Thank you to Zepherus: www.youtube.com/@Zepherus Thanks for watching, check out me other bits! My new Album: madebyjohn.bandcamp.com/album/ambient-archiv-1 Outro Song: ua-cam.com/video/RbpmJJXqSPg/v-deo.htmlsi=2_i6bKZUj3bjixzw Instagram: instagram.com/plainly.john/ Patreon: www.patreon.com/Plainlydifficult Merch: plainly-difficult.creator-spring.com Twitter:twitter.com/Plainly_D
Hey John. As you can tell, I'm involved with music, specifically as a jazz pianist for 50-some years. But even more so, I've composed close to 700 pieces. While consisting of a number of genres, these days I mostly focus on New Jazz and Modern Chamber Music. To me, I feel there's a similarity, especially between Ambient and the Romantic Period of "Classical" music, in the fact that generally, both use music (and sounds) to convey a story and\or imagery. One of the factors I take into consideration is the time-period when they were created. While certain aspects, like psychology, are the same - technology and the amount of knowledge we have now is vastly different.
Now prominently displayed in the cab of (at least) the 95 stock is the sticker, in yellow with bold black letters 'When passing a signal at danger, expect to find a train ahead'. That is a constant reminder of what every driver is (now) taught in week one of their driving course. I always wondered what incident caused that to be added to the cab, as it seems self evident to me, and now I know. Thank you :)
Not a train driver here, but it's kinda self evident to me that a red signal indicates the need to take care, given that a red signal in layman's terms usually means stop/danger.
@@richardvoogd3012it's one of those catch 22's, generally when a signal set to danger is being passed with permission the controller granting that permission has made sure that there's no trains in the next section but people do unfortunately occasionally fuck up. So the driver is required to be on alert for something that's fairly unlikely something people again aren't great at.
The Granville rail disaster occurred 1977 Sydney Australia. It remains the worst rail disaster in Australian history; 83 people died and 213 were injured. These memories never leave.
I travelled to Granville boys high school across that bridge every day back then - needless to say, I happened to miss that day and therefore have never forgotten the tragedy...
My great aunt and my grandmother lived in Springwood in 1977 with my mum and uncle and my great aunt used to catch that train every day. The day before her boss had told her to start late because he had a funeral that morning and was opening late (bank teller in the CBD). Her boss' loved one's funeral stopped her being the next funeral he had to attend.
My sympathies to you, John, regarding your cold. I can relate, having a sore throat cold for the last week. Losing energy even while sitting still, it is both physically and mentally draining. Wishing you a speedy recovery, since I am hoping for the same. It can be a real drag to get through, not to mention when you would like to do some real work, but your body doesn't want to do much.
I feel you both. I'm finally getting over my 2 week case of Airline Crud, that cold you get almost every time you fly home from a really great trip. I'd been visiting my sister and her family on the southwest coast of Mexico, and it was indeed a great trip. Returning to the Toronto area has been less great, and my body has been letting me know it. Being stuck in bed or on the couch, when I've wanted to be in the studio, making art from my heaps of photos, has been almost the worst part.
Colds are such a misery, especially for something common and usually causing no lasting damage. Colds have no right to be as miserable as they are!!! Hope you feel better soon!
@@jamessimms415 No fever here, but it sounds a lot like my Crud, plus sinus hell and a side of migraines. Almost over it, but still tired af, and achy.
@@PlainlyDifficult Reading the remainder of the text on the screen you excerpted from the report is interesting as it discusses such a type of SCAT system, what it would entail, and potential disadvantages of attempted implementation. One of the more interesting discoveries from such reading is that these trains did not have a speedometer-drivers had to estimate their speed themselves! Ouch.
Like trains? Do next the multiple accidents in Mexico City's underground system. In the last 5 years it had multiple crashes, fires, and even elevated sections in the 12 line falling down.
Absolutely. I think the signalling related videos are some of the best ones although I'm biased also working in the industry This channel does however have the most accurate yet understandable for non expert viewers explanation of the Clapham junction disaster I have yet to find
Thought I was going insane when I heard that voiceover at the end there, but it was indeed the mythical Zepherus! Been a long time since he has uploaded, I hope he is doing well and looking after himself. Great video as always.
When I did Work Experience at Morden, I chatted to one of the Northern Line drivers about what it was like driving a train in the tunnels. In addition to nuances like having the cab light on or off, they briefly talked about what they referred to as "two greens," basically in situations where there are two green lights one above the other, they talk about the current signal and what can be expected ahead (the top aspect is the current one, while the bottom aspect applies to the subsequent signal)
We love a good geeky bit PD! Was down London the other day and thought about you and Jago whilst travelling the tube, it's great hearing your voices as you see notable things 😂
As far as i'm aware? The train stop of signal A491 had been damaged by an unsecured trains side chain causing the east bound starting signal A489 at Stratford to remain at danger! As Stratford station is a B.R. station but the LT line is not controlled by the station staff and drivers should not be told to pass a signal at danger by station staff but to apply the stop & proceed rule after telling the guard under their own initiative. Cause of the accident excessive speed! This section of tunnel appears to be fated with applying the pass & proceed rule accidents? On the 17th January 1979 the west bound starting signal at Leyton was passed using the rule and hit a train stopped at a failed signal at the tunnel portal plus exactly the same happen on the 20th August 1984 this time it resulted in fatalities. Cause of both accidents again down to excessive speed!
