "cow exploder." However, its wedge shape leaves little to be caught. Even a simple steel bar in front of the wheels could have prevented this accident. Simple solutions like these cost almost nothing, yet they chose to neglect this basic safety measure to protect their trains. Congrats on the 1M subs!

[@Hunter_Dawso]

In terms of steam locomotives, yes. Today’s locomotives just have a flat surface called a pilot, often with a snowplow as well.

[@Kevin_Rhodes]

American locomotives haven't had "cow catchers" in about 125 years. But they are designed to hit vehicles at grade crossings without normally derailing. A cow just makes for a lot of instant hamburger.

[@gabotron94]

@@Kevin_Rhodes I saw a video of an encounter of one with a donkey. One frame there, next frame, a pink cloud. The kinetic energy just has nowhere else to go so it all comes apart.

[@Dee_Just_Dee]

True, but also... if you just give people an easy way to cross the tracks, unsurprisingly, they're much less likely to take bolt cutters to the fencing, avoiding the issue of livestock on the tracks entirely. This was basically a municipal train, not cross-country. It's not really that difficult or expensive to make it traversable.

[@generalhorse493]

“Where’s your cow catcher?” But i don’t catch cows sir!

[@themidnightbanshee5927]

This why cow catchers are a thing It ain't gonna catch the cow, but it is gonna protect the train and passengers

[@TheEulerID]

So-called "cow catchers" are only used in countries where mainline railway lines are not fenced, as in the USA. They have never, to my knowledge, ever been used in the UK. Also, the circumstances here seem particular to this design of train. I doubt very much that any modern train British would be de-railed by a collision with a cow. It's the sort of incident that surely must happen several times a year.

[@michaelturner4457]

Cow-deflectors might be a better name, as that's what I think they're designed to do, to deflect a large animal or other obstruction off to the side of the rails.

[@themidnightbanshee5927]

@@michaelturner4457 correct, tho I suggest watching Hyces' video on cow catchers for a more concise explanation

[@runeodin7237]

​@@TheEulerIDSmall snow ploughs permanently attached under the wagon might have done the trick - prevented that parts of the cow reached the wheels and caused the derailment.

[@IstasPumaNevada]

@@michaelturner4457 It will help deflect other debris too, like cars or trees. I feel any trains running on lines with level crossings should have some sort of protection like that anyway, livestock or not.

[@technick6418]

To get to one million subscribers was, well.....Plainly Difficult! Despite the long road, congratulations are definitely in order! Keep up the good work! Suggestion for a future video: The 1953 fire at General Motors' Livonia, MI transmission plant. It holds the title of America's most destructive industrial fire, but yet seems to be largely forgotten today.

[@aslamnurfikri7640]

If you got derailed after hitting a cow you've failed as a train

[@bsadewitz]

​@PatronaKatlinThis could be a series on TV.

[@RT-qd8yl]

@@bsadewitz You're replying to a bot.

[@Samsquanch6969]

​@@RT-qd8yla whore-bot at that

[@GP30_Foamer]

Could be worse, a train in America derailed after hitting a shopping cart

[@jefferinno]

@@bsadewitzA bot tricked you brother, maybe consider raising your IQ

[@KarrierBag]

Massive well done, love your videos and music, keep it up. Watching from a cloudy but warm corner of North Yorkshire on my boat.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Glad you like them!

[@KarrierBag]

@@PlainlyDifficult I always have, thank you for how much you put into your work.♥

[@dogcarman]

Seconded from a warm spot in Denmark. Always a pleasure to watch your calm explanations of why something went wrong. No sensationalism, just the facts. Thank you for your good work.

[@johannderjager4146]

​@@PlainlyDifficult, watching this from a cloudy but blazing hot corner of Hickory, North Carolina, USA.

[@knrdvmmlbkkn]

@@johannderjager4146Watching this from a rainy and windy seaside village in Trøndelag county, Norway.

