Londons Accidental Driverless Train 2010 | Plainly Difficult

On Friday 13th August 2010, a train being pulled up a steep incline on the Northen Line on London Underground at archway, broke free and ran away through rush hour London......
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Sources:
www.gov.uk/raib-reports/runaw...
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#disaster #Documentary​​​​ #History​​​​​​​​​ #TrueStories​

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thanks for watching, and a special thanks to Chloe from kzbin.info Check out me other bits! My new Album: madebyjohn.bandcamp.com/album/ambient-archiv-1 Outro Song: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iJPTnn2AjdaGhsksi=2_i6bKZUj3bjixzw Instagram: instagram.com/plainly.john/ Patreon: www.patreon.com/Plainlydifficult Merch: plainly-difficult.creator-spring.com Twitter:twitter.com/Plainly_D

[@brianedwards7142]

Every time I watch one of your videos I have the Scheherazade suite as an earworm. Bloody Rimsky-Korsakov!

[@TheHungrySlug]

I think you could have included "warning signs ignored" to that bingo card, after all, they saw the coupling unit distort and used it from the opposite direction WITHOUT at least getting another unit the same. I guess you can think of it like a rock climbing carabiner, if it has shown actually visible fatigue, DON'T use it! But by the sounds of it they went "Meh" and re-used a damaged piece of equipment. That and the lack of and "Break-Away" chains (given the type of situation it is with non-matching coupling) is bothersome. Guess I'd have gone "over-Kill" in my "Making sure" mindset that I have. But if you only have a hammer and tape in the cupboard/cabinet then most people try to make use of what they have at hand.

[@teddyboragina6437]

glad to see this crossover of sorts!

[@MyHandelsMessiah]

1:01 - Wait, _what is your day job??_

[@GreatSageSunWukong]

@@MyHandelsMessiah something something trains something

[@kerryjgeorge]

"A little bit crashy" is now a permanent part of my life.

[@lanaharlow2515]

I'm quite fond of the new phrase too

[@fitnessfreak7851]

That actually has a nice ring to it

[@oganvildevil]

There's some solid John-isms

[@thing_under_the_stairs]

It's entering my personal lexicon as of now. As in "after every snowstorm, the local buses find the corner outside my bedroom window a little bit crashy, and it's great entertainment."

[@therealxunil2]

That’s how I describe the software I write.

[@fuzzymurdermittens]

"This is the pixelated face of someone who's having a bad day." That made me laugh. I feel for that dude. And the poor driver of the train being chased - he was probably freaking the hell out on the inside that whole trip, just waiting for the crash. There's something quite nice about a disaster where everything turned out okay. You get the thrills of things going drastically wrong but also the warm fuzzies of it being successfully resolved. Thanks for covering this one!

[@darthkarl99]

Yeah several aspects of this gave me a chuckle and had me seriously feeling for everyone involved. Someone well up the management chain messed up in not checking solid procedures where written out, and the poor folks on the day where elft way underprepared for what was happening.

[@richardvoogd705]

It seems to me to be the sort of situation that's easily overlooked in day to day stuff, possibly with very little thought given to proper safety procedures until it's bordering on being too late to avoid a major cock up.

[@curiousbits]

The passengers were told to make their way into the front carriage, via the emergency door..

[@DavidJCane]

Many years ago, before this incident, my wife worked on the Northern line's line service centre which also covered the Victoria line part time. At Pimlico, the driver of a northbound Victoria line train left the cab to deal with an issue. The train was impatient and decided to leave on its own. It stopped at Victoria and my wife had to arrange a taxi to take the driver to Victoria to rejoin the train.

[@schmoosmith]

How did that happen?

[@miksuko]

@@schmoosmith inadequately trained rolling stock may experience sporadic episodes of disobedience and other immature behaviour

[@lotusasche4183]

​​​@@schmoosmith if you have ever seen the movie "Unstoppable" it might show some insight or possiblity as to how trains become run aways. Watch the ytb Wonder's series on train accidents and incidents to get more information on how many types of cause and effects become run away trains. You might find this story being covered.

[@XxAdminChllaxX]

@@lotusasche4183 I love unstoppable but hate how they showed the actions that led to the runaway in the first place. They could have easily explained the dynamic brake and how it wasnt engaged, while the engineer thought it did. Instead they showed the throttle lever magically going into notch 8, which even for the uneducated is obvious BS and doesnt make sense at all. So yeah, unstoppable cool movie but terrible for explaining how a runaway can happen imo.

[@lotusasche4183]

@@XxAdminChllaxX I agree on the gear being moved to 8 seems more fictional than real life. I have seen documentaries about unstoppable however I need to go back and rewatch them to see if it covers the clutch on the gear shift getting stuck or was permanently left with the clutch engaged on the gear shift.

[@RCAvhstape]

That poor guy running along the platform definitely yelled, "Balls!"

[@matthewcox7985]

Or, "BOLLOCKS!"

[@thing_under_the_stairs]

@@matthewcox7985 Why not both?

[@Halogen_Star]

@@thing_under_the_stairs all of the bri'ish expletives!

[@h5skb4ru41]

"oh cock!"

[@wta1518]

@@matthewcox7985 Ballocks.

