A Brief History of: The Clapham Junction Rail Disaster 1988 (Documentary)

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Check me out on Twitter twitter.com/Plainly_D Fancy some of my merch? teespring.com/en-GB/stores/plainly-difficult Fancy supporting me on patreon? www.patreon.com/Plainlydifficult

[@iamantrometik]

Nice video!

[@mrchicken15]

I like the trian stuff I have only just started watching your videos and watched all of them in 2 weeks love them Maybe you can also look at some Airplane disasters ?

[@charliegamage8862]

Maybe for your next video you do on rail disasters try the city of san francisco's derailment it would make a good video for you to day

[@charliegamage8862]

Do. Ffs autocorrect

[@Iffy350]

You should seriously consider doing some aircraft accident videos.

[@JackFrawley101]

Admitting to myself that I aged 50 years during Lockdown. I am now excited to watch train documentaries. Retirement is many decades away but arthritis is surely just around the corner

[@PlainlyDifficult]

😂😂

[@nerobernardino88]

Same.

[@flemmingsorensen5470]

I know EXACTLY how you feel 😉😉😉

[@kevinkevin9525]

I feel you. I'm 18 but my knees and back are feeling 50.

[@calebjones3636]

👆 this

[@JagoHazzard]

TRAAAAAAAINS! By which I mean, yes please to train content.

[@robertwilloughby8050]

Hey, Jago, would you like to interview Duke McKenzie (and pinch Purley out from under Plainly's nose?)

[@TheMicro4]

Surprised there was no crossover lol

[@Black-Sun_Kaiser]

I thought it said TRAAAAAAAANS!

[@Itaimumwiroikm]

JAGO !!

[@cattibingo]

Choo chooooooooo

[@mancunianace8428]

I remember when I was an apprentice sparky, we thought we were being smart just snipping back the cable without tapeing and terminating the ends. My boss gave me the biggest bollocking, he even mentioned the Clapham crash. It was the best advice I ever got, he's passed on now RIP gaffer Terry.

[@jacobfreeman5444]

As he should have. Better to be safe. No way to know if that exposed wire will touch anything, like other machinery or a person. Good man to set you on the right path.

[@mancunianace8428]

@@jacobfreeman5444 Yes your right, he was a great guy looking back, I thought he was a pain when doing my apprenticeship. But he was straight as they come, old school. As times passed I miss him a lot tbh

[@jed-henrywitkowski6470]

What does bollocking, mean?

[@mancunianace8428]

@@jed-henrywitkowski6470 English term for telling someone off. It's a bit of a crude, slang term lol!!!

[@boostfrog]

@@jed-henrywitkowski6470 "Tore him a new asshole" in American terms.

[@AsbestosMuffins]

"He worked his 13th straight 7 day week." Lesson: Don't do this Modern Businesses: "7 day weeks constantly you say?"

[@Shortmansydrome]

thankfully a lot of countries unionized and fought for 5 day weeks, minimum pay rates, overtime etc.

[@ImpetuouslyInsane]

Sounds like when I worked for AT&T. And if you think the union cared, the IBEW didn't give a rats ass.

[@southerneruk]

@@ImpetuouslyInsane It was in the 80s when the Union's leadership was taking over by the right wing lot that supported Kinnoch and the left wing "socialist" witch hunt started in the Labour Party and in the Unions to get them removed. Kinnoch sold the workers down the Swaney without a paddle

[@aaronbasham6554]

*cries in having 2 months of ~60 hour work week*

[@jaimieboy999]

No, people just had graft in them then, he would of had a car, a house and kids and money to spare. Now a days you have to do a silly little uni degree in WhatsApp that leads you to a job that probably rips of workers.

[@mce_AU]

As a railway signalling technician for the last 40 years you covered this extremely well. Yes to more railway videos. Cheers.

[@francistarkenton545]

I just finished my signals training so I felt pretty smart watching it. Do they use track magnets to dump trains if they enter a block on a red in the UK?

[@AkomishTiddies]

@@francistarkenton545 Depends. There's AWS that needs driver's reaction within a few seconds in front of any non-green signal and stops train if there's none which operates using magnets, and most lines have TPWS which does the same when train exceeds maximum speed at certain points and passes red (and annoyingly keeps it stopped for 1-2 minutes after). High-speed lines use French TVM system similarly to TGV which has no conventional signals. Tube lines use either tripcocks (very simple mechanical device stopping trains passing red) and Moorgate protection (same idea, but it checks speed near buffer stops) or cab signalling which is part of ATO and varies a lot line by line

[@Markus-zb5zd]

Yeah Inb4 Eschede

[@michaeljames4904]

high praise!