[@emanuellandeholm5657]

I was on a train from Gothenburg to Stockholm. This was at night in the winter so it was pretty much pitch black. Suddenly, there was a loud noise. I didn't feel the train shake at all. Two minutes after the noise, we we're informed over that the train had hit a wild boar. Trains crashing into moose, cows and boars happen all the time in Sweden. I never really thought such an accident could cause a derailment. So this was a sobering watch.

[@NowThatsGreg]

Happened to me in Poland as well, very similar, a thud followed by the train smoothly coming to a stop and about 20-30 minutes of delay for damage assessment. A small piece of meat roughly the size of thumb managed to fall into our window in probably 4th or 5th carriage, which we disposed of the same way it came in

[@johnmoloney5296]

Congratulations on reaching the milestone of 1 million

[@bikechainmic]

My father was on call that night of the crash. He also conducted the initial investigation on site. The propblem was when the DBSO hit the cow , it was the cows head which passed like a canon ball between the bogie and the body, then ripped off the underfloor equipment which literally piled up against the rear bogie and causing it to lift. The 13 killed were mostly railmen . The local farmer found one of the DBSO bogie wedged up in a tree. Consequently the "cow catchers" were added, which ironically would not have prevented this incident. The 47/7 was rerailed by driving it back onto the rails, where ironically it rescued the engine sent to rescue it, which failed. Until recently I owned the builders plate of the DBSO as a sort of mini memorial.

[@InservioLetum]

FOURTEEN, thank you very much.

[@alexbarber3310]

Guess it didn’t moooooove fast enough.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

🫡

[@sabishiihito]

Cows when they see a train: 🗿

[@alexbarber3310]

@@sabishiihito It must have got a freight.

[@danielm8950]

It couldn't steer it's way off the tracks in time!

[@Warriorstamps]

Cows in Minecraft when you build a railway to your house

[@garysoap7925]

Glad to see you finally have hit that milestone 🎉. I must admit my favourite videos of yours are the train related ones.

[@budwhite9591]

Yes! Keep going with trains for sure. Not many people do train stories, and a lot of those people aren’t as good at it as you

[@TheLOUDERMAN]

One cow derails one train, then all the sudden Plainly views all cows as bastards. 🤣

[@maxshep2829]

WE FOUND THE COW IN THE COMMENTS SECTION GUYS!! 😂😂😂

[@TheLOUDERMAN]

😆

[@julierobinson3633]

Perhaps he has previous experience with cows too?

[@TAddy-wq3hg]

1 Million!? I've been here since 150k and it's been so cool watching your channel grow. I hope you continue having nothing but success and good public transit experiences. Your vibes are so lovely despite the general subject material and it's amazing how you do it AND mix your own tunes. Woohoo!!!

[@justandy333]

The main issue I have with those DVT's is they are nowhere near as heavy as a locomotive. If the locomotive was on the front, the sheer weight of it would have more than likely have kept it on the tracks. I was very surprised when I learned that the class 91's are indeed DVTs. They look like a double power car setup like the HST but they're not. I'd feel quite nervous going 125mph with a lightweight imitation power car up front. Without that extra weight of the transformers and traction motors, they're more susceptible to being derailed.

[@randommusic4567]

Whilst its true that they are much lighter than a class 91 and many locomotives they actually are actually 42t which isnt that much lighter than many modern high speed EMUs

[@Kromaatikse]

The Mk3 and Mk4 DVTs both have "pilots" and "obstacle deflectors" under the cab end. The "pilot" is a structure attached to the chassis, while the "obstacle deflector" is a pair of substantial fingers of steelwork attached to the bogie, directly ahead of the wheels. They are designed specifically to prevent objects (such as a cow's leg bones) large enough to cause derailment from getting under the wheels, instead most likely causing them to be deflected to one side of the track, or else into the trough of the "four foot way" between the rails. The standards for these devices were enhanced significantly after this accident, which involved a Mk2 DBSO (a forerunner of the DVT concept).