[@BryceSchroeder]

Wait, your day job involves accident reports? Man, that's pretty close to having something you're passionate about for your day job, my sincere congratulations.

[@relwalretep]

Can relate so much, I once had a career in making smoke escape from computers. I now want a career in professional sleeping on bed testing, it has to be a thing yeah?

[@vipvip-tf9rw]

@@relwalretepwhat? Electrician?

[@621pw]

If he hadn't have said I would have assumed Process Safety Engineer since this channel includes great explanations of oil/gas/petrochem/nuclear incidents with some clear 'P&IDs' that are easily understood. In any case, I figured it'd be something safety related. Excellent video.

[@JackieBright]

He mentioned signals, so I would wager he's a railway signals engineer

[@dasy2k1]

​@@JackieBrightindeed as one myself it certainly wouldn't surprise me

[@diyunjae1]

"This is the pixellated face of someone who's having a bad day" LOL!! That cracked me up. 😂😂😂

[@bluepotato1354]

I'd unironically watch a video dedicated entirely to explaining signalling, it's one of my favorite parts of train videos!

[@friibird]

Honestly, even for those without great interest in the topic of signaling, it's come up so often in this and other channels that it feels like a gap in my knowledge. Would be lovely to learn about it from someone who works in the industry.

[@Sniperboy5551]

There’s a channel, I think it’s called Practical Engineering that covers that very topic

[@XxAdminChllaxX]

@@friibird There are dozens of great videos explaning signaling in multiple countries in great detail :)

[@friibird]

@@XxAdminChllaxX yes, but you see, my brain is mildly broken and I struggle to understand a lot of the way technical people present technical information. I specifically hope this creator makes a video explaining it on this channel because I (usually) understand (most) of what he says. I need someone to animate it and explain it to me like I'm a drunk brain damaged punk, and somehow this guy always hits that sweet spot 😅

[@XxAdminChllaxX]

@@friibird Fair i guess^^

[@SirWuffleton]

Love how you refer to the emergency coupler as "this kind of of train sex toy" - Great video as always! The bit read by Chloe was a pleasant surprise, always love to see collabs between my fave youtubers!

[@hauntedshadowslegacy2826]

My asexual mind was not prepared, lmao

[@Valery0p5]

Ah yes, a good old case of "faulty lesbian adapter" (Sorry to the ace person above)

[@ravenplays2574]

neither was mine@@hauntedshadowslegacy2826

[@LaMenta3]

This part *sent* me 😂

[@ParticularCoconut]

These totally unexpected Chloe - Green Dot - Plainly Difficult crossovers are quite an aural delight.

[@ZenkaiAnkoku2]

I recognized the voice instantly! Absolutely love the crossovers

[@sara.gem.n.L]

I startled my cats when I yelled, "Omgosh it's Chloe!!"

[@tactileslut]

Typical irony that the immediate cause of the linkage failure was the automatic operation of a safety feature and that the machine careening down the tunnels existed to maintain the rails, again for longer term safety.

[@lzh4950]

The rail grinder should have a fail-safe design where its brakes auto-apply once its decoupled

[@wta1518]

@@lzh4950 The brakes were removed.

[@lzh4950]

@@wta1518 There should be a way for the brakes to reactivate in an emergency

[@wta1518]

@@lzh4950 There should've been, but there wasn't.

[@luigitenneriello74]

Runaway trains are something more frequent than you'll think... one such accident happened a few weeks ago in Italy: an high speed train stopped due to a failure, the conductor went down to investigate and forgot to apply the brakes 😮 the train was on a very slight uphill track, so started running back until it hit another train on the line, luckily not very fast. Fun fact: the CEO of the italian railways was on that high speed train 😂 This could be a topic for a future video!

[@amrastheluckywoof5524]

As soon as you said "and it happened on a gradient" I was like "why were they even allowed to drive with the brakes inactive on the rear end of the consist?" Turns out they weren't allowed to do so. And this is why we have rules and procedures for this specific situation at work. I'm a train driver for the Belgian Railroad.

[@Neoentrophy]

I like the driver's reaction to seeing his future employment driving away into the distance on its own 😅

[@TheHobohobbit]

An amazing reaction from signalling staff. The London underground is a very busy and restrictive place the fact they managed to stop and maneuver passenger trains around with less than a minute spare in some casesseriously

[@richardvoogd705]

I tip my hat to signalling staff. I'm aware of at least two recent projects on the line nearest where I live in New Zealand that have involved work being done on signalling infrastructure.

[@NJPurling]

That guy that bailed out of the rail-grinder unit at Highgate must have been shaking in fear. He was lucky to be able to do so without major injury to himself due to the gradient-profile of the line.

[@gpoplingregpoplin5682]

“A little bit crashy” has me chuckling for sure.

[@brianedwards7142]

Years ago in summer camp they had a "slow bike race" which was a race where the LAST over the finish line was the winner. The catch was the course was a steep uphill one and putting your feet down or looping round to lose ground were against the rules so a certain momentum was needed to stay upright.