[@francistarkenton545]

@@AkomishTiddies Thanks mate. I appreciate the detailed response.

[@mikeymikey4186]

Honestly, I would love a whole documentary on the history of rail signals made by you

[@iamantrometik]

Me too!

[@Dr-Weird]

Surprisingly yes.

[@WH32R]

Same!

[@mohammadrifqisatriamas7311]

as a railfans I approve this

[@bbybby91]

@@mohammadrifqisatriamas7311 came here to say this.

[@apestyler]

As a mainline driver in the UK, this sent shivers down my spine, as you touched on we take for granted that the signalling system is fail-safe. Keep the content coming & thanks!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!

[@JoshuaTootell]

This reminds me of the flight safety brief where I was once told "The pilot had every incentive to fly safely as they are the first to die in a crash". Same applies to trains.

[@namugriff]

@@JoshuaTootell It's also why they tell people to keep the gangway doors clear of obstacles as the driver may need to escape in a hurry.

[@JoshuaTootell]

@@namugriff 😂

[@worldcomicsreview354]

@@namugriff The driver escaping in a hurry didn't do much good in Seoul, a few years ago.

[@jackycook64]

When I was little my dad and I would spend hours walking the train tracks. One day there was a Burlington Northern engine idling on the track. The engineer greeted us and asked if we wanted a ride. And he didn't go just a few feet. He took us to a small town about 15 miles away and back. It was an amazing experience and will always be one of my favorite memories.

[@caferace8418]

Those days are gone, sadly. Now you would be answering questions from DHS.

[@noxirs7059]

I hope the your father kept in touch with the engineer.

[@12isaac00]

I swear loose wires have a consciousness of thier own and their one objective is jam themselves into that one place you wish they would not.

[@justinfowler2857]

Kinda like how a dropped tool will roll to the exact center of your car. 😆

[@malusignatius]

Or how, no matter how neatly you bind cable, it's inevitable that within 30 seconds of you taking your eyes off of it, it will become a tangled, incomprehensible snarl.

[@ollieb9875]

There is a small beast that lives in pockets and draws that tangles headphone wire up 🙃

[@malusignatius]

@@ollieb9875 It's probably related to the infamous Turret Monster.

[@tessfabled4115]

@@ollieb9875 Gremlins?

[@Taladar2003]

72 hour work weeks and 12 hour shifts still seems completely insane for safety critical work.

[@Mark1024MAK]

That’s the current absolute maximum, the staff could work much longer hours prior to the Hidden enquiry. And part of the reason that they did, was that, due to working the weekend, they could nearly double their week’s wages.

[@johnpotter4750]

It's mainly gone on UK Railways, but our niche had "Extremities of Service" (mainly Ex-Naval practice/parlance) In a incident you stayed until relieved, we had an emergency rations box brought out ( I did 55 hours straight - Manning an outstation once) and have stayed after shift, filling in an incidence report for management day meeting. (The Control log book does not move ! ).

[@bulldog1066jpd]

It used to be the normal when I worked on the railways....

[@bulldog1066jpd]

​@@Mark1024MAK what with doubling back twice in a week the seventh turn (6th day) used to be paid at double time.... oh the good ole days

[@Mark1024MAK]

@@bulldog1066jpd - we never had that. Double time only got paid for Sunday turns if carrying out engineering work. Twice I worked eight turns in a week (nights on Monday, lates on Tuesday, earlies on Wednesday, nights (same day as earlies), then on Thursday lates again, earlies on Friday, then a turn on Saturday and another one on Sunday… I needed a rest after that!

[@leonerduk]

"I know Deep level tube trains don't run on 4 aspect signalling but I fancied drawing a 95 stock train" -- This is the sort of comment we've come to love here

[@SportyMabamba]

When I joined, getting my head around 2-aspect LT signals and repeaters took a while 🤯 oh and fog repeaters too. Now the 95/96 stock run on TBTC signalling there’s also a blue proceed aspect for automatic mode

[@benw15]

As a train driver, I can say your signalling explination was better than that of my training! Best description I've seen so far! Great work.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!!

