Quote:
Originally Posted by aussiesteve
Yep, a brief spiel has made yer RAIB mob, who will investigate.
At least the rear wagon still had a red tail light attached when it derailed and fouled the main line.
Is Toton a hump style yard ?
I kinda recollect it being mentioned before somewhere.
If so, I am wondering about the falling grade.
We attempted this feat last year over in Croweater country, when a rake of wagons decided to take off in a yard.
Troublesome trucks as Thomas the tank engine would call em.
Steve.
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Hi Steve.
Toton used to use hump shunting as in the 1951 photo in this link:
http://toton-rail.co.uk/images/toton3.jpg
and from this 1930s archive footage - a modern H&S nightmare!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHDd4t_wKpU
and another film featuring 19502 footage & former workers revisiting the site:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8K8myH9DJ4
Toton yard was first set up as two sidings in 1856, continuing to grow over the years until two large, separate Up & Down yards were created. Hump shunting (or gravity shunting) was introduced in 1901 and continued until 1984.
http://totonsidings.com/history.html
http://totonsidings.com/upside-hump.html
http://totonsidings.com/downside-hump.html
I'm not sure of the current geography, whether there is still any remnants of the hump, but I guess there must be a bit of a downgrade for the wagons to run away for half a mile.
Tony