[@change_your_oil_regularly4287]

Lost a close family member on my Mrs side of the family in a train "accident" on the last day of 2023. Horrific event that has devastated many peoples lives. Don't try and race/beat trains! Just wait the few minutes for the train to pass and keep yourself, others on the road and the innocent train operators safe Edit: for clarity he was one of the innocent train drivers and wasn't the person who was racing/trying to beat the train. That irresponsible fool survived.

[@thing_under_the_stairs]

My condolences for your loss. Losing loved ones to avoidable accidents is one of the worst ways for them to go; I lost my stepdad last year in a car crash caused by a road-raging driver who was going over double the speed limit and ignoring every stop sign while chasing another driver who had made him angry. My only comfort, which I hope applies in your case as well, is that he was very nearly killed on impact, and likely didn't suffer. Anyway, I just wanted to say I feel you, and I know what you're dealing with. You've got my deepest sympathy.

[@xtrapolis954m]

As a fellow Aussie, please accept my condolences. ❤

[@Werevampiwolf]

I'm sorry for your loss. It drives me crazy when people try to beat the train. My college actually has a rail line that passes through part of it, and so many people tried to beat the train that they had to install an underpass for cars are pedestrians. My logic was I'd rather be late for class than run the risk of being hit by a train. Because even if you get lucky and beat the train this time, you might not be so lucky next time.

[@katiekane5247]

​@@Werevampiwolfhere in the USA, trains have gotten so long they're often stopped at crossings for quite some time. There's pictures of kids climbing under stopped trains trying to get to school. It's a disaster in the making!

[@Low760]

Oh god, I didn't know this happened. My dad worked for that company in Melbourne till retirement, and also lost friends to trucks being across train crossings.

[@namibjDerEchte]

Instant recognition of the logo. As a German, we see their equipment casually parked on non-platform tracks at sufficiently-non-busy train stations, waiting for the cover of darkness (in reality, just night break in commuter rail service schedule) to do work nearby. Though iirc the last one I saw was an Unimat (brand of ballast tampers/track fine alignment). Interesting to hear they also service the london underground.

[@lairdcummings9092]

German rail maintenance technology is famous world-wide. Could it be made locally? Sure. But why bother when there's some quality kit to be rented, available right now? Not just maintenance equipment, either. I see Siemens control gear all the time - they've even got a manufacturing facility just a few miles down the road.

[@stashedawayman1521]

Nimrod comes to mind.

[@tin2001]

Between you and Jago, my knowledge of the London Underground is now well beyond what any regular person should have... Especially as an Australian who doesn't have a huge need to use the London public transport systems.

[@dubbel3088]

I'd also tick off "Warning signs ignored", as the emergency couplers shouldn't have been used anymore for this train after the bending incident until the strengthened version arrives. Or at least not without other measures (like chains). Thanks for the video! :)

[@charlesmayberry2825]

This one made me wince as you were explaining it, Professionally as a machinist I was always taught by the engineers that you need to be constantly asking "so what happens when this fails" and as soon as you started explaining the scenario in my head I'm going "Crap, I already see where this is going, and I don't like it" We've all done some dodgy shit in our lives without thinking, but damn.

[@gwiazdapioun2127]

This reminded me of several disasters which happened in my country: 1. The 1976 Julianka rail crash, when the train operators - a fatigued driver and a drunk assistant, - turned off the automatic braking system (or alternatively they would doze off, wake up just for long enough to cancel the alarm, and go back to sleep), causing the Wrocław-bound train to lose its momentum on a slope, then to start rolling downhill back to Julianka, where another train was waiting for departure; the runaway train slammed into it, killing 26 people, 2. the 2011 Zwierzyn crash, when a group of teenage railway workers would disconnect several freight cars from the locomotive, without consulting any of their superiors, causing the cars to roll down a hill and the station building, killing three (two inside the station and a girl waiting for her train on the platform), 3. The 2005 Jeleśnia accident, when a Żywiec-bound passenger train had lost its brakes on a slope, causing it to barrel down out of control at 70-90 kph (twice over the speed limit allowed by the state of the rail track). Thanks to the corageous efforts of the dispatcher at Jeleśnia station and the train crews, the runaway train was intercepted by another EN57 EMU, which was on the same track but going in opposite direction, and was ment to pass by the runaway train at Jeleśnia. When the dispatcher called the Sucha-bound train and ordered him to stop, change direction and run away, the train driver followed her dispatch and, when the runaway train was close to his, he used his working brakes to "catch" the other train and stop both EMUs before a railway bridge. Nobody was killed, eight passenger were lightly injured. The train dispather at Jeleśnia and both train crews were awarded the Medal for Sacrifice and Courage by Polish President.

[@SportyMabamba]

Damn, that #3 tho 😮‍💨

[@Tangelos]

Love the surprise cameo from Chloe, love DB and PD so it’s a great collaborative effort! I just heard her voice and had to rewind to confirm then I read the description! Great work John and Chloe!

[@sarahjane0804]

I also did a double take, haha!

[@htewing]

I did the exact same thing!

[@hillaryg4yle]

Same here! I immediately said "CHLOE!!" out loud, much to the confusion of my husband. Wonderful episode as usual, John.

[@AnUndeadMonkey]

That's my friend Chloe, from the airplane crash channel!