[@ArDeeMee]

This is literally the highest praise a YTer can get! And as a watcher, I get to know that the information was correct (without tons of research, because this explanation wouldn’t make much sense to me written down). So thank you for your feedback, much appreciated. 🙏

[@rridgway1303]

Paul Perry-Lewis was a very close friend of mine who was killed in the crash. He was in the front carriage of the Poole train. I passed this point about 30 minutes before the accident. We were on our way to work in the City. I can still remember everything that happened that morning. Continue to RIP my friend. Roy

[@Jablicek]

A vvey good friend of mine was involved, too. She still lives with survivor's guilt from a thing that happened when we were kids, and an appalling lack of safety culture at BR. So many had their lives ruined for nothing - because BR was haemorrhaging money and cutting staff was the way to go.

[@johnpotter4750]

@@Jablicek From way back when, the UK Railway was all about overtime, saves on staffing costs, leave, pensions etc. And the vaulted Staff Assoc. & Unions could see no wrong ! The public could understand staff wanting pay rises, not the fundamental safety considerations of breakless 7 day working. That's elitism !

[@janicesullivan8942]

Condolences, I’m sorry for the loss of your friend.

[@rridgway1303]

@@janicesullivan8942 Thank you.

[@mrkipling2201]

@@janicesullivan8942 I 2nd that.

[@Usmodlover]

I love how this being Plainly Difficult, the analogy used to describe a fail-safe system are control rods in a nuclear reactor, a more complex system than the one being originally explained

[@donaldelliot8490]

I was a young police officer involved in body and property recovery, I suffered badly for years with severe Post Traumatic Stress after this dreadful accident.

[@sierraskye913]

Very sorry to hear that :( as a young mechanical engineer, I watch these videos and pass them around my friends and colleagues in hopes of preventing or mitigating tragedies like this in our respective careers. I hope you are doing better now.

[@donaldelliot8490]

@@sierraskye913 Thank-you, it never goes away.

[@SuzanneU]

Dreadful.

[@merrymermaid]

hope you are doing well Donald! :)

[@donaldelliot8490]

@@merrymermaid I still feel saddened at the dreadful loss of life, my marriage failed, and I still have 'issues' but try and stay upbeat, and try and help and support others who suffer. Each day is a fresh day. Thank-you for your concern. 🤗

[@luvondarox]

Thank you for these animated diagrams. It legit helps me keep track of what's going on.

[@Panda-cute]

I have trouble focusing on audio only so the diagrams are a blessing indeed. First comment I’ve seen acknowledging it.

[@Panda-cute]

@@minimm2013 good one 😂

[@WindTurbineSyndrome]

A-ha!

[@ArDeeMee]

Heh, on track… =)

[@luvondarox]

@@ArDeeMee :D

[@ReverendTed]

Was watching this and got an advertisement for Disaster Insurance: "Disasters are becoming more common..." Me: "Oh, good! I mean...bad. Right, that's bad."

[@Bynj3]

Used to be an assistant HVAC and electrical. That mistake with the wires is so common and I HATED it. And keeping the old wires adds up with each new addition or replacement, creating giant messes to clean up. Don't know what our excuse is though, here we're never overworked like that.

[@lander1591]

Maybe if the Copper Thieves were trained better to only take the old looms...

[@johnpotter4750]

@@lander1591 You can catch them ! but they just walk .....

[@johnpotter4750]

ECRO ?

[@stevie-ray2020]

Presumably the electricians were prohibited from removing any of the old wiring because the bosses were concerned that they'd make off with it!

[@gyromurphy]

Skin shredding asphalt. That sounds like the car safety videos my mom used to make me watch (she ran the highway safety program for Pennsylvania department of transportation. She really REALLY wanted to make sure I wore a seatbelt)

[@warrensteel9954]

As someone who used to ride motorcycles she's not wrong about the asphalt...

[@zsakrock]

@@warrensteel9954 And road rash infections, make the broken bones feel like a leisurely ride on the carousel.

[@himaro101]

@@warrensteel9954 Current biker here. My mother basically said the tarmac at 40mph to skin is what cheese is to a grater. I tend to ride with kevlar jeans as a minimum...

[@Val.Kyrie.]

Interestingly my husband (way back) survived a car accident because he wasn’t wearing his belt, and he friend almost died from the belt lacerating his organs 😬 I had it drilled into me to wear a belt, but there’s no guarantees. My fear is my kids strapped into their car seats with the car on fire.

[@jooleebilly]

A friend of mine almost killed his best friend. He was not wearing a seatbelt but his friend was. Took a turn too fast and rolled the truck. No seatbelt Chad flew into belted in Doug, releasing the seatbelt latch. Doug was thrown from the truck but Chad was bounced back into the driver’s seat by Doug’s body. Truck stopped rolling and was upright when Chad noticed “no Doug.” Doug was thrown from the passenger side window to the middle of the road. Don’t be Chad. Anecdotes aside, wear your damn seatbelt. The odds of being hurt worse when not wearing one are far greater (grater?) than the odds of injury when wearing one.

