Discussion Groups / English Usage / February 2007

A stand corrected. I believe Amtrak does own the Northeast
Corridor route. But it is a very small part of Amtrak.

That reports also says:

   Virgin and Stagecoach Group PLC run the UK's West Coast and
   Cross Country rail franchises via Virgin Rail Group, in which
   they hold stakes of 51 pct and 49 pct respectively.

The silence of Brian Souter, chairman and co-founder of Stagecoach,
is deafening. He seems happy to let Branson be the frontman in
respect of the accident.

The carriages  "...came to rest at varying angles".

I'm prepared to believe that they came to rest, but I doubt if they then
started revolving.

There is a website that says that the dead man's pedal was invented
prior to 1918 for use on a particular design of steam locomotive in
use in New Jersey.
http://www.fineartmodels.com/pages/product.asp?content_area=3&sub_area=10&produc
t_area=43

   Jersey Central T-38 Camelback 4-6-0
   ...
   One of the most unusual steam locomotive designs, as well as one
   of the most familiar despite the fact that none were built after
   World War I, originated as a solution to an interesting
   technical problem: the Camelback.
   
   In the mid-19th century, coal-mining practices were much less
   efficient than they are today.  Some 20 percent of
   Pennsylvania's total anthracite output was regarded as waste too
   fine for general use, in light of its high shale content.  While
   this culm could be used for heating buildings and other
   forgiving applications, it lacked the high heat content needed
   to power the locomotives of the day.  John Wootten, later
   general manager of the Philadelphia & Reading, saw that such
   fuel might prove practical if burned on a sufficiently large
   grate.  In 1877, the first locomotive with a wide Wootten
   firebox was completed.  Six years later, 170 more such
   locomotives were in service.  Together they saved the railroad
   almost $400,000 on its annual coal bill.
   
   The Wootten firebox was so big that it left little room at the
   rear of the locomotive for a conventional cab.  The solution was
   to arrange a separate cab for the engineer astride the boiler,
   with a smaller deck for the fireman remaining in the traditional
   position between the firebox and tender.  However, this
   camelback design, also known as the Mother Hubbard, had
   drawbacks. Their engineers worked in a hot, cramped environment
   - so hot and so cramped, that even in winter, they preferred to
   sit on the window sill.  Some even fell out, which led to the
   invention of the dead man's pedal.  Even when they stayed put,
   engineers could be exposed to steam leaks and broken side rods
   and had no easy escape route in an emergency.  In 1918, the
   Interstate Commerce Commission banned further construction of
   Camelbacks.
   ...

"Special work" is more general, as it also includes the power system,
not just track.  While most electrified mainline railways use
catenary, special work in the overhead is necessary for lines that
still use trolley wire (primarily urban transit systems).  Trolleybuses
actually require physical switches up there (since the two wires have
to cross each other somehow).

-GAWollman

[...]

That's just the politics of envy. Next you'll be saying the companies'
dividends should be related to how well they run a railway.

Youngest and I once found a huge red trailer parked in a lay-by on the
A40. We clambered over it with relish, and counted all 96 wheels with
awe: it was what they use to shift railway engines by road. (Huh?) I
don't even know if there's more than one of them in Europe: somebody
(perhaps wrongly) later told me it had to be fetched from France.

I understand your point. However it is likely that such cranes still
exist.[1] If they do they could potentially be used for "rerailing"
the last three carriages of the Virgin train. The other carriages
look to be in positions that are well outside the reach of
track-mounted cranes. The responsibility for the engineering aspects
of the rescue would have been with the Fire and Rescue Service. If
track-mounted heavy-lifting cranes ahd been needed they wouled have
been called for. If they chad been called for but did not exist I
think the story would have got out.

The interim report of the Rail Accident Investigation Branch is at:
http://www.raib.gov.uk/cms_resources/070226_I012007_Grayrigg.pdf

This includes a "Diagram of switch and stock rails and stretcher
bar", and a "Photograph of derailed train with carriages numbered".

[1] Derailments do happen from time to time and locomotives,
carriages and wagons do need to be rerailed. There must be cranes
available to do this. The RAIB has nearly 40 investigations in hand
at the moment. The largest single category is derailment -- 17 in
total.