[@BellaBarossa]

I'm pretty sure Chloe and John have collaborated once before, but on one of her videos. I remember hearing John's voice reading something, and being all excited that they were collaborating. So it was extra cool to hear Chloe's voice in this one. 😍

[@ariaangela3455]

I love the scale 3.0 and the addition of the bingo. Keep up the good work John. Your content keeps getting better as time goes by

[@peebee143]

I remember reading the online version of the RAIB report which included a number of photos of the failed coupling, also a more detailed explanation of the method and function for isolating the brakes on the RGU. It was a classic case of the 'swinger' being on the rear of the train with nothing behind to prevent a roll-back or runaway in the case of mishap. So lucky that no-one was hurt and just a lot of very red faces at the de-brief.

[@jessicaqueen9591]

Hey, cool, I love Chloe! What a pleasant surprise to hear her on your channel!!

[@RCAvhstape]

7:01 Thanks to this channel training me, whenever I see someone standing like that with their hands on their knees I just assume they've taken a nasty radiation dose.

[@willmasid4937]

LU track apprentice here. There are so many of these type of stories you hear as an apprentice, albeit far less serious. Love the detail in this video. Also, would absolutely love a video on LU signalling, never got around to learning much about it myself

[@davh11]

Pretty cool to hear Chloe in a Plainly Difficult video!

[@kriscook2423]

We might need a nonfatal scale as well. Like one is the Fujita scale and the other the Saffir-Simpson (tornados vs. hurricanes, I'm a weather geek) maybe we need a third to cover the metaphorical sharks. This was a very fascinating incident to hear about. I'm really surprised we don't get more runaways these days or at least we don't hear about them. Extra points for the bingo card, I now play it while watching disaster documentaries and am not surprised I get bingo almost every show. Extra extra points for Chloe.

[@justeddie6836]

Always nice to hear the story of a lesson learned where the lesson doesn’t cost innocent lives. Great video PD.

[@LILC63]

I love how you put the black and white lines in the top right before the adverts. I’ve never seen any other channel do this, and it’s actually pretty helpful! (Edit: I haven’t seen them since the 1980-90’s game shows)

[@fixman88]

They remind me of the big barcodes on the upper right of some of the pages of the insurance documents I used to feed into a Recordak Microfilm Camera back in the 90s that were for folder indexing marks on the film (but that's *really* esoteric).

[@Tewy]

Some shoutouts to absolutely brilliant channels. Disaster Breakdown is in my earbuds when I'm driving buses, so of course I recognised Chloe immediately. Also, Jago Hazzard is an underrated KZbinr.

[@Polarys_CZ]

Could you please do a video about the 2008 Studénka train crash which happened in Czech Republic? I think it would be quite interesting if you covered it and it would fit in with your other train related content.

[@Susie_Floozie]

Cool! I like the personal touch you bring to the railway-accident topic. No wonder your solid understanding of these situations, not to mention the effortless clarity with which you describe all the technical details. I'm looking for you to surpass 1M subscribers soon. You deserve widespread attention!

[@user-xh3lz9xt4l]

One of my friends was an RAIB Inspector and I've read some of the accident reports. Some are just laughable but others are plainly frightening. I use Monument Station on the Tyne & Wear Metro and the gradients do make you wonder what is going on.

[@highpath4776]

really interesting word choice in the report, in clear english, no one knew what they were, or should be, doing. Also blame didnt really get pushed for the penality regieme if tracks were not clear for service running on time, otherwise a 2nd train to rear probably could have been summond with a 1hr delay to service start

[@tomjardine100]

Tyne and wear metro is safe, don't recall any accidents in 40 years of operation.

[@Nefville]

I'm quite surprised that a guy who runs a channel with practically a million subscribers still has a day job. You go John! Hard worker, this one.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!!

[@nevillehorseproductions4434]

@@PlainlyDifficultcan you make a video where you talk about the 1993 kelso Washington train collision

[@Mrs.Fezziwig]

I lost it at the 'pixelated face of a man having a bad day'! Your delivery is amazing as always 😂

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@phazix6529]

Whoever made the call to train 1007 to gtfo, theyre a literal super hero and saved so many lives, bravo to them

[@SiVlog1989]

Speaking of sidings on the Northern Line, when I did work experience at Morden in 2004, I was told about not one, but two incidents at Tooting Broadway where a train hit the wall at the end of the reversing siding. The earlier one, in 1960, led to the driver receiving serious, but not life threatening injuries, the second, in 1971, hit the wall at 30mph, this time fatally injuring the driver. Like the Moorgate accident in 1975, there was no clear indication of why the driver carried so much speed into the dead end siding, indeed there was some speculation that the driver may have thought the siding was the same length as the one at Kennington. Regardless, it was one of the factors that led to Moorgate Control and indeed in dead end sidings, yellow lights are placed at specific intervals to remind the driver that the track their train is on is a dead end siding

[@mfaizsyahmi]

I think this channel covered the crash at speed incident. Investigation pointed at microsleep being the cause.

[@SiVlog1989]

@mfaizsyahmi in terms of the Moorgate incident, yes, but as I said, these incidents at Tooting Broadway reversing siding showed that mistakes in dead end tunnels did occur before Moorgate

[@TheClumsyFairy]

"This is where this kinda train sex toy comes into play" .. Brilliant.. I've been watching your videos religiously since you were a wee channel, and I've never laughed so much at something you've said. Nothing you've said in the past really prepared me for this joyous sentence. Thanks for cheering me up mate.. - Coming to you from a f%$£ing cold wet corner of Leominster..