[@michaelgroves4395]

As a signaller / Mobile Operations Manager, you have pretty much summarised the basics of signalling quicker than the bloke who taught it me but no less effectively. Spot on! Subbed

[@andyb1653]

Last time I was this early, "Plainly Difficult" was still called "Fairly Easy"

[@PlainlyDifficult]

😂😂

[@ingvarhallstrom2306]

That have to be one of the funniest "first!" posts I've seen... ;)

[@Aghawa]

…barely an inconv…oh wait

[@WeldinMike27]

@@Aghawa my thoughts exactly

[@ozfoxaroo]

If the delay in BR calling 999 sounds bad, I got a worse one for you: The 2003 Waterfall Train Crash (Australia). Due to the carriage design the doors could not be opened unpowered. In the cutting none of the passenger's mobile phones had a signal. The information online is sketchy, but I recall being told that a teenage boy managed to escape the train and climb a hill to call emergency services.

[@fusy83]

its really nice to see you diversify your content more recently

[@JoePinball2006]

I remember my Dad telling us he had to climb over people who were dead, but sat perfectly upright in their seat, in order to get out. He was on the Poole train. He suffered PTSD and survivor guilt for quite a few years afterwards as well.

[@patrickhasachannel]

I grew up reading coffee table books about rail disasters because my great grandfather was a train fanatic, so the rail-centric content is something I find VERY interesting

[@worldcomicsreview354]

I collected the "World of Trains" partwork as a kid, that had loads of detailed breakdowns of disasters, too.

[@benabusthethird9751]

I would love to see something about Grenfell. I respect it is far too soon, investigations are still ongoing, etc. Just an idea for the future.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

I would like to cover it in the future

[@Rx7man]

@@PlainlyDifficult I'm sure there's no shortage of train disasters, here's a good one en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac-M%C3%A9gantic_rail_disaster

[@Rx7man]

I think you'd probably rate it as an 8 on the plainly difficult disaster scale.. the long and the short of it is they parked a train, shut down the engines and didn't set enough manual brakes, as the air brake pressure bled off the brakes released and the train rolled down the track and derailed in the town

[@MrFreakRite]

@@Rx7man holy shit. I hadn't heard of this . Plz do video :o

[@Rx7man]

@@MrFreakRite yeah, it's a doozie of dumbass disasters

[@nerobernardino88]

This man could explain the logistics of washing dishes and I would watch that.

[@margaretf667]

But a plate would be dropped 😂

[@KennyCnotG]

Check out Technology Connections then- fantastically great breakdowns of how every day technology works- he recently did an episode on dishwashers, and it's wonderful.

[@nerobernardino88]

@@margaretf667 A Brief History of: The Plate of Lasagna Incident

[@WindTurbineSyndrome]

The Great Dishwashing Tragedy by Plainly Difficult. It could happen.

[@worldcomicsreview354]

@@KennyCnotG Words outta my mouth lol. I recenty bought a countertop dishwasher, I think the fact it has a window on it is one of the most important features.

[@ryandavis7593]

Excellent work. Having worked in operations, as a signal maintainer, a locomotive mechanic, a passenger car electrician and locomotive electrician on short lines in the US I can attest to all that you have stated. For those who don’t know, on a US short line one often wears many hats and may change from one professional craft to another. I have several times and most of those I have worked with have as well. In the United States the signal aspects for CTC are clear, green, advanced approach flashing yellow, approach, solid yellow and stop, red. We also have diverging aspects as well. Otherwise the signals work very much the same. In locomotive electrical work a misplaced wire can cause unexpected issues. For instance, a wire on a contactor interlock that is place on a normally open if placed on a normally closed can cause the whole set of contactors to start jumping in opposites. Of course your locomotive is not going to operate correctly. This is a serious situation so we test these circuits with the generator off line. This is usually a job that can take hours if not a week to diagnose. This is triple truth on a signal system. To all the signal maintainers out there. RESPECT!!!!

[@kbjames100]

I was working as an Railway signalling installation team leader at Liverpool St London at the time of the disaster. After the disaster we were visited by the Ministry of Transport who asked me and my team loads of questions, they looked at our installation work and asked about our practices. We were praised by them as we had always cut any bare wires off and taped the ends. They asked me why we had done this? I said that its was a practice I was taught to use.

