"CJG" wrote in message
...
Well apparently part of the problem is not enough gravel/stones. I can't
remember the exact details. Something to do with it helps with the
expansion of the metal. Anyway the reason there isn't enough stones
round the rail? Cost-cutting.

With respect, it's ********. Just another example of Bowker and his minions
trying to justify their little empire by slagging off every other aspect of
the rail industry. Never, in the history of railways in the UK, has any
organisation attracted such little respect or such widepsread contempt as
the SRA does (not even Railtrack!). It justifies its tenuous existence by
propagating lies about any other part of the industry, which the ignorant
media then pick up and repeat (unverified) to the general public, who
swallow it whole and then come out with blind, naive comments on national
news reports which merely fuel more of the uninformed public to make
ludicrous statements about the rail industry. Remember, Bowker was one of
the guilty parties alleging that the current state of the railways was down
to 30 years of under-investment by British Rail, which has been proven to be
nothing more than an out-and-out lie by the distinguished transport writer
Roger Ford, in the current edition of "Modern Railways" magazine.

There *were* instances of replacement rail, which was laid following the
Hatfield derailment and the gauge corner cracking problems, not being
stressed after it was laid - but that is an entirely different issue.

And also the rest of the world manages to run its public transport with
2inches of snow, storms, rain, sunshine bringing the whole
infrastructure to a halt. So you tell me what the rest of the world has
that Britain doesn't?

As others have already explained, the rest of Europe stresses its
long-welded rail within different parameters, appropriate to the standard
weather conditions in the country concerned. Nevertheless, the UK is not the
only country suffering from restrictions due to weather conditions beyond
the expected norm.

Christine wrote:

If a buckle is likely to occur it is where there is
a weakness in the ballast formation and then both rails buckle out
with sleepers in tacked.

Did you meant to write "intact"? Even so, I don't understand this.
Please explain further.

--
John Ray, London UK.

Mail to mefp49 is unlikely to be read. I can be contacted at xcf70 (same
ISP).

"John Ray" wrote in message
...
Christine wrote:

If a buckle is likely to occur it is where there is
a weakness in the ballast formation and then both rails buckle out
with sleepers in tacked.

Did you meant to write "intact"? Even so, I don't understand this.
Please explain further.


May I also recommend a current thread, "Stressing CWR on hot days", on
uk.railway.

In message , Jack Taylor
writes
As others have already explained, the rest of Europe stresses its
long-welded rail within different parameters, appropriate to the
standard weather conditions in the country concerned. Nevertheless, the
UK is not the only country suffering from restrictions due to weather
conditions beyond the expected norm

So which ones are exactly? Spain, France, Germany, Portugal have no
problems at all on their rail systems. So which ones have problems? And
what problems? And is it the heat causing them?
British rail transport has become a joke round the world. And rightly
so.
--
CJG

In article , Christine
writes
Am I reading this right? Reduced speed because of the chance on a blow
causing a fastening to break and a buckle occurring. What utter
uninformed trash! If a buckle is likely to occur it is where there is
a weakness in the ballast formation and then both rails buckle out
with sleepers in tacked.

I'd forgotten about that case - the whole rail-and-sleeper arrangement
buckling en masse - but you do also get the rails breaking out from the
sleepers leaving the line out of gauge. I believe this happened on
Western Region in the 1960s when the rail joints closed up through
over-expansion.

I don't dispute what you're saying about buckling, though.

Hope you got through the TDM failure in the Hitchin/Stevenage area
better than I did. Sat at Welwyn North Tunnel for 50 minutes.

What TDM failure? We arrived KGX on-time.

This evening, though, we were held at somewhere between Knebworth and
Langley Junction for over an hour. [1707 ex-KGX, arrived HUN appx 1858.]

--
Clive D.W. Feather, writing for himself | Home:
Tel: +44 20 8371 1138 (work) | Web: http://www.davros.org
Fax: +44 870 051 9937 | Work:
Written on my laptop; please observe the Reply-To address

In article , Matthew
Malthouse writes
This morning's Radio 4 news had it that "trains normally running at 110
mph" would be restricted to 60 mph.

Will such speed restrictions really make a significant difference in the
likelyhood of an incident such as you describe or is it aimed at
reducing the damage in such an event?

I'd forgotten about the "both rails bend together when the sleeper moves
within the ballast" case. This leaves a bend in the track which can't be
negotiated at too high a speed. Hence the speed restrictions.

Tangentially why should this happen now and not in past years? After
all it's far from being the first time we've had a remarkably hot spell.

And this isn't the first time this (speed restrictions and track
buckles) happened.

--
Clive D.W. Feather, writing for himself | Home:
Tel: +44 20 8371 1138 (work) | Web: http://www.davros.org
Fax: +44 870 051 9937 | Work:
Written on my laptop; please observe the Reply-To address

In article , Matthew
Malthouse writes
So it has happened. But not hit the news. What's so special about this
year then?

Press are embarrassed over the Dr Kelly affair and are desperately
looking for something to distract people?

--
Clive D.W. Feather, writing for himself | Home:
Tel: +44 20 8371 1138 (work) | Web: http://www.davros.org
Fax: +44 870 051 9937 | Work:
Written on my laptop; please observe the Reply-To address

In article , CJG
writes
And also the rest of the world manages to run its public transport with
2inches of snow, storms, rain, sunshine bringing the whole
infrastructure to a halt.

Not true. Try Washington DC with three flakes of snow, or much of
California after ten minutes of rain.

So you tell me what the rest of the world has that Britain doesn't?
Maybe a modern approach with finance used to its full potential?

That may be true. Privatisation has cost the railways an awful lot - the
current SRA payments to TOCS are three or four times amounts that Sir
Bob Reid would have thought beyond his wildest dreams.

--
Clive D.W. Feather, writing for himself | Home:
Tel: +44 20 8371 1138 (work) | Web: http://www.davros.org
Fax: +44 870 051 9937 | Work:
Written on my laptop; please observe the Reply-To address

In article , Jack Taylor
writes
Well apparently part of the problem is not enough gravel/stones. I can't
remember the exact details. Something to do with it helps with the
expansion of the metal. Anyway the reason there isn't enough stones
round the rail? Cost-cutting.
With respect, it's ********.

I believe you'll find that one issue is that if there isn't enough
ballast on the track and surrounding the sleepers, they can move
sideways under the forces of the rails trying to bend.

--
Clive D.W. Feather, writing for himself | Home:
Tel: +44 20 8371 1138 (work) | Web: http://www.davros.org
Fax: +44 870 051 9937 | Work:
Written on my laptop; please observe the Reply-To address

"CJG" wrote in message
...

So which ones are exactly? Spain, France, Germany, Portugal have no
problems at all on their rail systems. So which ones have problems? And
what problems? And is it the heat causing them?

IIRC, British track is stressed for a maximum of 40 degrees Celsius. Other
European countries stress for 50 degrees Celsius, because their average
temperatures are higher than ours. However, they get more problems in the
winter when they get an unusually cold snap. At least two of the countries
that you mention have imposed speed restrictions recently, due to the
excessive temperatures.

I recommend you to read the thread 'Stressing CWR on hot days' on uk.railway
to get a proper understanding of the problem.

British rail transport has become a joke round the world. And rightly
so.

Much like your contributions (?) to this newsgroup.