Your voice actually sounds pretty good @Plainly Difficult - I think the man who does another British disaster channel, Fascinating Horror, has had a much more unpleasant sounding cold for the past two weeks. I just admire the fact that both of you continue to make superb videos despite having a headcold; it shows a delightful bit of stalwart British indefatigability of the sort Americans tend to admire. By the way it might interest you to know that following a devastating series of telescoping incidents on the North American railway and tram networks in the 1900s, by the 1920s anti-climbers, as we call anti-telescoping bumpers, were ubiquitous on subway trains, streetcars and even main line passenger rolling stock, and likewise, these telescoping disasters prompted many American railways, starting with the Pennsylvania Railroad, to replace all of their wood-bodied and composite rolling stock with steel coaches. Steel “Heavy weight” cars from the 1920s were, as the name implies, very heavy, probably exceeding by some margin the maximum axleload on British railways; they were indeed so heavy that the bogies at each end of the carriage were usually of the triple-axle configuration, so each car had a total of twelve wheels rather than the usual eight. The streamlined rolling stock that appeared starting in the early 1930s was very popular among railroads and was adopted very quickly because the light weight steel construction allowed for two-axle bogies (or trucks, as we call them in the US, which I suppose in the UK would be confusing as I believe, from reading Thomas the Tank Engine (the original illustrated books by Rev. W. Audrey) in my youth that the word truck means on the British railways what we call a gondola. However, correct me if I’m wrong in that in many cases, on older rolling stock, brake vans differed from our American cabooses in that they actually did contain the brakes used on freight trains before vacuum brakes and later the Westinghouse positive pressure automatic system became standard.
|Hallo, least of pilgrims, from a friendly Limey. To enlighten you a little - 'truck' on a British railway is - or was - originally any kind of railway goods vehicle, not just an open. Terms such as 'van' or 'tanker' came in as vehicles became more specialised, but you could refer to 'open truck', 'cattle truck', or 'coal truck' (and also refer to them as 'wagons'.) 'Carriage trucks' for conveying vehicles could be either flat trucks or covered vans; the term was used for both! Yet vehicles for milk and fish traffic were 'trucks' if they were open, low sided vehicles, and vans if they were covered. As for cabooses - a British brake van, as you say, was just that; the guard, in charge of running the train, rode in his van (both goods and passenger) and applied the brakes on a signal from the driver - and controlling loose coupled goods trains required very great skill from both men. The American caboose was a riding van for the train crew other than the enginemen. We didn't employ 'swing shacks' or brakemen to run along the rooftops, screwing down the brakes, as US roads did (although many European lines had men riding on - say - every sixth car to do a similar job.) With us it was just three men - driver, fireman and guard. Interestingly, at least one of our railways, the London and South Western, did refer to a part of their brake vans as 'cabooses', particularly passenger brake vans. For many years their guards vans had raised lantern lights (cupolas) on the roof, which permitted the guard to look along the length of the train, and deep windows in the brake end; the 'caboose' in this case was the name for the raised portion of the vehicle. No one knows exactly how this came about but G R Weddell, who's a recognised authority on LSWR coaches, suggested that as the line served Southampton and recruited many of its staff from the marine world, they naturally transferred the term, for the raised lights above the crew's cabin, from ships to trains. Its as plausible as any other explanation!
Those of us who originally come from the North West of London suffer serious nose bleeds if we head into South East London..... Anyway, this video gains a magnificent 7 on the JDG scale - nice work John, and your LT signalling background came through pretty clearly.
I absolutely love the way you Brits pronounce ‘lieutenant’! There are other pronunciations and word variations that I’m partial to as well. For instance, I have tried to incorporate ‘whilst’ into my vocabulary, and growing up completely idolizing Capt. Picard, I will always pronounce ‘futile’ with the ‘long ī’; saying it like my American countrymen has never sounded right to me ever since.
I've got a reasonably comprehensive working knowledge of railway accidents, but have never heard of this incident before, so thank you very much. One obvious (latter day) question is whether Driver Beasley had a speedometer on his power car, or was he purely estimating his speed? May sound strange now, but very few, if any steam locomotives were built with speedos; were diesel and electric units the same? The real fault was that there was no positive way of communicating the passage of trains to porters giving the 'right away' at the previous station; like the early 'time interval' system, they were sending a train into a possibly blocked section, without the driver actually knowing how many obstructions might be ahead of him. Some surface lines, in this sort of emergency, employed a human 'block token', usually an inspector who would ride a train through the obstructed section and a following train could only proceed when he had walked (or ridden) back and joined its driver.
Whoever came up with Speed Control After Trip was probably very pleased with themselves - not only for the dirty acronym, but it's a nifty feature. Reminds me of something I would build and be proud of.
Nicely reported. I attended the unveiling of the memorial plaque at Stratford on 8th April 2016. It was an uplifting, jolly occasion and there were some relatives present who had lost their father (as a passenger) who were glad to see something commemorated. My mother had travelled through this area that Wednesday, on the way home, eastwards. She recalls of the speed at which the service was brought back - services commencing at 10am on the Friday, barely two days later. Compare this to my own experience of working with the Piccadilly line and that the recovery from the 7/7 bombings was six weeks.
Never heard of this as it happened before I was born. I think it got overshadowed by both the Hither Green & Harrow & Wealdstone train crashes. Carriages "telescoping" remain a problem on the railways for a long time after this crash.
My condolences on your cold, John. You sound miserable! Hope you know that we'd understand and survive if you needed a week off! Just got done being sick myself, it's no fun at all.
I may not always know what's being talked about. But I genuinely enjoy listening to someone geek out about a passion or something they're knowledgeable about. It's just cool. Geek away fam.