[@col1664]

The DVT had a substantial lump of concrete over the leading bogie to add mass. When walking into to the cab from the van you had to step up about 10 - 12 inches.

[@ChrisCooper312]

These sort of push-pull trains are actually very common. The US has many service which run with a "cab car" at the front and a loco at the back. They are also still pretty common in Europe. Just yesterday I travelled on a German double decker train consisting of 3 coaches with a locomotive at the back. I'd previously been in Austria, where many of their trains are like this, including their high speed Railjets which have a top speed of 230kph (143mph).

[@iansavage1666]

Not quite correct, the class 91 only refers to the loco, the DVT at the other end looks very similar but is not a class 91 . And they are far more crash resistant than the one involved in this collision.

[@MMSMLUNWINPP]

New video and I don't have my RBMK shirt to wear while watching it. Kinda bummed, but absolutely ecstatic about you passing the 1 million subscriber mark! Congratulations once again! You should be super proud. I don't even know you personally and I'm still proud of you! I look forward to all new content coming our way.

[@helenferris575]

Greetings from Arizona, John and everyone. Congratulations, John! It's wonderful that you have reached such a milestone. You provide quality videos along with your unique sense of humor. I always look forward to your videos and enjoy them. Your time and effort and hard work are very much appreciated. Keep well.

[@Axel9631]

That cow got vengeance for all the tipping we've done to them

[@grahamdeamer128]

Many years ago I was a passenger in a DMU which struck a cow. I saw everything, it was yucky. The driver spotted the animal in good time and slowed the train to a crawl, hoping (I guess) that the cow would remain munching on the grass verge as the train passed. That looked likely to succeed but suddenly the thing inexplicably leaped in front of the accelerating train. I'll draw a veil at this point...

[@jtotheb1993]

congratulations on 1million man great content

[@arianaashworth3091]

The 47/7 & DBSO setup required two drivers as the DBSO could not actually control the 47 on the back, they were capable of braking but were fitted with Propelling Control Advisory System (PACS) which instructed a second driver in the 47 to set the power accordingly. This was also used on the RES 47/7s and later on the 67s in conjunction with PCVs to allow them to back in/out of mail terminals. Nowadays they would just rewire the coaching stock to carry the correct multiple working system like with the Chiltern MK3s, and TFW MK4s along with TFW's previous MK3s which were all wired to use the "AAR" system. The surviving MK2 DBSOs with Network Rail have been (along with coaches they are used with) fitted with "Blue Star" multiple working, hence why they are always seen with a 31 or 37.

[@bluesirius1]

congratulations on achieving 1M!!!!!!! Your channel is a staple of my weekends

[@entropyachieved750]

Congratulations on the big 1 Mill🎉

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@jacekatalakis8316]

Got a fence near me and cows and the amount of times the cows have been responsible for breaking the fence is honestly impressive and terrifying. If I'm walking in the woods and hear a cow or spot one off in the distance or, worse, a herd. I am getting out of those woods. Way too many people trampled by cows. Same cows that lov to wreck the fence by the rail line since it is near fields they graze in and there are berry bushes on both sides of the line so naturally the cows want to go inspect the bushes. Farmer is in a pickle since he is told different things by the police, the railway folks and then local solicitors. Everyone says some version of oh it's not your fault, go take it up with someone else and gets sent around in circles. The fence never gets sorted out then we have a bad storm and/or cows and the fence is broken again. That and people wanting to go berry picking as well. Also, in 2008 a German ICE ran into a flock of sheep that had somehow got into a tunnel near Fulda station, since you wanted suggestions and since sheep are also bastards (hello bleating at 2am when I'm trying to sleep), there you go, one for the suggestion pile. I'm also after suggestions, of how to shut those sheep up so I can get a good night's sleep. Bloody sheep are bleating all night, don't they ever sleep???`

[@revenevan11]

