Plastic Pigs are dangerous ?!

[Beeyar Wunby]

SWR have reintroduced the refurbished 442s which had been withdrawn just days before they were due to enter service 'over safety fears'.

Linky here...https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-48580518

Cheers BW

[StoneRoad]

Those refurbishments are a) very expensive (without knowing exactly what was done)
and b) not finished (door locks were sorted) (new motors to be fitted "later")

plus 2 out of 18 is not highly productive !

[aussiesteve]

Door locks.
I recollect the management angst some moons ago when our Endeavour sets arrived on the short south.
Plug doors that lock when closed.
Somebody decided to download the datalogger details from a couple of the sets.
It was discovered that some of them sets had been running around with them plug doors flapping open in the breeze.
The hogger forgetting to hit the door close button on the dash.
Previous dmu dingi here only possessing manual doors that regularly flapped open in the breeze.
Them dingi didn't got air con, only FRESH air.
TOCs are constrained these days by a plethora of fiscal SHE safety requirements.
I guess that the only solution is the DRIVERLESS Metro.
Our smog hollow driverless Metro has been rattling for over a week now.
Steve.

[Beeyar Wunby]

Thanks for the replies. Whilst it's all the rage nowadays to recycle everything (and very laudable) I can't help but wonder at the cost of refurbing old bangers. As a short term fix for the GatExs they made sense, but to keep 'uprating' them seems like folly.

Given that a new train runs at about roughly £1m a carriage, I can't help but wonder at splashing so much cash at an old worn out class.

By the time you've replaced everything, and designed interfaces between old technology (eg, DC motors, Westinghouse air brakes) and new stuff which DafT requires such as Traction Interlock, TPWS, GSMR & ERTMS, an engineer might wonder if a brand new design might be more sensible.

The parable of 'new wine in old skins' comes to mind.

Cheers, BW.

[tonyharker]

Just be careful when using the toilets. More than one person has got locked in - not at the same time - including me, when I had to call for assistance!

[Beeyar Wunby]

Originally Posted by tonyharker

Just be careful when using the toilets. More than one person has got locked in - not at the same time - including me, when I had to call for assistance!

Yea I had that when driving an Electrostar. Tanking along happily at 100mph I had an Emergency Alarm. I stopped the train and walked back. In the 3rd carriage an RPI (ticket checker) met me and said a lady was trapped in the 'Big Loo' with the slidey door - what we call the Universal Access one.

It was really embarrassing for the poor love, as this was a Saturday morning and the train was crammed with football fans going to a match. After I'd operated the valves to release the door, the rotters gave her an untuneful round of "We know what you're doing".

She went puce with embarrassment and will probably never use a train toilet ever again.

BW

[aussiesteve]

Yeh, modern day railway dunnies ain't no fun at all.
I remember them good ole days when you copped a breeze wafting up through the exhaust pipe.
And, if yer eyesight was good enough, you could squiz the lumps of ballast zooming past.
Mind you, the poor car and wagon examiners in Lithgow did get aggro when required to examine the Silver Streak brakes during the motive power exchange.
Patrons obviously not reading or obeying the dunny sign extolling DO NOT use when train is stationary.
After a couple of flushing events, them car and wagon examiners banned performing the brakes exam in Lithgow.
With the Silver Streak parked on platform 1 in smog hollow, them brakes could not be examined down there.
I also remember when trekking around Kiwiland an incident that caused some amusement.
I was riding the brand newbie eggspress to Wellington from Palmerston North.
First day of revenue service.
Kiwirail had acquired some of yer Pommy mark 1 coaches to revamp for their narrow gauge.
The Kiwi loading gauge being similar to that in the UK could squeeze them cars onto squished bogies.
The train featured a new style of plug door for maximum SAFETY.
But, just a single door existed on each side at diagonal ends of the car.
I had gone to sleep to be rudely awoken at some location by some LOUD screaming.
It transpired that the sheila attempting to alight at the station could NOT get the door to open.
She panicked, and instead of sprinting through the vestibule to the adjacent car to gt off commenced a loud scream.
The guard fortunately appeared prior to the train blasting off.
He was not able to get the door to open.
So, he marched her through to the next car to get off.
The brand newbie eggspress was a bit of a failure as a number of other doors had caused problems.
Bring back the olden days dunnies and flapping open in the breeze doors.
Steve.