Anti-riding bumpers theoretically prevent riding by using their serrated edges to lock with the other anti-riding bumper they come in contact with. These aren’t always guaranteed to prevent riding though because of various speeds and angles subway cars can impact at.
The trolly reminds me of when one rolled downhill and went onto the road. A semi truck hit it, then a cop car. The store got it back and put it next to the others.
a train collision in the Park Ave tunnel 1902 in NYC is why steam locomotives were banned in Manhattan in 1908. Also at 15:04 near the bottom of that report, it mentioned fitting speedometers. Did not all trains have speedometers?
Love this channel, having run out of Air Crash Investigation and Seconds from Disaster episodes. I am particularly interested in the industrial accidents, having studied Chemistry at Uni, but I do find the chain of events fascinating in all these accidents.
You might consider a video on the disaster that the naming of the “SCAT” system is - and how it spawned the school of thought of creating the acronym BEFORE naming the system.
A certain well-known hospital system in Minnesota had the wise idea of naming the operations in the southeast part of the state "SEMN." They also once had "FAP" at the end of the acronym for the docs that get involved in suspected child abuse/neglect (since changed).
Very similar to a crash that happened years later in Boston (MA). In August of 1975, there was a three-train collision on the Red Line subway in the tunnel between Charles Street and Park Street stations. The signal at the end of Charles Street Station had failed at stop (danger), so a signalman was manually overriding the trip (called "keying-by" in the US). The root cause of the collision was simple enough: the signalman lost situational awareness and didn't realize the first train hadn't cleared Park Street station before allowing the third train to proceed out of Charles Street. Fortunately, there were no fatalities, but 100 people were injured. The signalman later told investigators that he only realized there was a problem when he noticed that the end of the third train was still sticking out of the tunnel.
Firstly, I hope you have a speedy recovery. Second, we have similar rules here on the NYC subway. As I recall, there's even a hook for tying down the trip arm to allow trains to move past a red signal without the emergency brake triggering. We've had a few tunnel accidents, usually due to excessive speed. The tunnels here are usually multiple tracks divided by closely spaced H or I columns supporting the tunnel roof. As a result, a derailment at speed will send the cars careening into the columns, which now become defacto can openers, slicing open the cars - passengers and all. 😢
I'd check easily preventable on the bingo card as well. A second porter at the next station in contact with the first. the first porter only sends the next train when the second porter informs him that the former train is passed the next station, thus ensuring the track is cleared.
Wow, that rule 55 seems insanely unsafe. To proceed at a stop signal in Germany one has to have a written "command" which can be given over telephone or voice radio link.
@@galdavonalgerri2101 1953? People had TVs by then. You could have had a little black and white TV in your train cab if you really wanted. You could also dial into a telephone system using a wireless telephone connected to some kind of access point to the wired network if you really needed to. None of your assumptions there are correct!
@@galdavonalgerri2101 as mentioned , very briefly, I the video, tube tunnels had two bare wire running along them, that a train driver could chip a sort of telephone to to communicate with, I believe, the nearest signal box
@@rrai1999: Well, at least on mainline GB railways, radio came in around late 1970s-early 1980s [CSR and NRN], and if I recall right, radio for the Underground was mostly motivated by one-person operation (which of course wouldn't be for a while!) Safe to say the train in question would not have had a usable radio dedicated for railway communication purposes fitted...
Hi John, thank you for another look at what can lead to disaster. Good luck with the cold, as they can be soooooo miserable. Funny thing - I used to get colds about as much as anyone else. Then about 30-years ago, I began to rarely catch them at all, and when I did they were mild. All I can guess, is that when I was attending college from 65 - 69, It seemed as if I was catching colds all the time, especially my freshman year. All I can figure is that I developed so many antibodies, I acquired natural immunities to many cold "bugs." That's just a guess, but so far I can't come up with anything better. Cheers 🙂
My late grandfather was a platelayer or lengthman (section hand or gandy dancer for US readers) for some fifty years on a British mainline which included a tunnel. He always said that railwaymen dreaded a collision or derailment in a tunnel more than any other accident - there was nowhere to go to escape.
Pretty good. As an operator in a signaled, blocked, and automatic train stop rail system in North America, it's interesting to me to learn about the previous generations of fail safes and protective measures. In our system we always run at restricted speeds past malfunctioning signals until our next permissive signal or until otherwise directed by controllers. It's quite possible that the incident covered here informed our procedures.
@@PlainlyDifficult If you need extra info, I can help... (I am a very amateur Beijing subway fan...) Also take that report with a grant of salt. Gov definitely understated CBTC signal not designed to consider too weak friction factor in extreme weather. (Only 1/3 deacceleration speed than what it should be)
This is a long forgotten disaster on London underground i never knew happened as i always assumed that Moorgate was the only ever rail disaster on the London Underground The kings Cross fire many years later was NOT a rail disaster as no trains were involved.
There were multiple human errors involved; whoever briefed the porters to give orders to the operators/engineers/drivers the porters not getting the whole picture to the drivers, as well as the 3rd train's driver doing 10mph faster than he thought, leaving no time or distance to prevent the crash.
Very good. Though some of the terms used in the replies could do with explanation for those not familiar with the tube. 'The smoke prior to the collision and the wires used after the collision on the tunnel wall' spring to mind. You will explain them better than me PlainlyDifficult. 👍
My mum was in this crash, not sure which train, but she said people in the carriage next to hers died. She suffered a broken ankle and went to Whipps Cross hospital. London Transport paid out compensation which paid for her and my Dad (pre-children) to go on holiday to Jersey.
