Rail Crash - Points.
It would appear that the nuts came loose and fell off to make the points inefective.
In the old days the first nut is installed then the lock nut then a spit pin could be fitted, next a metal wire and tag is fitted when the job is complete.
Surely a system like this could be introduced to ensure that the nuts cannot come off and that the complete job can be checked periodically.
Hope this is helpful.
John Harvey
2007-02-26 20:17:15 · 7 answers · asked by JOHN H 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Safety
Did you mean to send this to GMTV? A reasonably good answer I think tho'!
2007-02-26 20:21:26 · answer #1 · answered by roy d 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nothing can ever be foolproof.
Where there is motion there will be accidents, no matter what procedures are followed, if only because of such things as metal fatigue, corrosion or plain oversight.
If you look at events since the Clapham Junction disaster, the railways have been incredibly safe until now, and better systmes are in place to minimise the risk. I personally feel very sorry for the Chief Executive of Railtrack, because he has done a fantastic job, and now rail safety is once more in the hands of those who understand it, rather than in the hands of outside contractors who don't.
Even more impressive is the strenght of that train, and had it not been for an embankment, I guess it would have come safely to a halt without much in the way of injury or death.
I reckon a safety record of something like 99.99% is fairly amazing in 5 years, and it makes rail-travel statistically safer than having a bath!
You arguments are fine in theory, of course, but I suspect that rail-engineers already know about locking-nuts and split-pins, and use them quite regularly.
Find me the man who never makes a mistake, and I will show you a man who does nothing.
2007-02-27 10:08:44 · answer #2 · answered by musonic 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is not the method they use it is if workers are following the method correctly. They use ultrasound technology which can detect faults even if they are not visible and I think that is pretty fool proof. However the fools that are obviously not doing their job properly need to got rid of. Most probably the people that are meant to check the work of the workers to see if they are doing their job right. They might be called quality control officers or something along those lines.
2007-02-27 04:27:36 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They keep making "better fools"
Its not hard to figure out that a train has no choice but to stay on the tracks.
Its not hard to figure out that the lights flashing and/or gates being down means a train is coming.
Since a train going 60 mph can go from out of sight to running you over in a matter of seconds... its pretty foolish to stop on tracks or to ignore the warning signs, but fools keep doing it.
The 40 to 60 ton freight train's locomotive plus several thousand tons of train cars following it can demolish an M-1 Abrams tank... the average passenger car won't bother the train much more than a beer can bothers your car. It takes 2 tanks parked on a train track to be certain you'll derail the train.....
2007-02-27 04:25:05 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nothing in the UK can be made "foolproof" (spell check works GREAT!), simply because the place is infested with FAR too many fools!!!
2007-02-27 04:21:06 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
makes perfect sense to me although nothing is ever really foolproof!xx
2007-02-27 04:25:57 · answer #6 · answered by pinkjessie 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Good points you've made.. are you polling for gm.tv ?
2007-02-27 04:29:00 · answer #7 · answered by David 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