[@erikaswanson7072]

I laughed at the "train sex toy" sentence as well! Had to re-listen a few times just to laugh some more. I'm also contemplating a move to either Seattle, Washington or the UK as I love cold, wet, or overcast weather. Mr. Sunshine and I don't get along much anymore as I've developed an allergy of sorts to direct sunlight after longer than a few minutes (most likely due to medication for a permanent medical condition).

[@TheClumsyFairy]

​@@erikaswanson7072 Can we swap? The cold and wet is really starting to get to me? I so miss Slovakia; the place I called home for so many years. There was so much contrast, and proper seasons. Hot in the summer, crisp and cold in the winter, and beautiful long springs, and very colourful autumns. England is so samey... The only difference between summer and winter is the angle at which the rain hits the ground . What's the medical name for people with a 'sorta' alergy to Mr. Sunshine? I think there's some other symptoms too, something dental, and a fascination for blood, goths, and cheesy cringy romantic stuff? V-something ... I really want to get on with a little plan to be nomadic so I can bum about Europe chasing the nicest weather as the seasons change.. I nearly got to do that in the States, but that little plan fell though.. You should so move if you can, live's all about changing things to find the optimum happiness and comfort ..

[@lolosworkshop7033]

It would be nice to see you cover the lac-mégantic derailment disaster , it happened in 2013 and annihilated part of lac-mégantic, QC

[@justinthomas7222]

Hooray! Commence Year Eight of Plainly Difficult, with your host Mr. Difficult himself!

[@sadie4479]

It was a lovely surprise to hear Chloe’s voice in there!!

[@kvarner6886]

So lovely to hear Chloe on your channel. I love her channel as well!

[@nitt3rz]

Jon, there is no level of geekery that is too high. I love your scripts, the appropriate amount of silliness to lighten the mood.

[@Kenijamaru]

Happy saturday, cold in london today

[@PlainlyDifficult]

You too!

[@muirgenmonet]

Thank you so much for the video! I love the bingo card and the cameo from Chloe was a nice surprise!

[@MrJoeyWheeler]

Imagine building a vehicle that couldn't have brakes applied while moving. That's such an incredibly absurd design flaw which defeats the point of brakes. We figured that out over a century ago! Also a blatant flaw in allowing a third party to own the machine to begin with - it should be owned by Tfl and built to their standards, not leased.

[@MaxLai_0104]

just imagine, you're just stopped at a station probably waiting for departure, and then being told you're being chased by a 30-tonne unstoppable hunk of metal and that you've got to drive away as quickly as possible

[@bronwentillman8385]

I love your "Plainly-isms"!!!! A little bit crashy, refusing to remain uncollapsed....keep'em coming!!!

[@billyp4850]

We had a runaway suburban EMU in 2003 here in Melbourne Australia, the train ran 17km before crashing into a locomotive at Spencer Street station. It almost rear ended the preceding train on the same line too. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Melbourne_runaway_train

[@ondrejsedlak4935]

Taitset did a great video on this, with a brilliant retelling of the chat between two controllers, about what to do with the runaway train.

[@nickbarber2080]

Interesting and detailed video analysis...thank you. It seems to me...as a non-railway-professional...incredible that a self-propelled rail vehicle doesn't have a manually-operated mechanical brake operated on-board even if just for parking purposes. Had the crew had access to a wind-down brake it might not necessarily have stopped the train instantly,but would have ended the incident much more quickly...

[@YouveBeenMiddled]

The lack of a brake that can be applied while a vehicle is moving seems like a *very* poor design decision.

[@Low760]

@@YouveBeenMiddled it was being towed. Trucks when they get towed you wind off the brake boosters too, so they then have no safety's.

[@richardbaxter2057]

The train “failed safe”, ie with emergency brakes applied. In order to get it moving, those brakes had to be released manually. All the equipment controls for this vehicle were located in side mounted cabinets but because of the narrow confines in the tunnel section (nine to fourteen inches clearance) the Grinding Crew could not access these cabinets as they couldn’t open the cabinet doors....So, the decision was made to release the brakes in their entirety...... .....there is more to this and I was involved in the subsequent investigation, however I’m not at liberty to go further, as some folks are still employed there and it would be unfair to them to start digging the dirt. Suffice to say, it was a badly managed incident that shouldn’t have been worked through in the way that it was.

[@nickbarber2080]

@@richardbaxter2057 Thank you for your fulsome and frank answer. But I can't help thinking,though,as an outsider with the benefit of hindsight,that having controls,including the manual brake release,in a position inaccessible to the crew...might be a bad idea? I hope lessons were learned in this respect?

