Great Western Coffee Shop

Journey by Journey => South Western services => Topic started by: SandTEngineer on December 22, 2019, 09:51:08



Title: Car On Tracks at Wool Level Crossing 20/12/2019
Post by: SandTEngineer on December 22, 2019, 09:51:08
Oh dear.  Luck that the occupants managed to get out..... ::)
https://twitter.com/i/status/1208163556941815808


Title: Re: Car On Tracks at Wool Level Crossing 20/12/2019
Post by: Thatcham Crossing on December 22, 2019, 11:28:06
One has to wonder how that got there?

Presumably something combustable or flammable then came into contact with the juice  :o


Title: Re: Car On Tracks at Wool Level Crossing 20/12/2019
Post by: eightonedee on December 22, 2019, 11:39:42
Second lucky escape for a motorist on a level crossing in a week - see the Wokingham incident reported earlier


Title: Re: Car On Tracks at Wool Level Crossing 20/12/2019
Post by: stuving on December 22, 2019, 13:09:16
One has to wonder how that got there?

Presumably something combustable or flammable then came into contact with the juice  :o

Reports (e.g the Mail Online (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7818951/Driver-accidentally-turns-live-railway-track-causing-vehicle-burst-flames.html)) say the driver turned onto the line - which seems to happen once every year or so somewhere. The car was sitting on the third rail, quite possibly making contact via a bit of the petrol tank scraped bare by its getting there. If it could also contact a running rail, given that steel is a conductor but not a brilliant one, it's quite plausible that a few hundred amps would flow. Much too low to make the supply trip, but enough to boil petrol and make patches of metal glow red.


Title: Re: Car On Tracks at Wool Level Crossing 20/12/2019
Post by: stuving on December 22, 2019, 14:40:47
There's probably a few more ways to set a car alight if it ends up there. If you tear a small hole in the tank, any sparking off the third rail could ignite it, as well as very localised heating at a contact point. And I think I've heard that you can get sparking between metal parts of a car body at 750V, even with little current flowing.


Title: Re: Car On Tracks at Wool Level Crossing 20/12/2019
Post by: JontyMort on December 22, 2019, 19:09:15
There's probably a few more ways to set a car alight if it ends up there. If you tear a small hole in the tank, any sparking off the third rail could ignite it, as well as very localised heating at a contact point. And I think I've heard that you can get sparking between metal parts of a car body at 750V, even with little current flowing.

The other way is if you fracture brake pipes, since brake fluid - amongst its many nasty properties* - is inflammable.

* I agree it has good things about it - like stopping the car - but bleeding the brakes is still my least favourite car job.

I bet they ran away quite fast.



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