A bull might be more aggressive/dangerous to a human, but in general imo sheep are definitely higher up on my bastard scale than cows lol. They're more annoying and cause more trouble ime, & seem to be better escape artists too 😅 I suspect one could argue for it depending heavily on the type, for some breeds it's worse/better I'm sure. When my dad loads a cow into the livestock trailer and takes it to the butcher, that night there is usually 2am mooing and cows yelling 😢. Sad and annoying, but not as aggravating as when one (usually a calf or relatively young cow) decides to get through the fence somehow but then can't figure out how to get back, and yells loudly back and forth with the herd all damn night long 😫

[@leeneufeld4140]

The teacher asked a question of her classroom: "If you have 10 sheep in a field and one gets out, how many sheep do you have?" All the children answered "9"!, except the shepherd's son. The teacher turned to him and repeated the question, "None" he said.

[@jacekatalakis8316]

@@leeneufeld4140 The logical next question is how many sheep does the next field have

[@grumpybastard5744]

When I was a child, the constant bleating was a soothing background to my nights. A much better sound than sirens and traffic noise. 57 years later, I still miss it.

[@neilbain8736]

I remember this happening. There is a plaque and monument to it on Polmont Station up line platform (i.e. Edinburgh direction). There was a lot of discussion in rail magazines (I got Railway Magazine at the time and read a few on the shelves- lots of people did that too) about push pull working as it was called. I'm sure media like the tv and radio news also talked a lot about whether it was better to push a load or pull it. There was a lot of public fear about pushing a load.

[@markbrusberg9808]

I take commuter rail in the US, and on one occasion we struck a deer, which tumbled under the length train. We were immediately held in place so the undercarriage could be inspected for damage. Even though small relative to a cow, their hooves are notoriously sharp, and hearing them flail around under the car I could only imagine how easy it could have been to cut the break lines or damage other equipment.

[@ErickC]

It would be difficult for a deer hoof to cut the brake pipe, those are made of thick steel and in most cases are situated on the frame rails of the car itself. But there's lots of stuff in the trucks that could potentially be damaged or moved out of alignment, e.g., brake levers. Consider also that the trucks are only held on by gravity, so if a car is derailed or launched it could potentially lead to the carbody shifting off the truck center plate. With that said, it's not likely that a deer is going to cause much damage to the undercarriage of a railcar, and such inspections are often done out of an abundance of caution.

[@markbrusberg9808]

@@ErickC Good information, Erick, thanks!

[@julianoallard8398]

Another geeky thing I wanted to add for the video, the DBSOs in question were not fitted with obstacle deflectors originally (this is a metal plate that is fixed on the chassis and is in front of the bogie to protect it from striking objects on the line) and were only fitted with them after this crash. In fact, it was only in the 1980s and 1990s when British trains were fitted with them. Also, massive congratulations on reaching 1M subscribers, a well deserved achievement I must say!

[@Meikyu1]

Congratulations on the 1mil subs!!! Your content has been amazing!!

[@Delete_85]

You earned that KZbin clout man, keep it up with your succinct disaster anthology

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank yiu

[@greenthing99100]

1 million subscribers! Thoroughly deserved - part of what makes these so great is your dodgy cartoons. The quivering with terror is a masterpiece of animation. Thanks John. It is pretty hot here in Cambridge too. Not quivering with terror though so that's all right, no imminent disasters here. Probably...

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!! Cambridge is such a lovely place!!

[@JM_Tushe]

Congratulations on 1M!!! 🎉🎉🎉 Well deserved!

[@PauperJ]

Our Safety Director friend got another job. Apparently his curriculum vitae was not checked prior to getting the job. Nepotism.

[@brianpetersen704]

I’m a train driver and this is scary. We regularly encounter cattle on the line and I have never imagined them being able to derail us.

[@mink99a]

One of my first cars was a Dyane , but this was just a replacement for the 2CV that I intended to buy. Having already paid had to be replaced as the 2CV had a minor crash with a cow, where the 2CV was damaged beyond repair, and the cow was only slightly injured.