[@richardbaxter2057]

@@nickbarber2080 I’ve been retired for just on a year now but this incident occurred a wee while ago and I’m sure that I’ll tell you something that is incorrect, albeit by accident. However, leaving that aside, the Grinding Train failed and they couldn’t re start it....a manual engine that had its starting equipment in one of those side cabinets. As the engine had ceased to work, so did the compressors and this led to a loss of air pressure, which resulted in the emergency brake (possibly spring applied parking brake) coming on. As the crew could not restart the Grinder, they required a tow, or push out. In a perfect world, this Grinding Train would have been accompanied by a Battery Loco, just for such an occasion such as this but, there are occasions when one of these are not available and this was one such night. So, it was a quirk of fate that an engineering train that was diesel powered and whose engine controls were mounted externally, just happened to fail in a tunnel section which impeded access to those controls. Failure, or not, the Grinder did what it should have done and “failed safe”, with the emergency brakes fully applied.....what happened Next is where it all fell over. You would be correct, in the light of day, to ask the question “was this grinding train ever really suitable for tunnel sections”? The answer is “no it wasn’t” but at the time it wasn’t failing on a regular basis, if at all and so the “risk management” assessment was that it was okay to operate it.....but it should have had a Battery Loco to assist and that was the first hurdle.... Did we learn from it? Yes, we did. That Grinder is now thoroughly monitored and supported and the relevant procedures are in place to deal with any such failure in the future. Were unwise decisions made on the night in question, yes they were but that got ironed out in the resulting analysis.

[@harrisonewington2846]

Love hearing someone passionate about what they’re talking about, everything makes sense now, love everything you do, cheers

[@ChefAtPlay]

Looking forward to another year of fantastic content. Absolutely fascinating, very well done video as always. Thank you for all the work you put in.

[@ellenbryn]

Nice revamp, John - also good to see you back in your sweet spot, trains, since they give you geeky joy. Speaking of which, my poor Amtrak was delayed twice on Thanksgiving Day by some freight trains in front of it being "a little bit crashy." The first was a comedy of errors - someone got stuck on the tracks in the Cajon Pass, called 911, and dispatch had been notified a full half hour before the freight train plowed into the vehicle just after the driver bailed out, apparently trying to move it. The location was just below a popular train-spotting overlook in the San Bernadino Mountains - it's the same pass that had a terrible runaway train crash in 89. Police were still investigating when we csme up the pass after dark, slowing us doen by seversl hours, yet couldn't be arsed to stop traffic; apparently the crossing signals had been taken out in the crash. So our train had to stop on a steep grade and let off a couple of conductors with flashlights, ponderously chuff its way through the crossing, stop again, pick them up, and then claw its way up to speed on the grade again to climb over the highest mountain passes on the entire southern rail route across the country. The next day a freight train had an accidrnt in Lawrence, Kansas - near one of those enormous homeless encampments in the middle of the country they don't tell you about because the media prefers to report on homelessness in California since it's more clickbait-y to mock a wealthy, progressive state overwhelmed by its duty of care to homeless people flocking to places where they won't freeze -anyway, I couldn't find the news on what happened, because it was swamped with stories of ANOTHER freight train derailing in Krntuckey, but I suspect and fear someone got hit near the tracks. America's rail systrm is depressing. On the bright side, despite Musk and the GOP's best efforts, new passenger routes and high speed rail got funding in many places this year! And on a more close to home side, good to hear Chloe's voice. That reminds me to check on her channel and see how she's doing!

[@MrLOLCraftLP1]

In germany we have a lot of safety equipment to prevent runaways. On the U-Bahn Berlin we use a mechanical driving lock that opens the main air line and stopping the train. On most other routes we use mainly the PZB or LZB depending on the speed that is allowed (up to 160 kp/h PZB and above LZB). With the PZB if a train passes a signal that indicates that the following main signal shows Stop or a speed under 100 kp/h and the train passes it, the driver must acknowledge the signal and a brake curve is initiated. If not the train automaticially comes to a stop. This also applies to a magnet that sits at about 250m before a main signal which initiates another brake curve if the signal shows stop or a speed under 40 kp/h. If the main signal shows stop a third magnet right at the signal or sometimes 6m before or after initiates a forced braking when the train passes it. The main flaw however is that this system only works when the train's systems are powered on and the direction selector switch is in forward, same for LZB. The LZB is continuously monitoring the trains positition and speed and can generate a brake curve if there is a Stop marker or other train in front, and it can depending on the trains equipment detect it up to 10km ahead. If the train needs to slow down it generates the brake curve with the trains speed, weight and braking power in mind so that it perfectly slows down. The LZB has another function called "LZB Nothalt" or LZB emergency stop. If a driver activates this function a stop marker is virtually generated for 3km behind the train for both tracks. If another train is close to it no matter if following or oncoming the systems automaticlly slows down and stops at the beginning of this marker. If a train is inside this section while the emergency stop is activated a notification or light shows the driver that he passed a emergency stop and the train activates a forced rapid braking by emptying the main air line as quickly as possible until the train stops. The driver can identfy it by either a blinking red "H" and red "S" light or a notification the screen saying "LZB-Nothalt überfahren" and "Zwangsbremsung" in english: "LZB emergency stop passed" and "forced braking", the train system also plays a continuous tone. the third method are so called "Flankenschutzeinrichtungen" "Side protection devices" which are categorized into switches and derailers. Derailers are are self-explanatory, they are devices that are automatically or manually placed onto the tracks if the main track it merges into is occupied by a train, and derails the train if it passes over them to prevent side-on collisions. Switches on the other hand are used mainly used on highspeed tracks or tracks which can merge into multiple other tracks. They consist of two main parts, first the main switch which is used to enter the part of track and the connection switch which is the main safety part. If a train rolls away and the switch is set to the connection, the train either rolls to buffer stop or the tracks simply end and derail the train. They are most used at "Ausweichanschlussstellen or Awanst" and is split up into 2 switches often also equipped with an derailer. The Switvhes are Locked with 2 seperate keys and the first key can be optained when the Dispatcher releases it. The driver then has to unlock the first switch and set it, after that he has to driver over it and return it into its initial position and lock it. After that the second key is released to set the second switch. Then the Switch has to be put back into its initial position and locked, after that the driver inserts the main key back and the Dispatcher can send trains to the main tracks again.

