What happened near Dauntsey on Wednesday 20th May?

[whole diary]

[Robin Summerhill]

Trains cancelled between Swindon and Chippenham because, according to RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website), “animals on the line.”

Logically, even going slowly it wouldn’t take more than an hour or so to get errant livestock out of the four foot, but on Wednesday the 0902 ex-PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) was RT at Wootton Bassett and 158 late passing Dauntsey, and normal service didn’t apparently resume until 2000.

What happened?

[grahame]

Trains cancelled between Swindon and Chippenham because, according to RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website), “animals on the line.”

Logically, even going slowly it wouldn’t take more than an hour or so to get errant livestock out of the four foot, but on Wednesday the 0902 ex-PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) was RT at Wootton Bassett and 158 late passing Dauntsey, and normal service didn’t apparently resume until 2000.

What happened?

Even later than that ...

The perfect storm.  Sadly, livestock was hit by train(s?) which incurred damage.  Part of the damage wasn't a brake system which locked the train on the track, and from what I can gather at the worst possible location both in terms of what it blocked and how to get at it. If you take a look at the slipping re-opening times, getting the (?)train(s) moving and the line re-opened proved to be far harder than expected.

I first saw "disruption until 13:00" but that slipped in stages and the last I saw on Journeycheck was "disruption until 20:00" and issues carried on later than that; the 20:45 to Chippenham and Westbury was cancelled. Report from passengers (even for Chippenham) sent on a Temple Meads train diverted via Parkway and then back by train in an almost-circle as there was no alternative road transport even after all that time to set it up(or was it stood down too early).

Sadly, a person hit by a train at Starcross in the early evening caused further disruption ... the day concluded with the 22:00 Paddington to Bristol being 53 minutes late (awaiting the incoming train from the South West at Paddington) as the end to a day that the railways would rather forget.

[IndustryInsider]

It would have no doubt been quite a big story had there been more than a small trickle of passengers travelling.

[bobm]

Indeed - one of the trains had to be evacuated but it only needed a handful of taxis to convey them from the scene.

[Mookiemoo]

Him indoors was the one who hit the cows...... 10 taken out in one go.  He was on the way down towards Chippenham and took them out at 125mph.

funnily enough, it was not his train that was disabled.  It carried on to Temple Meads with numerous faults at 40mph - it was the up train that only hit the arse end of one that was stranded.

The butcher of bridgwater is holding a massive BBQ next weekend - everyone invited.

[TaplowGreen]

Him indoors was the one who hit the cows...... 10 taken out in one go.  He was on the way down towards Chippenham and took them out at 125mph.

funnily enough, it was not his train that was disabled.  It carried on to Temple Meads with numerous faults at 40mph - it was the up train that only hit the arse end of one that was stranded.

The butcher of bridgwater is holding a massive BBQ next weekend - everyone invited.

Each to their own I guess, but I struggle to see the humour in such an incident.

[Mookiemoo]

There’s always one who doesn’t get gallows humour.

As it is, it’s for those affected to decide if they can see the lighter side.

And in this case, I toned it down a lot from what he was telling me to put

[Robin Summerhill]

There’s always one who doesn’t get gallows humour.

Well there are at least two on this forum.

[SandTEngineer]

Add me to that as well.  It could have turned out to be a very serious incident indeed, and very fortunate that one of the two trains wasn't derailed at (very) high speed.  I don't see any humour at all in that.

[MVR S&T]

Yes it does remind me of Polmont, perhaps the lessons learnt there were put into the 800's design, wonder how an HST^▸ (High Speed Train) would have faired?

[Incider]

Having watched the forward facing CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) it was lucky that there wasn’t a derailment, one cow was stood in the 4’.  That said, I certainly understand the black humour.  Total of 6 cows dead.  The up train had to be propelled past WB Junction and back down the badminton line to Stoke Gifford, due to being unable to drive from the London end.

[grahame]

It could have been very, very much nastier than it was.  Driver, for sure, would have been rather shaken; should he and his family be helped through that with.a bit of dark humour, that's fine by me.  Thinking of you, Drive.

[TaplowGreen]

Whilst those who are so inclined are allowing themselves a chuckle, perhaps some thoughts could also be spared for the animals, the feelings of the Farmer and his family, those who were left to clean up the mess, and any witnesses to the incident or the scene afterwards, which, having been involved in a similar incident some years ago, I know would have been horrific.

I absolutely "get" gallows humour if it's in the right place, but like so many things it's subjective and in the eye of the beholder - to some a particular line is humorous, to others it's simply crass or in poor taste. That's just a personal observation,as I said in my first post, each to their own.

I hope all involved swiftly recover from the experience, and that GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)/NR^» (Network Rail - home page) put measures in place to minimise the chances of a recurrence.

[Thatcham Crossing]

By coincidence, there was an incident of cows on the line in last nights Paddington/GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) documentary on C5.

On gallows humour, in the military it's a way of life and a way of dealing with things. If the driver involved in yesterdays incident dealt with it by way of a bit of dark humour, then fine by me (accepting also that it might not have been so funny for others, as TG points out).

In my experience it was often deployed when something that could have been really serious wasn't. Or when something not very pleasant happened but even the victim could see the funny side of it.

An example I can think of....a colleague lost the end of a finger when it got in the way of a heavy pallet rolling into the back of a C130 in Kosovo.
He was from then on known as "digit" and didn't mind one bit.

[TaplowGreen]

An example I can think of....a colleague lost the end of a finger when it got in the way of a heavy pallet rolling into the back of a C130 in Kosovo.
He was from then on known as "digit" and didn't mind one bit.

I have a pal called Richard Hart who was diagnosed with a (later successfully treated!) defective heart valve - needless to say he has since invariably been referred to as "Dicky Hart" - it even got to the stage where the Doctors and nurses were joining in!!!