[@yakacm]

Yeah those 2CV are very light. My mothers 1st car in the early 1970's was a 1950's 2CV. The older ones fetch a decent prices these days. god knows why.

[@allenwiddows7631]

That was a lucky cow; in our neck of the woods-rural Utah-most of the time the cows become instant ground beef after totaling the vehicles. These collisions always took place at night on dark roads. One of the totaled vehicles was a heavy-duty Ram 2500 pick-up truck, which then slammed into a power pole then went through a chainlink fence and through the wall of a metal shed. Fortunately, other than the cow, no one was injured in any of these mishaps and the owners of the cows were held liable for the damage.

[@martinforester3471]

My first car was a Dyane. Three years old and 37,000 miles, I ran it for eleven years and put another 115,000 miles on the clock.

[@Mojo-Beans]

Congrats John! I've been watching Plainly Difficult for quite a while. It's one of my favorite YT channels. I have recommended PD to many people. I am very happy to hear you finally have over a million subs! Keep up the good work!

[@chrisdavidson911]

I, for one, can't help feeling eager to discover if it was the cow, train, or both, that was at full speed Congratulations on the million!

[@WouldntULikeToKnow.]

Oh, you

[@ecabe1793]

Congrats on 1M!! Love your channel. I’m fascinated by how many modern safety features came at the cost of so many lives. Keep up the great work! ❤

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!!

[@4kVenRec]

❤😅Been here since the beginning with your first video congratulations for one million, love your witty, but serious sounding voice. Deep dive and simplify explations, but leaves no stones unturned.😊🎉

[@nikiandre6998]

You and your channel deserve an YT Golden Button!!! Congratulations, and thanks for hard work you do!!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!!

[@West_Coast_Mainline]

It’s really shocking to see how much would’ve changed if people just didn’t break the fence

[@markmuldoon805]

John, you do not have a dodgy voice. You are also quite economical in speaking as you keep strictly to the presentation of the facts. Keep it up please.

[@alhumphrey81]

A TPE 185 hit 7 cows near church Fenton a few years ago. Train stayed upright.

[@Valkyrixa]

Always interesting topics presented in a brilliant way. Congrats on the 1M, here's to just as many more!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you very much!

[@Aieieo]

Congrats on the million follows. Your educational content has taught many many people and that’s super bad ass.

[@jimtaylor294]

4:45 I'd say the main lesson from the disaster is: *Don't take crossings out without something to replace them* (human nature ensures it will be a problem forever otherwise)

[@dutchuncle2716]

Underrated comment.

[@64Pete]

Congrats on the mil John, well deserved!

[@d00m5]

Congratz on 1m subs!!! In true fashion of humility, not much fanfare from you John.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!!

[@spoodlydoodler3552]

Grats on 1 Million. You deserve it. Lovely, informative videos with proper respect shown at the correct times. Not sensationalizing the incidents, just breaking them down in a concise way. Thank you.

[@mightyV444]

We couldn't have reached 1M without you either, John! So thank you also! 😁

[@AmyGabrielleAmber]

Yaaay!! 1mil subs! Congrats John! I am looking forward to your videos every week

[@nlwilson4892]

"The cow exploded" was not a phrase I expected to hear today (or any day).

[@solandri69]

An oft-quoted statement about the effect of the size of an animal on the physics of a collision: “You can drop a mouse down a thousand-yard mineshaft; and on arriving at the bottom, it gets a slight shock and walks away. A rat is killed, a man broken, a horse splashes.”

[@lz8r63]

Congrats on the 1 mil subs John! Been with you since year one!

[@charlotteinnocent8752]

Cow even LOOKS frightened!

[@nikkoy.1340]

Regarding the 'loco-hauled train on dead-end line' issue - there's actually a fourth way around it, namely a train consisting of a rake of cars with a locomotive on one end, and a control cab car on the other. I live in Belgium, where such trains are common-place and have been used since the late-1960s.