Feel better, Plainly! It’s a rather harsh taste, but my former landlady taught me an old folk remedy for colds, if you want to try it. It usually cuts my sick time in half. Combine one part molasses, one part apple cider vinegar, and two parts hot water, adding honey to taste if desired. Hold your nose and chug it down. ^^;;
@@johnsheppard314 Oh god, I admire your tolerance, my poor suffering tongue could NOT handle that. I already have trouble handling the hot salad dressing crap I posted. But you’re right that it’d flush your system something fierce. :0
yep, it does! friend of mine made a batch of it with red pepper when I got a horrible sore throat while visiting them. cuts the crap in your throat down very nicely. cleans out the sinuses too! and it did help, but in the end what I had was strep throat, and I ended up on antibiotics cos my body has a weakness in that regard, and can't throw it off unassisted. but the potion did get me thru the 3 days before I was home again and could see my own (reduced cost) doctor.@@stuffedninja1337
I saw a train crash once. At Bristol Temple Meads. One train inched up to another, really, really slowly, trying to get as close as it could (maybe for coupling), and knocked a little red lamp off the back of the train in front. The driver jumped out and went down some little steps at the end of the platform and picked it up. I'm surprised it didn't make the evening news.
Do you know about the 2 rail accidents that occured around Croydon. The first was at south Croydon junction (24 oct 1947) and then the later one at Purley (4 March 1989) there’s a memorial for that at Purley station on platform 1 that you can see when the platform is in use or you’re staff. I learned about south Croydon briefly when I was in training and the purley one I know because of the memorial. I’d be interested in hearing you cover them as I really enjoy your videos.
I was a commuter into London for about 16 years in the 80s & 90s. My work in London also involved additional journeys. Generally I felt comfortable & mostly safe on the tube. Except twice when extreme crowds & chaotic services led to specific risk. I never worried about the possibility of a train wreck, but I would after this.
Thank you to Zepherus: www.youtube.com/@Zepherus
Thanks for watching, check out me other bits!
My new Album: madebyjohn.bandcamp.com/album/ambient-archiv-1
Outro Song: ua-cam.com/video/RbpmJJXqSPg/v-deo.htmlsi=2_i6bKZUj3bjixzw
Instagram: instagram.com/plainly.john/
Patreon: www.patreon.com/Plainlydifficult
Merch: plainly-difficult.creator-spring.com
Twitter:twitter.com/Plainly_D
Does he plan to return to his UA-cam channel?
I remember that guy, he used to make great videos.
Hey John. As you can tell, I'm involved with music, specifically as a jazz pianist for 50-some years. But even more so, I've composed close to 700 pieces. While consisting of a number of genres, these days I mostly focus on New Jazz and Modern Chamber Music. To me, I feel there's a similarity, especially between Ambient and the Romantic Period of "Classical" music, in the fact that generally, both use music (and sounds) to convey a story and\or imagery. One of the factors I take into consideration is the time-period when they were created. While certain aspects, like psychology, are the same - technology and the amount of knowledge we have now is vastly different.
Where do I download the bingo card?!
I love these little cameo's! 😊
Now prominently displayed in the cab of (at least) the 95 stock is the sticker, in yellow with bold black letters 'When passing a signal at danger, expect to find a train ahead'. That is a constant reminder of what every driver is (now) taught in week one of their driving course.
I always wondered what incident caused that to be added to the cab, as it seems self evident to me, and now I know.
Thank you :)
Not a train driver here, but it's kinda self evident to me that a red signal indicates the need to take care, given that a red signal in layman's terms usually means stop/danger.
@@richardvoogd3012it's one of those catch 22's, generally when a signal set to danger is being passed with permission the controller granting that permission has made sure that there's no trains in the next section but people do unfortunately occasionally fuck up. So the driver is required to be on alert for something that's fairly unlikely something people again aren't great at.
I used to wake up and watch Saturday morning cartoons. Now I wake up and watch Saturday morning train crashes 😮
It's Saturday night wtf shut up
I am definitely on that train. Not the one that crashed, though.
Good for you.
Same same
😂😂 same friend
"Tripcocks and Trainstops" sounds like a Magical Disney movie for rail nerds.
I think it was also an EP from the band Grand Funk Railroad. ;-)
Tripcock sounds like smth youd find related to rule34 not 55
Or a board game.
The Granville rail disaster occurred 1977 Sydney Australia. It remains the worst rail disaster in Australian history; 83 people died and 213 were injured. These memories never leave.
I travelled to Granville boys high school across that bridge every day back then - needless to say, I happened to miss that day and therefore have never forgotten the tragedy...
@@marktubeie07whew 🥲❤
Yes we need a PD episode of the Granville rail disaster please .
I often travel that line. I always feel a tinge of dread when I travel under the replacement bridge.
My great aunt and my grandmother lived in Springwood in 1977 with my mum and uncle and my great aunt used to catch that train every day. The day before her boss had told her to start late because he had a funeral that morning and was opening late (bank teller in the CBD). Her boss' loved one's funeral stopped her being the next funeral he had to attend.
My sympathies to you, John, regarding your cold. I can relate, having a sore throat cold for the last week. Losing energy even while sitting still, it is both physically and mentally draining. Wishing you a speedy recovery, since I am hoping for the same. It can be a real drag to get through, not to mention when you would like to do some real work, but your body doesn't want to do much.
I feel you both. I'm finally getting over my 2 week case of Airline Crud, that cold you get almost every time you fly home from a really great trip. I'd been visiting my sister and her family on the southwest coast of Mexico, and it was indeed a great trip. Returning to the Toronto area has been less great, and my body has been letting me know it. Being stuck in bed or on the couch, when I've wanted to be in the studio, making art from my heaps of photos, has been almost the worst part.
same
Had the ‘Crud’ abt a month ago; fever, chills, hacking coughing up crap. Just now getting over it . I feel your pain.