[@ChrisCooper312]

The London Underground has the same sort of system you describe on the Berlin U-Bahn, but the issue was this train was dead and being towed so the brakes were isolated, and there was no way for the crew onboard to reactivate the brakes.

[@MrLOLCraftLP1]

@@ChrisCooper312 i think this is the most severe problem. Normally as i know from my job, if we tow a train, we leave the pneumatic brakes on to brake the train even if the EP-brake and other systems are offline. The pneumatic brakes work mechanicially so you can brake the train with no power. I don't know if the London underground rollstock has the same systems

[@sujimtangerines]

Was just listening to this, podcast style as I washed dishes, so hearing Chloe narrate the findings was quite trippy! Unexpected, but welcome crossover! Love it when the creators I subscribe to collaborate, even if for just a small segment.

[@cuddlepaws4423]

Quality stuff as usual. Clearly Friday 13th was a bad omen for the staff that day, though not catastrophic like other incidents you have covered. Got to love your terminology. So British. And at the end, both my husband and myself had to laugh at your Plainly Difficult Disaster Scale Version 3 chart. We particularly liked the worst one, '10, End of the f**king World'. Hearing that you were part of the railway service for a time clears up a few things for me. Now, I understand why you go all geeked out when it's a railway disaster. Keep up the excellent work. We need more of these, along with the usual two blokes with the PPE, one of which is always standing on the other bloke's foot. 😂😂

[@justinrovers1]

Love the Assist from disaster breakdown, and the shoutout to Jago!

[@MarkusxJxKeetz]

Cool to see Chloe leading a voice in your video! Love her stuff and love your stuff!

[@Beautifulclouds60]

It's nice to hear Chloe in one of your videos. Thank-you for another interesting story.

[@conniethomas4753]

LOVE that you had Chloe on the episode (which was great)

[@user-xh3lz9xt4l]

I used the Tyne & Wear Metro from Manors to Byker one summer Sunday but as we left Manors there was a big flash and a massive bang. I knocked to speak to the driver to advise him not to go any further as the traction motor had just blown up but he ignored me and proceeded to cross the Byker Viaduct until it couldn't go any further up the viaduct. Eventually the train started to roll back to Manors . Luckily as there is a diversion before Manors to West Jesmond, the train was diverted and came to a stop on the diversion track and no one was hurt. It's just a pity the driver didnt listen as he thought he knew better

[@nekomasteryoutube3232]

Damn, never heard of this incident (or if I have I've forgotten about it). I imagine a work train like that rail grinder if it smashed into any of the tube trains at speed (especially when going down hill) would have resulted in a pretty nasty disaster (similar to say, the Gare de Lyron accident where a run away train going down hill into a terminal station smashed into another train causing loss of life, injury, and damage)

[@petersimmons7833]

Appreciate the extra personal perspective on things. Keep up the great work

[@NickJohnCoop]

Its’s very refreshing having a disaster without a death toll.

[@Lukeasz096]

On the subject of runaway trains have a look at the Crazy 8s incident. Edit to add: was the inspiration for the film Unstoppable with Denzel Washington

[@RCAvhstape]

If your locomotive wasn't left in notch 8 throttle, is it even a real runaway? :-)

[@Lukeasz096]

@@RCAvhstape heh I know that was in the film but the real incident wasn't under power

[@RCAvhstape]

@@Lukeasz096 I thought I read it was under power and the loco's brakes were engaged, totally burning out the brake shoes by the time they stopped her. Also, the loco was rebuilt and put back into service but sadly CSX renumbered her, she's no longer 8888. They should've kept that number and someday put it in a museum.

[@Lukeasz096]

@@RCAvhstape no. She was running, with an epoxy repair to a cylinder (iirc), as it was standard procedure to leave the loco running on shift change to power the air brakes. Engine failed catastrophically - because you know... Epoxy repair to a combustion engine - and air breaks didn't work anymore causing an unmanned roll out.

[@user-qe6zx6nc4b]

This reminds me a similar accident for The Xijiao Line of the Beijing Subway in 2018. A derailed tram with control lever at traction position, started moving after put back on the track.

[@railgap]

Wish I were less broke so I could throw some moolah your way because I genuinely value and enjoy your posts, not to mention their relentless regularity. Not sure where you and other frequent posters find the energy, but I'm grateful that you do. For this old Cold Warrior, the world is a rather scary place right now, which makes my few enjoyable distractions all the more valuable. Thank you.