[@sarahfrith1984]

Congrats on reaching 1million subs 🎉

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you so much 😀

[@marionbloom1218]

Having the loco at the back inevitably gives you a double-whammy in terms of increasing BOTH likelihood of derailment AND severity of crash. First, the front of the train is lighter, as discussed (as someone pointed out some later DVTs have mass added to partially offset this, but still less than half of the weight of a loco) - so with less weight, it's more likely to ride up over an obstacle and derail, where a loco would push it out of the way. But the second effect is that the high amount of mass of the loco at the back, still on the rails, keeps pushing the carriages forwards when the front one(s) derail(s). This increases the damage that will be done to the carriages compared to having the loco weight in front which tends to protect the carriages as it bulldozes a clear path ahead. Anyone who has ever operated a model train set will know how much less stable a train is on the rails if you try to push it with the loco at the back. So yes it is known that the pushing part of push-pull operation is inevitably higher risk than the pull part, but the higher risk is considered acceptable in exchange for the cost and time savings. In the real world, you have to take a position on how much money you spend to save a life. Having suitable obstacle deflectors can greatly reduce the risk of derailment however, as pointed out. I am quite shocked that the DBSOs did not have any obstacle deflectors, these were fitted on steam engines even in Victorian times (known as "guard irons" in front of the wheels) to prevent obstacles getting under the wheels. Lessons learned sometime get forgotten. As someone else pointed out, high speed push-pull trains operate all over the world with a good safety record, but let's not forget this safety depends on observing basic safety precautions and procedures. Nice one, John! Marion

[@lonnarheaj]

I have personally witnessed a full-size Holstein easily jump a 4-ft tall fence, repeatedly. Jumping was this cows' special tallent, and a rancher's big headache. She was almost graceful, as much as a dairy cow can be graceful when jumping. I am still amazed a dairy cow of that size could jump that well. It just looked allwrong, but happened anyway. Cows can also push their big boney head straight through various types of fencing. This is why an electric fence is often necessary to contain a herd of cattle. Even woth charged fencing, it typically takes a big wet bovine nose making direct contact with a hot wire to discourage a 1200+ pound animal from trying to push their way through a fence. A big wet cow schnoz is just about the only bovine body part sensitive enough to get the message a hot wire is set up to communicate.

[@julierobinson3633]

I remember a tv news item once about someone who did showjumping on their pet cow. Special saddle and all. Looked a bit odd as it sailed over the horse jumps but pretty impressive. Mind you, a cow once -allegedly- jumped over the moon...

[@GhostHead]

Congrats on 1 million!!! Been here for so long and so proud!!

[@Julia68yt]

Something similar happened where I live a while back. Free roaming "organic" cows (with horns still attached) strayed thru a broken fence onto the railway. One was plowed over by a diesel engine, and its horns got rammed both into the track bed and into the carriage. In such an unfortunate way, no less, that it was impossible to get it unstuck and the engine was unable to move. In the end it had to be lifted off and over by 2 railway cranes. No-one was hurt (apart from the cow) but the (highly frequented) track was closed for the better part of the week.

[@49shinn]

Thanks!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!!

[@Arturobrito0502]

One group of rail disasters i would like to see covered are the cajon pass runaways of 1989, 1994 and 1996, all happened on the steep Mountainous line of cajon pass, and to me its a pretty interesting topic on how a train can loose control in their conditions, either by miss calculation in the 1989 runaway, or or by air hoses on the brake line having a kink (aka having a blockage in air) in the other 2 runaways.

[@LESSERSCMITT262A1U4]

watching my man for like the past 3 or so years on 3 seperate accounts and it never feels like his content got boring..as peak as it was before

[@SDWNJ]

It sounds like part of what they needed was a way to accommodate people wanting to get to the other side of the track.

[@thing_under_the_stairs]

People and cows.

