There once was an engine attached to a train, who was afraid of a few drops of rain......

[rich_jacko]

I was going to post something about bloody northerners knowing nothing about proper floods, and about this city being generally rubbish and falling to pieces whenever there's the slightest hint of real weather. But having finally got back to an interweb connection (no power at home) and seen the photos on the News, I'll grudgingly admit that the floods are quite impressive. I suppose.

I had a meeting in London yesterday. There was a small river that I think was meant to be a train track on the way down. We caught the 2pm train back from London. And very nearly spent the night in Derby. Oh, with no hotel rooms left in the city BTW.

There were no trains running north of Derby. Apparently the lines were all flooded.

There were no buses or taxis running north of Derby. Apparently the roads were all blocked or gridlocked.

So R#, J#, J# and I set up camp in a nearby pub for a bit. Then checked again at the station. Nothing running.

We couldn't help but notice there was barely a drizzle and Derby's roads and rail lines were all clear......

So we went back to the pub for another pint. Then checked again at the station. Nothing running.

So we went for food (Mmmm, Nandos......). Then checked again at the station. And eventually found a taxi willing to take us all home.

Once we did that, it was pretty smooth sailing. No blocked roads, no flooding that we could see. No gridlock until after I got out the taxi in Sheffield city centre. Hence my scepticism about this supposedly biblical event that had brought South Yorkshire to a standstill.

Anyway, the traffic being gridlocked for no discernable reason from Brook Hill roundabout up to Hillsborough Corner (where, okay, the weir was a bit high), I eventually got home to a darkened house at about quarter to eleven.

But hey, my flexi credit is now amazing! ;o)

Comments

[purpletom.livejournal.com]

There are two very good reasons why trains don't run when the lines are flooded - neither of which are to do with trains not being able to run through standing water.

The first and most common is due to the way signalling systems work. Almost all rail lines use track circuits to detect the presence of trains on sections of track. Basically the wheels and axles of the train are used to complete a circuit between the two rails. Unfortunately dirty floodwater will also complete the circuit, and as it is a fail-safe system all the signals will default to red.

The second reason is that in cases of extreme flooding there is a possibility that the roadbed on which the rails are laid may be washed-out, in which case trains simply can't run safely.

Under the RSSB rule book trains can technically be run through flooding, however severe restrictions are placed on operations. Full details can be found here and here.

Glad you got home okay in the end though.

After_613

[king-jose.livejournal.com]

Rich why don't you join After_613?

Re: After_613

[rich-jacko.livejournal.com]

I'm waiting for them to learn to write dates properly (days before month!) ;o)

Mainly it's a lack of time at the moment. Also, until I get electricity back at home, my only interweb connection is at work. And I doubt they'd approve......

[keitel.livejournal.com]

Damn, if we'd known you were stuck here we would have come and got you and you could have had a comfortable night chez Jacklin! We're quite safe, a mile uphill from our river Derwent which is also looking uncomfortably full.

Glad you got back okay though!

[rich-jacko.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the (retrospective) offer! It would have been a bit unfair on my three colleagues though - unless you had room to put us all up for the night!

[glassrat.livejournal.com]

A bit earlier at Hillsbo corner you would have seen the big inflatable boat thingy with elecy motor and the underwater rescue unit out as well as 9 police cars, 2 vans etc.