Colds are such a misery, especially for something common and usually causing no lasting damage. Colds have no right to be as miserable as they are!!!
Hope you feel better soon!
@@jamessimms415 No fever here, but it sounds a lot like my Crud, plus sinus hell and a side of migraines. Almost over it, but still tired af, and achy.
No fear John, i get all geeky talking about trains aswell
😬
@@PlainlyDifficult Reading the remainder of the text on the screen you excerpted from the report is interesting as it discusses such a type of SCAT system, what it would entail, and potential disadvantages of attempted implementation. One of the more interesting discoveries from such reading is that these trains did not have a speedometer-drivers had to estimate their speed themselves! Ouch.
Ngl trains are cool
So long as they're passionate about them I could listen to a person ramble about em all day lol
@@lindsayshanks7555 Careful, don't get me started on train signal systems! LOL! Unless you can't sleep
gimme
@@jovetj
Like trains? Do next the multiple accidents in Mexico City's underground system. In the last 5 years it had multiple crashes, fires, and even elevated sections in the 12 line falling down.
Yes please! It's a great source of accidents worth some attention!
Has it ever occurred to John that the reason we come here is for the geeky train and nuclear stuff? Yes, that means we want more of the signaling!
Absolutely. I think the signalling related videos are some of the best ones although I'm biased also working in the industry
This channel does however have the most accurate yet understandable for non expert viewers explanation of the Clapham junction disaster I have yet to find
Thought I was going insane when I heard that voiceover at the end there, but it was indeed the mythical Zepherus! Been a long time since he has uploaded, I hope he is doing well and looking after himself. Great video as always.
Thank you for teaching us about so much stuff. It’s a pleasure every time
So nice of you
When I did Work Experience at Morden, I chatted to one of the Northern Line drivers about what it was like driving a train in the tunnels. In addition to nuances like having the cab light on or off, they briefly talked about what they referred to as "two greens," basically in situations where there are two green lights one above the other, they talk about the current signal and what can be expected ahead (the top aspect is the current one, while the bottom aspect applies to the subsequent signal)
We love a good geeky bit PD!
Was down London the other day and thought about you and Jago whilst travelling the tube, it's great hearing your voices as you see notable things 😂
Thanks John. I knew about this event and where it was but never how it happened. Thanks for the research and posting....
Thank you
As far as i'm aware? The train stop of signal A491 had been damaged by an unsecured trains side chain causing the east bound starting signal A489 at Stratford to remain at danger! As Stratford station is a B.R. station but the LT line is not controlled by the station staff and drivers should not be told to pass a signal at danger by station staff but to apply the stop & proceed rule after telling the guard under their own initiative. Cause of the accident excessive speed! This section of tunnel appears to be fated with applying the pass & proceed rule accidents? On the 17th January 1979 the west bound starting signal at Leyton was passed using the rule and hit a train stopped at a failed signal at the tunnel portal plus exactly the same happen on the 20th August 1984 this time it resulted in fatalities. Cause of both accidents again down to excessive speed!
I always appreciate the level of detail you provide with these videos. Thank you for your hard work. I do like the “dodgy cartoons”.
Sorry to hear that you're under the weather, I was wondering what was happening with your voice for the last video. I wish you a prompt recovery.
0:02 Hot takes in the first couple of seconds, impressive!
Missed opportunity to call the main implementer of the SCAT system as
The Scatman
Your voice actually sounds pretty good @Plainly Difficult - I think the man who does another British disaster channel, Fascinating Horror, has had a much more unpleasant sounding cold for the past two weeks. I just admire the fact that both of you continue to make superb videos despite having a headcold; it shows a delightful bit of stalwart British indefatigability of the sort Americans tend to admire. By the way it might interest you to know that following a devastating series of telescoping incidents on the North American railway and tram networks in the 1900s, by the 1920s anti-climbers, as we call anti-telescoping bumpers, were ubiquitous on subway trains, streetcars and even main line passenger rolling stock, and likewise, these telescoping disasters prompted many American railways, starting with the Pennsylvania Railroad, to replace all of their wood-bodied and composite rolling stock with steel coaches. Steel “Heavy weight” cars from the 1920s were, as the name implies, very heavy, probably exceeding by some margin the maximum axleload on British railways; they were indeed so heavy that the bogies at each end of the carriage were usually of the triple-axle configuration, so each car had a total of twelve wheels rather than the usual eight. The streamlined rolling stock that appeared starting in the early 1930s was very popular among railroads and was adopted very quickly because the light weight steel construction allowed for two-axle bogies (or trucks, as we call them in the US, which I suppose in the UK would be confusing as I believe, from reading Thomas the Tank Engine (the original illustrated books by Rev. W. Audrey) in my youth that the word truck means on the British railways what we call a gondola. However, correct me if I’m wrong in that in many cases, on older rolling stock, brake vans differed from our American cabooses in that they actually did contain the brakes used on freight trains before vacuum brakes and later the Westinghouse positive pressure automatic system became standard.
|Hallo, least of pilgrims, from a friendly Limey. To enlighten you a little - 'truck' on a British railway is - or was - originally any kind of railway goods vehicle, not just an open. Terms such as 'van' or 'tanker' came in as vehicles became more specialised, but you could refer to 'open truck', 'cattle truck', or 'coal truck' (and also refer to them as 'wagons'.) 'Carriage trucks' for conveying vehicles could be either flat trucks or covered vans; the term was used for both! Yet vehicles for milk and fish traffic were 'trucks' if they were open, low sided vehicles, and vans if they were covered.