[@garysmithspacecadet]

"...a little bit crashy." Brilliant! Love your videos. Keep up the excellent work.

[@ozfoxaroo]

Interesting to learn about; I hadn't heard of this specific accident before. I had been expecting driver error to be the cause as in the 2003 Broadmeadows Runaway in Melbourne, Australia.

[@Low760]

I expected a similar thing going into it, but nope. I'd be interested to see his coverage of that one and the Abbott's road crash too, I read the official report on that one. Lots of interesting factors they look at.

[@IainShepherd1]

That was a gripping story. Especially loved the laconic Aussie signallers culturally unable to explain the situation to each other. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKOkiaaOgt2amLMsi=P8RChTSQzSXqKAII

[@guy990]

Amazing video covering this incident, the real life trolley problem is a great reference, and the insight from the presenter, animations and historic photos of these locations tell a great fact based story of the whole thing.

[@charliescott7764]

Great video as always John. There are loads of instances of runaway trains in Britain especially until after WWII where the majority of freight trains were loose coupled with the only rear braking by a guard in a van at the rear. So if a coupling broke it was up to the guard to stop the wagons. If the guard was asleep oops!! I think there was one where a coupling broke near Corrour on the West Highland line and it wasn't halted until Tyndrum.

[@tonners.pettitt9938]

Nice nod to Jago, I follow you both and side note, get geeky! That's what we're all here for right?

[@jonleiend1381]

So you are telling me we can not figure out self driving trains but Elon Musk said we have self driving cars in 2016???

[@iflifewaseasy]

The disaster scale version three point zero is a fantastic effort and well received 🤩 The bingo card is a cheery sarcastic cake topper for the improvement. Great job!

[@GMxTekhe]

I remember this happening, because it massively screwed up my journey into uni, if I remember rightly! Also, lovely to hear the wonderful Chloe as a cameo! :D

[@SydenyTrainsVideos]

Cool Video, this kinda reminds me of the 2003 Melbourne Broadmeadows run away incident, but gravity was not working against the train at all (KZbinr taitset made a good video about it) And one time recently a rail grinder broke in the Sydney city circle during the peek and messed up everything!

[@thebonefish]

"Bro I'm married" lol

[@pghcoyote]

Another well-made and entertaining edition! And the "kind of sex toy" thing, had me laughing!

[@AtreyuKoyote]

Hey happy new year and a great start into 2024, awesome video as always 😊 and I was so happy to hear Chloe as guest 😁 much luv 🐾

[@SouthLondonRailwayPhotography]

Lovely coverage of the incident and thanks for proper credit for the picture of the battery locomotive!

[@juliamcwilliam]

Whenever I think of runaway trains, I think of “Runaway train never going back Wrong way on a one way track Seems like I should be getting somewhere Somehow I'm neither here nor there” Hahah

[@TheStuart-of-Cosby]

Awesomeness as always John. Nice and informative i really enjoy the weather updates. Even tho we live across the Pond from each other. Its a wet an windy day here in my part of Cosby Tennessee.

[@MatthewTavio]

I love you Mr Plainly Difficult, have a good new year!

[@AgentBoobimus]

I was not expecting to hear the phrase 'train sex toy' this morning!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

😉

[@castorj.b.1257]

enjoying the disaster bingo on the latest few videos, and I like the look of the new disaster scale too. great work as usual!

[@flygirl6048]

Loved your geeking out! Id love to see more of these kinds of things from you!

[@newtagwhodis4535]

This was such an informative video! Thank you for sharing this stuff with us, to learn about these preventative measures is really cool. I was always nervous riding trains. Props to the guest narrorator too! Well said! I hope railway safety reaches a wider audience as it impacts many surrounding communities too! I'd love to see you cover East Palestine, Ohio and similar, sadly, inevitable derailment. I hope better brakes are implemented, for everyone's sake. Happy New Year to everyone who made this show possible.

[@sage5296]

Man I love to see the cameos from other creators, and since I watch almost all of yall's channels I can recognise the voices lol

[@tabbitee]

Yayyyy, it's Chloe! Super stoked to have you two collaborating 😁

[@AntBangBang]

As always, a really interesting video John. Recognised Chloe’s voice the moment she popped up. Thought I was on a different channel for a moment 😊

[@debrareplogle651]

As always very good, I enjoy your reports and the graphics and bubble messages are great!! Thank You for sharing,

[@ToniTerrier]

I frequently hop over to your other channel to listen to that piece of music you added at the end, it's a great composition 🥰

[@brigidsingleton1596]

😊❤ Thank you Chloe for helping John. Thank you John for your videos.❤😊🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🖖

[@neffersonjickel3901]

I love Jago, Disaster Breakdown, and trains, so this was a good episode all round! Especially as I somehow wasn't aware of this incident!

[@Screamblade_]

Always with the interesting content. I’ve never heard of this before. Thank you for inputting the personal side with your past work… did you work as a rail controller?

[@andrewpinner3181]

Thanks for another well researched & interesting video ! The phrases 'when there's been a balls up on the railway' & 'brown trousers' made I larf 'cause they were delivered so dead pan, 'Plainly put' one might say ! Also nice shout out to Jago !