[@SDWNJ]

@@thing_under_the_stairs Well, I don’t really think the cows have a legitimate reason for crossing. They have likely escaped from a farm and need to be found and taken back there.

[@mbvoelker8448]

Yes. Design needs to accommodate human nature.

[@SupersuMC]

As someone who saw his fair share of classmates crossing the tracks during middle school, I agree. Crossings need to accommodate more than just cars.

[@mbvoelker8448]

@@SupersuMC When I was in college we used the train tracks as a shortcut into town if you wanted to go to the main business district instead of the little strip mall. There was plenty of room to walk along the cut -- which would probably still have been in range of thrown gravel and not necessarily safe.

[@Carbonxenon654]

CONGRATS FAM!!! Much love from New York in the states!!

[@budwhite9591]

1 million!?!! Let’s make it 2 million! Congratulations. I enjoy your videos

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@Your_Pal_AL]

Congrats on 1 mil john!! I've been watching your stuff since October last year and its been amazing. Thank you for all your hard work on the production of your videos!

[@jakobrebeki]

You hit a million, well done dude. you earnt it. Have you ever covered the head on crash at Cowden by any chance. I cannot remember if you had. Thanks for posting

[@PlainlyDifficult]

I haven’t but I’ll have a dig thanks for the suggestion

[@jakobrebeki]

@@PlainlyDifficult When I was a guard for the SW we help with the clear up and reinstate of infestructure duties ( P-WAY and DEPARTMENTAL duties). Moving stuff from Clapham (WF138) wrong road and into Wim/Prk via the Earlsfield end was my first....

[@jakobrebeki]

@@PlainlyDifficult Just to give you a heads up....Cowden was a single unelectrified line with passing loops. The driver of the class 205 3Hampshire unit (Thumpers) let the guard drive into the fog and thru a red signal covered in dirt and dead flies giveing a bad observation of said red signal. The guard then SPAD (cat one) and passed a signal at danger then smashed thru the points into the single line at speed. They then had a head on with another Class 205 3Hampshire which was coming the other way at speed. Both driver and guard were killed and lots of people were injured autaum 94 I think. I remember it rained a lot when I was there. I hope this helps....

[@Darryl_Frost]

Congratulations Sir, 1 million is awesome.. good work.

[@theemissary1313]

Well done on 1 million subs, not before time. And best line of an episode proper - "cows are bastards!"

[@taylorhoughtonphoto]

You have been one of my favourite channels for years! Congratulations on hitting one million subscribers!!! Well deserved.

[@chubbyadler3276]

Didn't older locomotives have cow guards for this exact reason? While equipping them in the cab of the remote car may not save the occupant of the cab, it will likely knock the obstructions found on the track off to the side, or at least contribute into doing so, thus mitigating an incident like this.

[@RoamingAdhocrat]

not in Britain, no. British railways have always been completely fenced off

[@Martindyna]

Indeed modern trains should still be designed to cope with obstructions on the line. Fences get broken from time to time and cars on level crossings should not be able to derail a train.

[@chubbyadler3276]

@@Martindyna Agreed, though I can see how a car stuck on the tracks would derail a train if it was going at speed, regardless of if it had a snowplow on the front or not, though having such a tumblehome front end would help move things off when the train is going a bit slower.

[@Martindyna]

@@chubbyadler3276 As long as the ‘cow catcher’ is a tapered design, so that it gets under any obstruction, it should deflect a car out of the way imo, although obviously the heavier the front vehicle is the better within reason, so a loco at the front is best when considering collisions.

[@stardustmochi13]

congrats on the 1 million! Ive been happily listening every week for ages now and im so proud!

[@theglitch99]

Dude said " cow farts are bad for the environment" .......😂

[@BrakeCoach]

He's not wrong, considering how much cows do fart, and how much steak people eat nowadays

[@budwhite9591]

8:50 wow I thought you were about to say the second train was going to hit it. Glad that wasn’t the case

[@solandri69]

Other conductor was doing his job and watching the track in front of him. Not watching cat videos on his phone. (Well, that and it was 1984, but you get the idea.)

