Great Western Coffee Shop

Bit of drama at reading this evening to liven up my commute, not sure what happened but hopefully the pictures should upload.

Must say I was impressed with how quickly it was sorted, all done and dusted within 10 minutes and train away with minimal delay.

Not the whole window broken, just the outer skin.

I wonder if the carriage was locked out of use and the train's speed restricted?

There were people in the carriage as it left and I was on the train following close behind and I belive we were at full line speed.

If only the outer pane is damaged then the train can proceed with passengers inside and at a speed of not more than 100mph. If a protective film or temporary window is fitted then the train can proceed at line speed.

Did see someone tweet that it was hit by a missile thrown by some idiot, also a picture from inside the train.

https://twitter.com/Richbonner/status/469178570611646464

Removing the shards of glass from the window always looks like quite an operation. Thankfully the only time I've witnessed a broken window on an HST it was caused by snow and ice, and not something being thrown at the train.

The train I took the picture of was the 18:45 departure from reading to paddington (originating from Weston).  The picture on Twitter appears to be a different train as the seats are the other way round.

Broken windows were once a regular event at Reading, particularly during school holidays - one a day was the going rate. Knocking out an outer skin was about a ten minute job - a broken window kit is kept at every staffed station and dispatchers were trained to do it, by observing more experienced staff. The trick was to lever out the broken outer skin (with a big screwdriver) without damaging the inner skin. If the inner skin was damaged, the coach had to be locked out of use. The tape is applied around the edge of the window to stop loose pieces of glass flying out when the train is travelling at speed, with obvious potential repercussions.

Post Ufton Nervet, FGW replaced all of the windows in HSTs with laminated glass. This didn't shatter, so was much safer for those inside the train. It was also virtually impossible to remove with a broken window kit (actually, a hammer and a big screwdriver), and the rules had to be changed to say that broken laminated windows would just be taped over and left for the depot to replace that evening.

Which is why I was surprised to see a window being removed. It must have been very badly damaged, and to remove the outer skin of a laminated window in 10 minutes is very good going.

I would guess that one effect of the reduction in the number of windows being knocked out is that the number of dispatchers who have ever had to do the job will also be very much reduced. Possibly not a problem at major stations, but certainly an issue elsewhere.

I remember when, before the use of screwdrivers, the end of a broom handle used to do the job in seconds.  Mind you, glass went absolutely everywhere!  :-\