Where are the "Tappers" ?
 

Good morning one and all, the weather is "snow joke" is it ???
Anyway, I wonder if someone who knows the modern railway set up can answer me a question please ?

On todays railway where are the "Tappers" ? What happens if a train gets a "hot box" and who checks defects in sidings and depots before the trains are marshalled ?

We used have a "C&W man on duty around the clock, he did not only deal with anything in one of the two yards at Nuneaton but anything that was stopped on the main line as well.
So if I take a train today from say, Willesden to Crewe and go via Northampton and get stopped at Northampton with a hot box or some other defect in the train....who checks it ?

48111

Hi 48111

Like you say all tappers have gone and hot boxes are a thing of the past all roller bearings today the wagons get checked on a regular basis.

I think you will find it is down to the shunter to do a basic check on trains before the start of a journey.

They still use hot box detectors but not for hot boxes more for hot running brakes.

ccmmick.

And why are so many coaches allowed to run with wheel flats which surely must do no good either to the coach itself or the track? I travelled from Euston to Birmingham the other week on a Pendolino which had at least two in my coach.

You are right on that one reflector i went to London on a FGW in October the flats were that bad i moved into another coach.

ccmmick.

A number of years ago i worked a freight to Exeter i went in tavi jct yard and picked up three cargo wagons on the back of the train the shunter gave me a brake test but i didnt boost the brake to equalize the train.
So off i went going up hemerdon bank over the top running down through Totnes bank i was picked on the detectors at Exeter signal box i was stopped at Totnes the signalman asked me to go back and check my train.
The back three cargo wagons brakes were red hot it was summertime and i caught the banks on fire stopped the railways for quite sometime.

The next day when i booked on my inspector gave me a pair of welding gloves to put in my bag.

ccmmick.

Yes living so close to the WCML, I very often hear trains running through Bletchley up towards Leighton Buzzard with wheel flats, in fact it is happening quite a lot of late.Some of them by the sound of them are really bad flats as well.

48111

Metrolink seems to be particularily bad for wheel flats. I was talking to one of my East Lancs colleagues this morning, who had a terrible journey on tram 1016 caused by wheel flats last night. Apparently the ride was that bad that the covers off the lights in the passenger compartment started falling off.

Hello 48111 'Hot Axle Box Detectors' are placed strategically along the LM Main Line i.e Hanslope, Attleborough, Madeley Jn' these devices measure the temperature on individual axles. If operated a warning is sent to the controlling Signaller. He will stop the train and advise the Driver who will be told the wagon and axle number, describing the problem which axle box, or across the axle. The Driver will check the axle and surrounding axles for signs of overheating. He will use a 'templestick' a waxy crayon which melts at a predetermined temperature if the axle is too hot. He will advise the Signaller whether their is a problem or it might have been caused by dragging brakes. In this instance he can isolate the wagons brakes. If he is totally happy he will continue on his journey. If the driver thinks there is a problem he will work the train at reduced speed to a place where a fitter or competent person can give it a proper examination. If the problem cannot be rectified the wagon will be detached for repairs. If a HABD activates and no problem is discovered and the vehicle continues on it's journey and then the same vehicle sets off another HABD the wagon must be examined by a trained Rolling Stock Technician. Roller bearings are very reliable but through faults etc they can collapse. When the bearing fails, the axle box will rapidly overheat and smelly black oil will leak around the particular axle box. Although I have never had a complete bearing failure I have been told the signs are unmistakeable.

Thanks, Seabrook, for a very informative post.

Here's a famous wheeltapper.
http://tinyurl.com/ylatd6m

Very funny locojoe
I like Will Hay a good old comic.

ccmmick.

Hi commick not only Will Hay but Silver Link as an added bonus.

Seabrook, thank you for that mate, a very interesting read.
Thanks.

48111

Also found all over the Network.
Plays hell with renewal sites working around them getting them removed / replaced.

Down this way the units don't have tyres, as they make the
whole wheel out of the same stuff
What with the above, disc brakes and ultra-sonic testing
you don't need the Ding, ding, ding DONK "Oh poo" man no more

wheel tappers
 

They are almost completely extinct now, so it was a bonus for me to see and hear one at work somewhere in eastern europe (I'll have to check my trip logs for exactly where!) whilst on a visit to the far east of Poland in the summer. I heard him before I saw him, as he did our train and came back the other side of the island platform working along that train.

The hammer was used on the wheels for both of the two waggon projects, nice clear dings! also on the buffers, for interests sake! if a bit much of a noise for inside the workshop.

So if you have a train that lets say, come up from Cornwall to Paddington for instance and then is booked to work back again, as it stands in Paddington and is cleaned and "serviced" inside ready for the return, what about somebody (used to be the TAPPER) walking along the train on the outside checking everything is ok ?
Surely the modern trains of today are checked SOMEWHERE during their days work, especially the long distance ones ??
I hear what you all say about "modern running gear" such as roller bearings etc, but I would think from the safety aspect that they should be checked ??

Perhaps its me being too old fashioned !

48111

Hi 48111
The trains do get checked when they go onto maintenance depots they also get full exams after so many hours running.
Like cars of today they are a lot more reliable and same with trains until it goes bang if the middle of nowhere.

ccmmick.

Somebody has to ask - when did the last wheeltapper tap his last? I remember in the early '80s being surprised in Sheffield to hear our train being tapped - hadn't heard that sound for years.

Chuffchuff - in the course of my business I recently visited the works of the main (only?) wheelset manufacturer in Britain and persuaded my contact to show me round. He said that no wheelsets were now tyred (although some were knackered).

The 'Wheeltappers' duties were the examination of Brakes, Axles and exterior fittings etc. The tap of the hammer was the way he checked for wheel flats which could be caused by skidding wheels, dragging wheels, contaminated track i.e leaf fall etc. The resonant sound by experience told him the wheel was in good order. Today an automated device called a 'Wheelchek' is fitted at the line side. This measures vibration which will show if the wheel is out of round. This information if outside normal parameters, will operate in the controlling Signal Box. The signaller will stop and advise the Driver, who will work forward at the speed advised by the signaller. The Vehicle can be taken out of service where the damaged wheelset will be re-profiled or changed depending on it's condition. It is known that the loud bangs from flats on wheels can cause damage to the rail in the worst circumstances. So reducing the problem to the minimum is to be desired.