[@karinrandall855]

We love your cartoons and voice. Neither of which are crappy or dodgy!

[@112-DavidL]

well, at least you can safely say those steaks would've been pre-tenderized.... I'll see myself out now 😅 Congrats on the 1 million John

[@Acidfunkish]

More like ground beef. 😩

[@112-DavidL]

@@Acidfunkish Ba dum tiss 🤣

[@beckyseger884]

Congratulations! Love both of your channels.

[@dsloop3907]

Some rail systems have giant turntables. Engine goes onto it, is diverted to another track, then engine goes to other end of cars, couples and away we go.

[@tookitogo]

Those have mostly gone the way of the dodo. They were common in the very early days of railways.

[@ErickC]

That doesn't solve the problem. You don't need to turn the locomotive around; diesels are bidirectional, unlike steamers. The problem is that moving the locomotive to the other side takes time and requires a runaround track. Adding a turntable just increases the time and requires additional infrastructure to no real benefit as the locomotive doesn't need to be turned around in the first place.

[@dsloop3907]

@@tookitogo Railroad Museum in Salisbury N C has one..

[@tookitogo]

@@dsloop3907 That’s not a railway system. Tons of railway museums have turntables. But they’re literally museum relics. Current-day, operational (= not museums) railways have practically all gotten rid of them long ago.

[@ChessieCat65]

Surprised nobody mentioned a wye to turn around engines. (Some are big enough to turn around the entire train and cars/carriages).

[@paulbreiter9921]

1 Mio. subs - congrats, well deserved. Thank you for the content, pls keep it up.

[@kutter_ttl6786]

What a COW-tastrophic failure!

[@jeffreykielwasser3637]

More like an "udder"disaster

[@erikaswanson7072]

These feel like dad jokes...and yet I laughed...🤦🏼‍♀️

[@Woodie-xq1ew]

Get out 😂

[@illumin8-r]

been watching for a little bit, congrats on the 1MM mark. you are a very consistent channel, and i thank you for that.

[@zetectic7968]

The crossing should've been removed & blocked after multiple vandalism. The penalties are small & enforcement poor. It is because people don't appreciate the risk of a train travelling at speed that accidents happen when animal or people get onto the line. My brother was a train driver and hit & killed a 4 year old girl that was part of a group of children playing on the railway: he had nightmares for years as he had 2 daughters of a similar age at the time.

[@WouldntULikeToKnow.]

Oh god, that's awful. I'm so sorry your brother had to experience that.

[@wolfgarward9285]

No because you can't prevent people living there from going where they are used to go. The problem isn't people cutting the fence, the problem is cheap company unwilling to make safe crossing (which means over or under the rail). Don't blame the people for cost-cutting measures of the company. Especially since they knew it's problem there.

[@erikziak1249]

@@wolfgarward9285 100% agree.

[@davebarclay4429]

The crossing was removed but no alternative provision was made for people wanting to cross the line so the vandalism, while not excusable, was clearly understandable.

[@southernstar564]

Congratulations on 1 million subscribers,well deserved thank you for a brilliant channel and all your hard work

[@christopherg2347]

I think you plainly have some difficulties with cows 😄

[@billstill1794]

I think a celebration featuring all-beef burgers would be appropriate for the occasion! Does anyone have a beef🐮with that? Vegetarians & vegans NOT invited - we don't do soy or veggie burgers!🤮

[@jeffprescott9658]

Awesome congrats to you, our friend! 1 million subscribers on a great channel! I have been bing watching the past few mo this…after discovering you. I started with the radiological incidents, then branched to all the others!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!!

[@Ryu-hx5yy]

Congrats on 1 million subscribers! What an achievement! P.S. Cows are actually scary - hiking in the swiss mountains gave me trauma of cows

[@meatharbor]

You know it's gonna be a good one when the cow having a freakout from the BSE video makes an appearance.