Yokohama Keikyu express train crashes and derails, leaving 30 people injured, September 5, 2019

[stevenh]

They're actually rebuilding the catenary as they're lifting the lead car. 

It's up in the air now, maybe a foot. They've got the machinery in from the side removing what's left of the truck. 

[railsquid]

I think the car is being lifted by the combined willpower of all the guys in hard hats standing around.

 

I wonder how they're planning to get it out, as it seems to be stuck beneath two closely spaced catenary gantries. As there's machinery on either side which looks like it's designed for tearing stuff apart, I wouldn't be surprised if they plan on cutting it into smaller parts (but that's just my idle speculation).

 

 

Edited September 6, 2019 by railsquid

[stevenh]

They're now rotating it back upright. I assume they'll wheel it out. 

That's a lot of teamwork on the rope pulling! 

 

 

Cute that there are still oranges on the top of the driver's cab? 

Edited September 6, 2019 by stevenh

[railsquid]

Two to pull the ropes, twenty to watch.

[stevenh]

Here we go... Nearly upright and over the far track. Bogie inspections in progress. 

I don't know if they'll scrap it... I really don't think they'd do it on site. 

There's little yard vehicles meters away that can crawl out of the yard and drag this unit in. I'm sure there'll be a human procession behind it. 

 

I really do have a new found respect for the NHK coverage. 

Edited September 6, 2019 by stevenh

[railsquid]

[railsquid]

[railsquid]

8 minutes ago, stevenh said:

Here we go... Nearly upright and over the far track. Bogie inspections in progress. 

I don't know if they'll scrap it... I really don't think they'd do it on site. 

There's little yard vehicles meters away that can crawl out of the yard and drag this unit in. I'm sure there'll be a human procession behind it. 

 

 

Yeah, looks like they're trying to rerail it (though the front bogie looks very out-of-whack)

Edited September 6, 2019 by railsquid

[railsquid]

[marknewton]

41 minutes ago, railsquid said:

As there's machinery on either side which looks like it's designed for tearing stuff apart, I wouldn't be surprised if they plan on cutting it into smaller parts.

 

I doubt it. If they were planning to cut the car up on site I don’t think they’d bother lifting it first. In prangs that I’ve been involved with, a lift was only used when the intention was to save the damaged locos or cars.

 

 Cheers,

 

Mark.

[railsquid]

Like I said, that was my idle speculation 😉

Though somehow (more idle non-expert speculation alert!) I can't see this one being restored to service.

 

 

[marknewton]

Interesting - a bloke just went and grabbed a pair of chocks, and there’s what look to me like pony bogies just in front of the car.

[marknewton]

It’s back on the road. The bloke with the chocks just ran towards the car, and the slings have come off.

Edited September 6, 2019 by marknewton

[stevenh]

OK, now I think they're just railfans in uniform. 

Just as they're about to drop the car on the rails they all get shafted back two metres. Then straight away they huddle back forward to make sure they have a view.

 

Then again. If I worked for the company I'd be there with bells on to fix the situation and help out where possible also! 

[marknewton]

Now the blokes in the foreground are dismantling the things I thought might have been pony bogies. Obviously they’re not. Are they braces to prevent the rails from rolling or spreading perhaps?

[stevenh]

Oh wait. The entire crew in front of the camera are track geometry guys? They're all now assembling gear? 

 

Or are they the ponies and I'm just lagging? 

[marknewton]

28 minutes ago, railsquid said:

Like I said, that was my idle speculation 😉

Though somehow (more idle non-expert speculation alert!) I can't see this one being restored to service.

 

Nothing wrong with idle speculation Squid, I do it all the time! 😆 

 

Even if Keikyu intend to scrap the car, it would still be easier and quicker to remove it from the accident site in one piece. And until you can get it out off-site and properly assess its condition you wouldn’t commit either way. The car will have lots of undamaged salvageable components that would be at risk if it was scrapped on-site.

 

But my idle speculation is that the car might well get rebuilt. I noticed how carefully it had been slung to prevent further damage, and the equal care the riggers took to unsling it when it was back on the road. At the very least they’re keeping their options open.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[marknewton]

16 minutes ago, stevenh said:

Oh wait. The entire crew in front of the camera are track geometry guys? They're all now assembling gear? 

 

Or are they the ponies and I'm just lagging? 

 

I really don’t know, Steven. I’m extrapolating from what my railway does in incidents like this, which may not mean much. And it’s been many years since I was on the breakdown gang, so my knowledge of methods and equipment is out of date. But I think those blokes are perway/track workers rather than the breakdown/mechanical crew.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[stevenh]

Video down... Just at the good part! But I suppose they think the main job is done. 

 

Meanwhile a desk jockey has informed this article:

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190906/p2a/00m/0na/005000c

 

Supposedly the signal can be seen 240m prior... So the driver should have slapped it into emergency at that point? Signal is 300m before crossing.. So totally near 600m needed to stop at 120kmh.

 

I wonder how often the crossing detection systems are flashing but then go quiet because things move out of the way. 

 

Is this a cry wolf situation? 

[marknewton]

I might add that the crane driver and riggers deserve a compliment for a successful lift in a very awkward and difficult location. 

 

Mark.

[railsquid]

6 hours ago, railsquid said:

The official info (see: https://www.keikyu.co.jp/report/2019/20190906_19009340EW.html) is that they want to resume operations early tomorrow (Saturday), given that it's 3pm on Friday afternoon and the lead car is still there, I wonder how realistic that will be.

 

Per this announcement they're not planning to run services between Kawasaki and Yokohama tomorrow:

https://www.keikyu.co.jp/report/2019/20190701HP_19053NN.html

[stevenh]

Video back. 

They're currently trimming (with an angle grinder) the out of gauge elements from the train. Making it, at least, movable. 

 

 

Back to the NHK coverage. They'll even let a staff member use their mobile phone to keep the film rolling? 

Edited September 6, 2019 by stevenh

[marknewton]

24 minutes ago, stevenh said:

Meanwhile a desk jockey has informed this article:

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190906/p2a/00m/0na/005000c

 

Supposedly the signal can be seen 240m prior... So the driver should have slapped it into emergency at that point? Signal is 300m before crossing.. So totally near 600m needed to stop at 120kmh.

 

There are so many variables in that situation I wouldn’t be claiming that the train “might” have been able to stop short of the truck. But 600 metres is about the minimum I think it would take to pull a loaded train up from that speed. 

 

Mark.

 

[railsquid]

51 minutes ago, railsquid said:

 

Per this announcement they're not planning to run services between Kawasaki and Yokohama tomorrow:

https://www.keikyu.co.jp/report/2019/20190701HP_19053NN.html

 

Correction, it's "hopefully after midday", but no services will run on that section until further notice.

 

https://www.keikyu.co.jp/report/2019/20190701HP_19053NN.html

[cteno4]

2 hours ago, marknewton said:

might add that the crane driver and riggers deserve a compliment for a successful lift in a very awkward and difficult location. 

 

Mark.

I’ve always been amazed what Japanese crane operators will do. They use multiple cranes and swing and rig things in ways you would never see done here! 

 

Jeff