As for cabooses - a British brake van, as you say, was just that; the guard, in charge of running the train, rode in his van (both goods and passenger) and applied the brakes on a signal from the driver - and controlling loose coupled goods trains required very great skill from both men.
The American caboose was a riding van for the train crew other than the enginemen. We didn't employ 'swing shacks' or brakemen to run along the rooftops, screwing down the brakes, as US roads did (although many European lines had men riding on - say - every sixth car to do a similar job.) With us it was just three men - driver, fireman and guard.
Interestingly, at least one of our railways, the London and South Western, did refer to a part of their brake vans as 'cabooses', particularly passenger brake vans. For many years their guards vans had raised lantern lights (cupolas) on the roof, which permitted the guard to look along the length of the train, and deep windows in the brake end; the 'caboose' in this case was the name for the raised portion of the vehicle. No one knows exactly how this came about but G R Weddell, who's a recognised authority on LSWR coaches, suggested that as the line served Southampton and recruited many of its staff from the marine world, they naturally transferred the term, for the raised lights above the crew's cabin, from ships to trains. Its as plausible as any other explanation!
Those of us who originally come from the North West of London suffer serious nose bleeds if we head into South East London.....
Anyway, this video gains a magnificent 7 on the JDG scale - nice work John, and your LT signalling background came through pretty clearly.
Originally from Ruislip here 😀
@@tonysansom Kenton in my case.
Plainly Difficult has proven the best concerning commuter train disasters. Outstanding breakdowns and commentary.
I LOVE the geek-factor in this video. Keep up the great work!
I absolutely love the way you Brits pronounce ‘lieutenant’! There are other pronunciations and word variations that I’m partial to as well. For instance, I have tried to incorporate ‘whilst’ into my vocabulary, and growing up completely idolizing Capt. Picard, I will always pronounce ‘futile’ with the ‘long ī’; saying it like my American countrymen has never sounded right to me ever since.
Love the new intro graphics! Thanks for the video, John!
Glad you like them!
I've got a reasonably comprehensive working knowledge of railway accidents, but have never heard of this incident before, so thank you very much. One obvious (latter day) question is whether Driver Beasley had a speedometer on his power car, or was he purely estimating his speed? May sound strange now, but very few, if any steam locomotives were built with speedos; were diesel and electric units the same?
The real fault was that there was no positive way of communicating the passage of trains to porters giving the 'right away' at the previous station; like the early 'time interval' system, they were sending a train into a possibly blocked section, without the driver actually knowing how many obstructions might be ahead of him. Some surface lines, in this sort of emergency, employed a human 'block token', usually an inspector who would ride a train through the obstructed section and a following train could only proceed when he had walked (or ridden) back and joined its driver.
Your videos may be Plainly Difficult, but you channel is plainly brilliant. Thanks PD!!!
I appreciate that!
Such a great story teller.
Whoever came up with Speed Control After Trip was probably very pleased with themselves - not only for the dirty acronym, but it's a nifty feature. Reminds me of something I would build and be proud of.
Nicely reported. I attended the unveiling of the memorial plaque at Stratford on 8th April 2016. It was an uplifting, jolly occasion and there were some relatives present who had lost their father (as a passenger) who were glad to see something commemorated. My mother had travelled through this area that Wednesday, on the way home, eastwards. She recalls of the speed at which the service was brought back - services commencing at 10am on the Friday, barely two days later. Compare this to my own experience of working with the Piccadilly line and that the recovery from the 7/7 bombings was six weeks.
Telling a Brit to switch from tea to infusions is a bit insulting, but it might be the best...
Never heard of this as it happened before I was born. I think it got overshadowed by both the Hither Green & Harrow & Wealdstone train crashes.
Carriages "telescoping" remain a problem on the railways for a long time after this crash.
Watching this while riding on the central line 🗿
:O
RIP in peace
Good luck!
Have a safe trip!
Somehow, the theme music to the original ‘Jaws’ comes to mind
My condolences on your cold, John. You sound miserable! Hope you know that we'd understand and survive if you needed a week off! Just got done being sick myself, it's no fun at all.
I may not always know what's being talked about. But I genuinely enjoy listening to someone geek out about a passion or something they're knowledgeable about. It's just cool. Geek away fam.
Anti-riding bumpers theoretically prevent riding by using their serrated edges to lock with the other anti-riding bumper they come in contact with. These aren’t always guaranteed to prevent riding though because of various speeds and angles subway cars can impact at.
The Great Central Railway tried them back before the Great War - I don't think they worked all that well.
Fast healing and full recovery to you, John.
Nice reference to the NMT that hit a shopping trolley the other day, great video.
The trolly reminds me of when one rolled downhill and went onto the road. A semi truck hit it, then a cop car. The store got it back and put it next to the others.
a train collision in the Park Ave tunnel 1902 in NYC is why steam locomotives were banned in Manhattan in 1908.
Also at 15:04 near the bottom of that report, it mentioned fitting speedometers. Did not all trains have speedometers?
Thanks!
Thank you!!
Love the opening shot with the ‘72 stock. Always loved their styling.
You should do one on the Irk Valley Junction rail crash dude, your videos are so informative and so well done!
Hello from Australia John, love your work as always xx
Can’t believe I didn’t know about this . And I was a tube driver in the late 80s
Love this channel, having run out of Air Crash Investigation and Seconds from Disaster episodes. I am particularly interested in the industrial accidents, having studied Chemistry at Uni, but I do find the chain of events fascinating in all these accidents.
