Indian passenger train stuck in flood waters outside of Mumbai.

[ben_issacs]

Folks, 

Saw in the news this morning shots of an overnight Indian express train, of about twenty cars, stuck in flood waters out from Mumbai.

1,050 passengers rescued, of which about 750 had reservations.

Power unit, Diesel-elec., Diesel-elec. and electric locos don't like floods, it only takes a few inches of water above the rails for the electricals to be shorted out.

It would be interesting to find out if Diesel-hydraulics, as widely used in Japan, are less affected by floods.

Most steam locos can run through reasonably high flood levels, water up to the ash pan is o.k., but any journal bearings that get flooded would loose their lubricants.

 Even if a train can run through flood  waters, there is always the problem of whether the track is still in place beneath the muddy water.

No doubt JR, and most railways, have regulations about driving trains into floods.

Regards, 

Bill, 

Melbourne.