Faversham
Accidents
Buckled Rail on the ''Thanet'' Line approach to Faversham: August 1990
By John Horton
I was driving the
16:10 Ramsgate to Victoria. It was a very hot day – the national railway network
had reduced speeds on all main lines due to buckling rails. I was doing 90 MPH
along the Graveney Straights and letting the unit coast, so that its own weight
would propel it along and slowly reduce speed. I was starting to brake the train
for the 30 MPH speed restriction on the curve by the cemetery; I entered the
curve at dead on 30 mph, but something didn't look right to me with the track
ahead. Suddenly, I could see that the track was severely buckled and I
immediately made an emergency brake application. I blew the brake out! EP brake
handle to full emergency, dumping all air out of the triple valves (remember the
''whoosh'' often heard at Victoria? That was the driver blowing the brake out!).
I had a road learner in the cab; he went white and shot out of the cab and back
into the train like a bullet! I hit the buckle at around 20 MPH: the
train went over to one side and I thought we would keel over, but it slammed
back and rocked violently. The leading bogie attempted to ride the buckle and,
by the feel of it, tried to straighten it out at the same time! I hung on for
grim death! The train was sliding this way and then that, and I whipped the
brake handle back round to release the brakes and get air back into the brake
cylinders and triple valves. At 5 MPH the brakes released, and the main
reservoir air needle dropped from 120 PSI to 80 PSI, whilst the brake pipe
pressure started to rapidly climb back to 72.5 PSI and full brake release.
I crawled over the junction at 5 MPH and gave several blasts on the horn to get
the signalman's attention. As I passed the box, the signalman leaned out and I
shouted, ''there's a "b****** buckled rail back there, shut the line!" Once in
the station I spoke to the signalman on the phone and told him what had
happened. At first it was dismissed as "oh it's John again – what's he fussing
about now?" When they inspected the track their jaws apparently nearly hit the
ballast, and they couldn't believe that my train had stayed on the track and
made it into Faversham!
The passengers on the train were a bit shaken up but all ok. The unit did not
suffer any damage – luckily – and I was able to proceed onwards to Victoria with
the train. Needless to say, the ''up'' and ''down'' lines were immediately
closed to all traffic. I returned with the 22:05 Victoria to Ramsgate, and by
the time I reached Faversham, both roads had just been re-opened to traffic. The
buckle was apparently a serious one and the track had distorted by 9" laterally!
August 1990
The effects of buckling on the Thanet approach to Faversham are obvious in this station-bound view. In the
background can be seen the redundant Wagon Repair Shop of the LC&DR and the lengthy lattice footbridge,
the latter of which crosses all tracks east of the station. © John Horton
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