I was a child living near Stratford in 1953. Kids in my school lost a parent in the Stratford tube smash.
You might consider a video on the disaster that the naming of the “SCAT” system is - and how it spawned the school of thought of creating the acronym BEFORE naming the system.
How else would you get such fun names as the South Lake Union Trolley? OK, technically it is the SLU Streetcar.
@@Wolfshead009 Lol SLUS
A certain well-known hospital system in Minnesota had the wise idea of naming the operations in the southeast part of the state "SEMN." They also once had "FAP" at the end of the acronym for the docs that get involved in suspected child abuse/neglect (since changed).
@@WouldntULikeToKnow. It still works.
Or the (proposed) Frisco Area Rapid Transit?
@@ErickC Philly has "Children's Hospital of Philadelphia", CHOP. such a friendly name for hospital.
Nice lil cameo and shoutout to one of my favorite UA-camrs @Zepherus your Franklin video haunt me till this day. U made great content
I miss you putting the disaster name in the title, it's nice to know what the video is about.
Agreed
More technical and geeky stuff John! This was a great one. Thank you.
I've never been into trains or how they work, but I find your videos really interesting and easy to watch.
Very similar to a crash that happened years later in Boston (MA). In August of 1975, there was a three-train collision on the Red Line subway in the tunnel between Charles Street and Park Street stations. The signal at the end of Charles Street Station had failed at stop (danger), so a signalman was manually overriding the trip (called "keying-by" in the US). The root cause of the collision was simple enough: the signalman lost situational awareness and didn't realize the first train hadn't cleared Park Street station before allowing the third train to proceed out of Charles Street. Fortunately, there were no fatalities, but 100 people were injured. The signalman later told investigators that he only realized there was a problem when he noticed that the end of the third train was still sticking out of the tunnel.
I like the stanley pin pointer,nice touch 👍🏻
It was awesome
One of my favourites yet!
Zepherus!!! Long time no see!!! I subscribed to both of your channels roughly at the same time ages ago!!! Nice to see some collabs comming along!
Firstly, I hope you have a speedy recovery.
Second, we have similar rules here on the NYC subway. As I recall, there's even a hook for tying down the trip arm to allow trains to move past a red signal without the emergency brake triggering.
We've had a few tunnel accidents, usually due to excessive speed. The tunnels here are usually multiple tracks divided by closely spaced H or I columns supporting the tunnel roof. As a result, a derailment at speed will send the cars careening into the columns, which now become defacto can openers, slicing open the cars - passengers and all. 😢
I'd check easily preventable on the bingo card as well. A second porter at the next station in contact with the first. the first porter only sends the next train when the second porter informs him that the former train is passed the next station, thus ensuring the track is cleared.
But it’s costly, having to employ people.
@@jamessimms415 station staff despatchers were quite common ( one on the platforms this week - Tottenham Court Road as I changed there )
How would the second porter communicate with the first? Remember that mobile phones didn't exist.
@@telhudson863 line phones ( see end of each platform for the "auto telephone" and similar.
@@telhudson863Wireless Morse Code machines.
Wow, that rule 55 seems insanely unsafe. To proceed at a stop signal in Germany one has to have a written "command" which can be given over telephone or voice radio link.
as far as I understood, there was no radio communication in those days.
And a telephone... well of course not on board of any train
@@galdavonalgerri2101 1953? People had TVs by then. You could have had a little black and white TV in your train cab if you really wanted. You could also dial into a telephone system using a wireless telephone connected to some kind of access point to the wired network if you really needed to. None of your assumptions there are correct!
@@galdavonalgerri2101 as mentioned , very briefly, I the video, tube tunnels had two bare wire running along them, that a train driver could chip a sort of telephone to to communicate with, I believe, the nearest signal box
@@rrai1999: Well, at least on mainline GB railways, radio came in around late 1970s-early 1980s [CSR and NRN], and if I recall right, radio for the Underground was mostly motivated by one-person operation (which of course wouldn't be for a while!) Safe to say the train in question would not have had a usable radio dedicated for railway communication purposes fitted...
Hope you feel better soon! I had a bad cold too recently. I’m at the end stage of it now tho 🤧
Thanks for posting John. Get well soon!
Hi John, thank you for another look at what can lead to disaster. Good luck with the cold, as they can be soooooo miserable. Funny thing - I used to get colds about as much as anyone else. Then about 30-years ago, I began to rarely catch them at all, and when I did they were mild. All I can guess, is that when I was attending college from 65 - 69, It seemed as if I was catching colds all the time, especially my freshman year. All I can figure is that I developed so many antibodies, I acquired natural immunities to many cold "bugs." That's just a guess, but so far I can't come up with anything better. Cheers 🙂
I never considered how much of a disaster a train crash in a tight tunnel could be... 😳
My late grandfather was a platelayer or lengthman (section hand or gandy dancer for US readers) for some fifty years on a British mainline which included a tunnel. He always said that railwaymen dreaded a collision or derailment in a tunnel more than any other accident - there was nowhere to go to escape.
I haven't either. Now I have - it is the stuff of nightmares.
@@JohnDavies-cn3ro yeah, being stuck in a mangled car in the center is horrible, especially if a fire ensues or smoke fills the area.
Especially in such old design if tunnels where there is no big spacing margin, emergency exits or parallel service tunnels for escape.
Really? Doesn't everyone know about Moorgate, the worst of the lot! Access was virtually impossible.
Lovely train content
@Plainly difficult I hope you feel better soon. I love your short form documentaries but it is okay to take a week off when you’re sick.