[@Mark1024MAK]

On the maintenance side, it was panic stations after the cause was discovered to be a redundant uninsulated wire... We had to visit and check every item of signalling equipment and inspect all the wiring... You really don’t want to know how many we found...

[@CrazyNoop]

The Accident of Eschede in Germany could be interesting as well

[@the_retag]

Yeah that was massive and changed procedures for dealing with large accidents where there are lots of injured and dead

[@CrazyNoop]

@@the_retag yeah also the safety regulations have been alterred because a personal of the train had to confirm the damage that caused the accident to perform an emergency breaking which took too much time

[@the_retag]

@@CrazyNoop no, they didnt have to confirm it, the oassenger chose to rather have it comfirmed

[@Rx7man]

Lac Megantique disaster in Quebec is another good rail disaster to cover en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac-M%C3%A9gantic_rail_disaster

[@CrazyNoop]

@@the_retag sorry then i clearly misunterstood this part but thx for the Info😉

[@richardpocock4300]

Love the channel. As a fellow south Londoner, I love to support good, home grown content. Railway content is always welcome, but your variety and quality is what counts. Anything interesting and engaging is fine by me, whether in the sky, on the ground or under the sea etc etc. 😆

[@masterimbecile]

Since you're doing rail disasters, maybe consider the Eschede derailment or the Quintinshill disaster.

[@TheTrainMaster15]

I would be very interested in the Quintinshill disaster

[@jimtaylor294]

*Both is good* The German one of those is also the most interesting IMCO, as it was entirely the result of systematic incompetance on the part of DB (the rail company, and german equivilant of BR), and is the worst rail disaster of the last half century. It's also why the German ICE train lost a series of hitherto promising export orders.

[@SportyMabamba]

Eschede Disaster: do not use tram wheels for highspeed trains

[@jimtaylor294]

@@SportyMabamba Also; neglecting checks for metal fatigue (something aviation had taken seriously for decades & the rail industry had known about for over a century prior to the disaster) is to invite ruin.

[@worldcomicsreview354]

@@jimtaylor294 Wasn't Potters' Bar caused by metal fatigue, too? I remember a few rail crashes on top of one another at the turn of the century, snd then months of delays as pretty much every track had to be re-checked for neglected maintenance.

[@tommihommi1]

So many consecutive 7 day weeks, probably with more than a reasonable amount of work hours each day... People tend to forget that working time restrictions aren't just there to make the worker's life easier, they're also there because shit like this inevitably leads to bad products.

[@Worther12]

This disaster also highlights the importance of getting your work checked. Someone who hasn't been involved on your work, can easily spot things you miss. Two brains/pair of eyes really are better than one. Cross check and sign off everything. Great video. 👍

[@kahnwolfe9548]

I do like the bit of variety. Always objectively covered and properly detailed. Look forward to more informative videos!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!

[@morthren]

Nice one Plainly! A very well explained video of this accident 👍

[@lovecraftscat5044]

Your videos are appreciated. Hopefully education on such tragic events will lead to the prevention of future disasters.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@absolutely1337]

Wouldn’t be a Saturday morning without a video from here. Greetings from Nova Scotia 🤗🤗🤗

[@1963TOMB]

The Clapham Common disaster has been mentioned in every signaling related training course that I've attended in the last 30 years. Obviously it was a wake up call in the industry. The shift time constraints are also still very much adhered to: the 12 hour limit must include the time to travel to and from home and is monitored on projects such as Crossrail. Companies also put night shift staff in hotels in order to reduce the fatigue associated with driving home afterwards. The approach to safety in the railway industry is all very different, i.e. better, nowadays.

[@danwalker5291]

Nice one! While training to become a signals maintainer in Ontario Canada, we discussed this incident and the importance of proper wiring and testing of the signal system. Everything must be check and rechecked by multiple people. Safety cannot be taken for granted! Would like to see more train related videos. Try the Hinton crash in Alberta Canada. Head-on crash between a freight train and a passenger train.

[@Eclispestar]

When you say "I could do a deep dive on X" you know the youtube community is going to say yes please!

[@djspark191]

Maaaate I just found your channel and I'm loving it! My Dad was a signaller for 25 odd years and now he trains others to do the same thing so the railway stuff is right up our street. Thanks for the content mate I can feel a binge coming on

[@DODoo1337]

Ah nice! Just what I needed! A disaster video in the weekend. Your good for us sir, too good.

