wrong line working today - Dawlish

[whole diary]

[old original]

Anybody have any info, was on the 1406 from London to Penzance, lost about 15 mins using the eastbound track between Dawlish warren and Teignmouth this afternoon, despite the tide being out.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Possibly a result of engineering work to deal with this - from the Metro:

UK^▸ (United Kingdom) hit by floods as April showers continue, but hosepipe ban still stands

Flash floods and howling winds closed roads, tore down trees and left travellers stranded as Britain was battered by a wintry washout today - but water companies are adamant that huge swathes of the country are still in drought.

Two months^ worth of rainfall fell in just 24 hours while 60mph gales lashed parts of the country.
 
Giant waves poured over sea walls in Torbay, Devon, while rivers in the south-west burst their banks and thousands were told to put flood defences in place and be prepared to evacuate as flood warnings were issued.
 
Holidaymakers were marooned as high winds hit cross-Channel ferries from Portsmouth and Poole and hovercrafts to the Isle of Wight.

First Great Western trains were suspended after flooding in Cornwall.

 

[phile]

Shown on National Rail Website as problem with lineside equipment at Teignmouth and now cleared.

[devon_metro]

Axle counters were damaged on the down line I believe. Doubt Torbay had anything to do with it 

[old original]

cheers people

[The SprinterMeister]

Axle counters were damaged on the down line I believe. Doubt Torbay had anything to do with it 

Correct. Wires dislodged from Evaluator / Axle Counter heads at two locations.

[eightf48544]

That was done by a wave? Don't seem to very secure fixings, considering the pounding axle counters get from a train.

[The SprinterMeister]

That was done by a wave? Don't seem to very secure fixings, considering the pounding axle counters get from a train.

I think more than one wave may have been involved.
 
The evaluator being the small square mushroom shaped thing next to the track not the actual axle counter head fixed to the web of the rail. The kit has been there since about 1991 so might not be quite as robust / weatherproof as it used to be.

[SandTEngineer]

That was done by a wave? Don't seem to very secure fixings, considering the pounding axle counters get from a train.

I think more than one wave may have been involved.
 
The evaluator being the small square mushroom shaped thing next to the track not the actual axle counter head fixed to the web of the rail. The kit has been there since about 1991 so might not be quite as robust / weatherproof as it used to be.

Not quite right.  The trackside equipment in the yellow box is called the 'mushroom'.  This processes the information received from the sensors mounted on the rail and sends it to the evaluator.  The evaluator is housed elsewhere (for security reasons I won't say where) and contains all of the equipment that analyses the individual sections and processes them for the signalling system to use.  The mushroom at Dawlish station has always been the one most prone to damage by strong waves.  I'll post up a photo when I can find it.

[ellendune]

That was done by a wave? Don't seem to very secure fixings, considering the pounding axle counters get from a train.

Never underestimate the power of a wave some people have not survived doing so.  A wave carrying a rock can be even more deadly.

[paul7575]

That was done by a wave? Don't seem to very secure fixings, considering the pounding axle counters get from a train.

They don't actually get a 'pounding' from a train though.  The axle counting doesn't involve any physical contact, as it's a proximity transducer, it is just detecting the change to the local magnetic field as a wheel flange passes through it.

Regarding the yellow boxes though, I'd suggest that mushroom is still just a nickname - if I wanted to order one, I bet the Unipart Rail catalogue wouldn't call them mushrooms, would it?   

Paul

[bobm]

Well I've learned something today.  I always assumed axle counters used the breaking of a beam of light to work.  Shows you should never assume.  Thank you!

[SandTEngineer]

That was done by a wave? Don't seem to very secure fixings, considering the pounding axle counters get from a train.

They don't actually get a 'pounding' from a train though.  The axle counting doesn't involve any physical contact, as it's a proximity transducer, it is just detecting the change to the local magnetic field as a wheel flange passes through it.

Regarding the yellow boxes though, I'd suggest that mushroom is still just a nickname - if I wanted to order one, I bet the Unipart Rail catalogue wouldn't call them mushrooms, would it?   

Paul

OK then lets talk technical - its an EAK30 and here is the photo.......we did try to protect it at one time



...and this is how they normally look

[bobm]

I assume it has to be on the seaward side because there is no room on the, more protected, other side.

[SandTEngineer]

I assume it has to be on the seaward side because there is no room on the, more protected, other side.

Its because the cable between the mushroom and the detector heads is restricted to fixed lengths with 8m being the current maximum approved length (although 12m is in for approval).  Therefore the mushroom is usually in the adjacent cess which as you say in this case is on the seaward (Down) side.