Thanks, John … take care of yourself and feel better soon!
Great vid as usual John. Here's hoping you hit 1M soon!
Pretty good. As an operator in a signaled, blocked, and automatic train stop rail system in North America, it's interesting to me to learn about the previous generations of fail safes and protective measures. In our system we always run at restricted speeds past malfunctioning signals until our next permissive signal or until otherwise directed by controllers. It's quite possible that the incident covered here informed our procedures.
Are you interested in making a video about recent Beijing subway collision? The official investigation report is out now.
Thanks for the suggestion!
@@PlainlyDifficult If you need extra info, I can help... (I am a very amateur Beijing subway fan...) Also take that report with a grant of salt. Gov definitely understated CBTC signal not designed to consider too weak friction factor in extreme weather. (Only 1/3 deacceleration speed than what it should be)
8:04 OI JOHN YOU GOT A LOICENSE FOR THAT BLADE
This is a long forgotten disaster on London underground i never knew happened as i always assumed that Moorgate was the only ever rail disaster on the London Underground The kings Cross fire many years later was NOT a rail disaster as no trains were involved.
Thanks for another great video! I love your animations!
Great video. Thanks for sharing. Oh and see if you can find some Elderberry syrup and take a teaspoon twice a day. That will help you get better.
There were multiple human errors involved; whoever briefed the porters to give orders to the operators/engineers/drivers the porters not getting the whole picture to the drivers, as well as the 3rd train's driver doing 10mph faster than he thought, leaving no time or distance to prevent the crash.
Very good. Though some of the terms used in the replies could do with explanation for those not familiar with the tube. 'The smoke prior to the collision and the wires used after the collision on the tunnel wall' spring to mind. You will explain them better than me PlainlyDifficult. 👍
What’s the conversion for kilometers to freedoms per hotdogs?
1 kilometer is approximately 0.62 the standard length of an average american dinner in hotdogs.
4 freedoms per hotdog equal one Rhodesian FAL with baby poop camo which equals 4.3 Kilom Eaters
@RT-qd8yl Rhodesia was based
My mum was in this crash, not sure which train, but she said people in the carriage next to hers died. She suffered a broken ankle and went to Whipps Cross hospital. London Transport paid out compensation which paid for her and my Dad (pre-children) to go on holiday to Jersey.
Good video dude.
Although sounds like you have a cold on you?
Hope all is good.
Keep it up.
The best kind of video to watch after having a nervous breakdown and riding one LRT line in my city back and forth for hours lmao
Thank you for the geek alert ⚠️ 📢. I'm thoroughly confused but still entertained.
Much ❤ from Texas!!!
My humble suggestion for a video could be the 1973 Roseville Train Yard Disaster.
Feel better, Plainly! It’s a rather harsh taste, but my former landlady taught me an old folk remedy for colds, if you want to try it. It usually cuts my sick time in half.
Combine one part molasses, one part apple cider vinegar, and two parts hot water, adding honey to taste if desired. Hold your nose and chug it down. ^^;;
cleans out the old pipes right bloody quick! you can add some red pepper if this isn't strong enough.
@@johnsheppard314 Oh god, I admire your tolerance, my poor suffering tongue could NOT handle that. I already have trouble handling the hot salad dressing crap I posted. But you’re right that it’d flush your system something fierce. :0
yep, it does! friend of mine made a batch of it with red pepper when I got a horrible sore throat while visiting them. cuts the crap in your throat down very nicely. cleans out the sinuses too! and it did help, but in the end what I had was strep throat, and I ended up on antibiotics cos my body has a weakness in that regard, and can't throw it off unassisted. but the potion did get me thru the 3 days before I was home again and could see my own (reduced cost) doctor.@@stuffedninja1337
Who could have guessed that letting trains go through red signals could have been so dangerous????
I saw a train crash once. At Bristol Temple Meads. One train inched up to another, really, really slowly, trying to get as close as it could (maybe for coupling), and knocked a little red lamp off the back of the train in front. The driver jumped out and went down some little steps at the end of the platform and picked it up. I'm surprised it didn't make the evening news.
Imagine designing a form of mass public transportation which, by design, cannot be easily accessed for first responders...
Hope you're feeling better!!
Hey, Zepherus! What a great channel, I wish him well.
The tunnel down from Stratford East Bound is still one of the tightest and noisiest on the tube network (on the present length of train units)
Thank you again, and hope you're better soon.
Excellent video as usual Plainly!
Do you know about the 2 rail accidents that occured around Croydon. The first was at south Croydon junction (24 oct 1947) and then the later one at Purley (4 March 1989) there’s a memorial for that at Purley station on platform 1 that you can see when the platform is in use or you’re staff. I learned about south Croydon briefly when I was in training and the purley one I know because of the memorial.
I’d be interested in hearing you cover them as I really enjoy your videos.
I hope you get better soon!
Thank you for another tube story. 😊😊😊
I hope you feel better soon.
I love your videos but your music is actually phenomenal
I was a commuter into London for about 16 years in the 80s & 90s. My work in London also involved additional journeys. Generally I felt comfortable & mostly safe on the tube. Except twice when extreme crowds & chaotic services led to specific risk. I never worried about the possibility of a train wreck, but I would after this.
I love your channel so much ❤.
Appreciate your videos and your pacing is great 👍 ❤
The box cutter as a marker made me bust out laughing. Thanks for that.
Good ol' England and it never ending supply of train accidents
Thanks for the video. Get well soon 🔜
I like how colourful your trains are. Our tube in Toronto is silver gray. (Probably saves on cost to paint and maintain?)