[@kristeanruddell1765]

YES YES YES!!! Idk what it is but the sound of your voice explaining/discussing rail way mishaps is so oddly soothing. I put these type of videos on when I can't sleep and then I'm out like a light I love it❤ I also love your content when im awake just to clarify haha

[@existentialcrisisactor]

These videos are the best way to spend a Saturday morning! Thank you so much for the amazing, and varied, content

[@imperfectly-balanced8861]

Completely agree! Midnight saturday here and the perfect way to relax. Have a rad weekend dude ✌

[@barrydysert2974]

Jago posted the link so i said sure i'll watch it again! Two of my favorite creators!:-) 🖖

[@missionpassed4584]

I remember this on the news well, even though i was very young, every time i went near the area by train it always crossed my mind still to this day as soon as i hear Clapham

[@sarjim4381]

Yes, please do more railway disaster videos. Road transport accidents like fog or snow pileups would also be interesting.

[@mattc-beam637]

Lot me add "Sandstorm" - in Germany ! - leadin to one of the biggest "Autobahnunfall" of all times.

[@robertl4824]

@@mattc-beam637 Deep Hurting!

[@SupersuMC]

How about that car pileup in Fort Worth that was a prelude to the Texas Freeze blackout?

[@caileanshields4545]

As you can likely tell by my avatar, I greatly enjoyed this. Other UK railway disasters you'd likely find fascinating to read up/research/do a video on at some point in the future would be: The Tay Bridge (December 1879) Quintinshill (May 1915) Harrow & Wealdstone (October 1952) Lewisham (December 1957) Moorgate (February 1975)

[@NajaAn]

Only found your channel recently but I love listening to your voice is the perfect tone to make sure my brain doesn't switch off even with all the technical stuff like when you cover topics like how reactors work etc. I learn so much and I have fun doing it, thanks for making another informative and amazing video! 👍💕

[@AronBezzina]

I would be more than happy to see more rail videos, including a documentary on signalling. :)

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@That_Thicc_Cat]

Same here

[@jamtaz25]

Please do some more of these

[@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

Thanks man! I rarely comment on your videos but really enjoy them! great detail without being exhaustive! I always learn something cool! So just a thank you for your content!

[@bigernmccracken5736]

Thumbs up to more railway videos. I’m still hoping for a return to floods as well, I’m hoping for a video on the 1889 Johnstown Flood. You make great content, PD. Keep ‘em coming!

[@janicesullivan8942]

Galveston Hurricane of 1900.

[@robertbruce1887]

Thank you for a thorough explanation of the signaling system & what caused the crash.

[@FSstudios1]

Today we learned that the vast majority of Plainly Difficult followers are also railfans

[@Thesupermachine2000]

We are, all, huge nerds

[@ericmarciniak1]

onlytrains?

[@caferace8418]

You mean foamer. Railfans creep me out. Imagine seeing the same fucker following you all day at work taking pictures.

[@phoenixkh93]

thanks for making the animations of how the train signals worked, it really helped me get my head around it

[@Lyndiloo]

Would love to hear you cover the 2015 Amtrak derailment in Philly and the 1993 Big Bayou Canot rail accident in Alabama.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thanks for the suggestion

[@Lyndiloo]

@@PlainlyDifficult Thanks for the content ;)

[@caferace8418]

The Philly one is a result of having single person crew in the cab. The second seems to be a result of not having a more sophisticated block system. Most modern systems would see a break in the rail.

[@Lyndiloo]

@@caferace8418 I find the Big Bayou Canot accident especially interesting because there are so many unrelated failures that all played vital roles in the accident. The train being delayed for a broken toilet, the inexperienced boat captain making a wrong turn, the incomplete construction of the bridge allowing extreme movement, the rails not breaking to trigger the block system. Any one of those go the other way and this never happens.

[@goawayleavemealone2880]

@@Lyndiloo - Indeed and it's sad that we have so many examples throughout history of just one thing going differently there would be a different and happier outcome.

[@ktony]

Thank you, Plainly Difficult, for this and other rail-related documentaries. I love machine and transport topics, but my interests are wide-ranging. I am always fascinated by your posts.

[@StephenCole1916]

This channel has really gone of the rails recently... I'll Let myself out... Seriously, great video and can't wait for more!

[@danielvanced5526]

Based on your good knowledge of signalling and the railway I can only assume you work on the railway. This was a great video on one of the most important and influential rail disasters in the last century.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

I can neither confirm nor deny 😉 thanks for the comment

[@highdownmartin]

@@PlainlyDifficult 2 yellas gives you away

[@Mark1024MAK]

@@PlainlyDifficult - I could nit-pick, but well done for a really good video. Just the right a amount of technical without swamping or dropping out important details, and keeping it understandable for non-railway people. Well done 👍 👏

[@caferace8418]

I doubt it. I've found the people that know most about the stuff is railfans. I can drive a train and switch cars, but a railfan can tell you every detail about the cars and locomotive. For me it's just a job and I don't need to know all that. Railfans it's a hobby and they learn about what interests them.

[@Nert_Williams]

Expanding the types of accidents you cover would be awesome man. Incredible channel.

[@cubiusblockus3973]

If you're looking for your topic for the next video, I suggest you look into the Granville train disaster in Australia.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thanks for the suggestion

[@cubiusblockus3973]

@@PlainlyDifficult np, it would be nice to see it, my dad was sent there, he had to identify the bodies and inform the families. He doesn't talk about it much.

[@bigdmac33]

Excellent presentation - simple and effective.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@aSinisterKiid]

Yes I have enjoyed the rail content. Trains are especially interesting in history and it would be great if you could cover more stuff about them. Some of the steam locomotives have particularly intriguing stories to look into.

[@wtorules4743]

Informative graphics really helped this along. Very interesting video.

[@mh1593]

YES!!! If you want to do the Paddington Disaster as reported by Lord Hidden as well that would be awesome!

[@bmstylee]

Wasn't that a head on crash caused by signaling as well?

[@worldcomicsreview354]

@@bmstylee I think the signals were OK, but the automatic stop wasn't. The driver was packing his stuff up and missed a red.

[@Mark1024MAK]

Which one, the Southall crash caused by a combination of the high speed train not having a working AWS or working ATP, the driver being distracted and not paying enough attention to the signals, and the signaller crossing a freight train over a junction ahead of the high speed train (which was not unsafe, but unusual). Or the Ladbroke Grove crash, caused by a DMU driver for some reason (that we will never know) going past a red signal that was protecting the junction ahead. The signal was red because the points were set for a high speed train heading for London Paddington. The HST had working AWS and working ATP, but it was too close to stop in time. The DMU did not have ATP. The signal (now infamous as SN109) was a non-standard configuration, and the sighting of it was not very good. The bridges and overhead line equipment (OHL) interrupted the drivers view of it. TPWS did not exist at the time either of these crashes occurred. See my other post if you want to know more about AWS, TPWS or ATP.

[@kellyngrey4950]

I just love your videos on disasters in general. There are a lot of railway disasters, so yes, I'd love to hear more - like the Big Bayou Canot rail accident.

[@sidney018]

as always nice video i would like to see the Eschede ICE derailment as a Video 😁😁

[@chrishughes3405]

Love the little black and white box in the corner before what I assume was ads. Took me back and reminded me of the fact I haven't seen ads for years. Firefox and ublock on android for the win.

[@MacMcNurgle]

I'd be interested in a statistical analysis of accidents to see what the average ratio of killed to injured turns out to be. It just seems to me that a bad accident seems to have a 1:10 ratio of killed to injured. Any time the number killed is closer to the number injured, makes me think it had to be a really nasty situations.

[@mbryson2899]

I've liked all your subjects so far, but I must admit that trains hold a special place in my heart.

[@kd5ctt]

Yes more rail stuff please. Love it!

[@stevesellers-wilkinson7376]

Yes, please! Definitely more railway videos. Mind you, all your videos are brilliant, so just keep doing what you do, and I'm sure I'll be kept well entertained!

[@themelleryeller]

If you think UK signaling is confusing, try the French system. I’m still not sure I understand it lol

[@Mark1024MAK]

The French use a system with different principles. The British system is a block based system.

[@caferace8418]

The American system if fairly simple though.

[@n0jy]

I have enjoyed all of your videos that I have seen so far, and being a retired (U.S.) railroader who was actually a part of (as the train dispatcher) a signal failure incident that caused a collision and one fatality, this was of a particular interest. As I said I'm retired now but while you can take the railroader out of the railroad, you can't take the railroad out of the railroader. What is learned and done to avoid future incidents is interesting. More rail-related videos would be appreciated!

[@danielvanced5526]

How many people got that reference at the end to Waterloo? Yes, standards are slipping in the railways, we've had a lot of close calls recently. Sometimes you need a big disaster to remind people to keep their heads in the game. The woman in the mask (Pam Warren) from Paddington agrees, if something's not done, something big is going to happen again.

[@tomsommer8372]

Probably a former British Leyland strik... errrm: employee who could‘t get out of his way of lousy standards and shoddy craftsmanship. Maybe distracted by a nearby brazier. Typical English work ethics.

[@jacoblanglois]

Plainly, I've been consuming your content as fast as you can distribute it. keep on doing what you do best.

[@g_e_o_m9369]

4:25 "you can watch this charmingly dated BR video on the subject" Don't threaten me with a good time.

[@PMA65537]

Richard Attenborough explained the British railway system in the film Private's Progress.

[@jarvis8635]

I love the way you tell these stories! I would enjoy hearing more Train related content.

[@medicolkie3606]

Ngl I would probably watch a full documentary on trains if it was made and narrated by you.

[@mumm380]

Thank you from the other side of the world (I'm in NZ) - so many of the graves, you visit, I don't think I will ever get to, so I enjoy seeing them. Hope you reach your numbers. Have a restful holiday season to you and everyone else

[@Ellipses_klu]

now understand,Last time I was this early I learned new things Meanwhile Do the Eschede disaster

[@aggromando7323]

I’ll watch ANY subject you cover PD. Love your channel!

[@thusharikabotheju5655]

i cant wait for the plainly difficult covid 19 video : )

[@PlainlyDifficult]

One day

[@warrensteel9954]

Yeah...that might be a 20 minute video.

[@robertl4824]

I think you mean the US and Brazil half-azzed responses

[@JohanStrandberg]

Thank you. A clear simplified explanation, The animations helped.

[@Volvith]

"weekend" Ah... _The "i'll hurry so i can go home earlier" jobs._ ... *_Never buy a car made on a friday, and pray you never meet one made on sunday on the road._*

[@donalfinn4205]

Excellent as usual. I’ll watch any accident you investigate!👍☘️

[@RERM001]

I thought this was a Thunderbolt 1000 siren productions video. Collab when?

[@PlainlyDifficult]

I do like his videos!

[@spacewolfjr]

didn't he (TB) make some rude remarks and out some poor guy to his parents?

[@6yjjk]

@@spacewolfjr Yep, there was some drama like that, during which I concluded that he was, at best, a whiny little shit.

[@spacewolfjr]

@@6yjjk Interesting, I had him in the rude-little-rat-dick category myself

[@6yjjk]

@@spacewolfjr I'm certainly not ruling that out!

[@jimhart5066]

Yes sir! The railway subjects are great and also fit your channel's theme like a glove. Plus, one can tell that you have an interest in the subject and that also makes for great videos!

[@macronautics]

Meanwhile Indian trains operate on 500% of intended capacity like it's just another day.

[@BenMelluish]

I can't begin to imagine the state of the shitters.

[@MarceloBenoit-trenes]

@@kristopherjames1742 that are things of the past. The system now is really doing well.

[@scrap_monkey695]

I love how much you research, that's something you can't find people doing these days. Keep it up, love the vids

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!

[@Ragnarock227]

If possible i would like to ask you to cover the wreck of the Sunset Limited

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thanks for the suggestion

[@5roundsrapid263]

It has a lot in common with Clapham and the I-40 bridge collapse.

[@MrTsVideoEmporium]

Keep up the railway 'stuff' John 👍🏻 really good stuff alongside all the other really good stuff & topics available ...

[@Gwynsladle]

this happened in indonesia too, the train was stopped but the other one decided to change lane to where the stopped train is idling and there was no communication whatsoever. YEETUS DELEETUS ENSUES cmiiw iirc, this was more than a decade ago. edit : i think the train wasn't stopping, but it was moving at a high speed, and the other one doing the same at the opposite direction after changing its lane.

[@Gwynsladle]

@@faisalaldan3420 I'm not sure, its all so vague so only recall about the disaster, not the details.. i have a memory of a 90 years old.. im sure it was before the government doing an all out revamp on the whole train system in Jabodetabek. shit was horrifying.

[@remixedmind6648]

Railway videos you do is awesome! Love all signaling stuff and explain you put in everyone of them! Waiting for more. P. S. Since you do love train stuff you should make playlist only for trains. Cheers!

[@Thepuffingyank]

let us know how it feels to go off the rails, when you change topics

[@nedt]

Outstanding video. As mentioned by others very accurately presented. Thanks.

[@evelynvslife]

I now understand why people post “first” 😯

[@PlainlyDifficult]

It’s a great feeling

[@evelynvslife]

Also I would love more rail disasters since I find them a lot easier to understand 😅

[@Goresaka]

@@PlainlyDifficult It really is huh

[@evelynvslife]

@@PlainlyDifficult as an Aussie most videos are posted at very early morning my time so I’m always very late but 11pm here is perfect 👌

[@xott99]

Great video! I’d love to see more rail disasters in this channel.