hookup failure, train rolls some distance

[miyakoji]

Trying to hitch a DE10 to a Tokyu 5050 set at Nagatsuta station goes wrong.  Wouldn't the Tokyu set have its brakes applied?  I feel bad for these guys, it must have been one hell of a scare (it scares me watching it!) and they'll probably be cleaning bathrooms for a year.  Can any of the railway guys here identify what went wrong?  The initial hook up seems ok, did one of the pins that locks the coupler closed (forgive the terminology ) not drop into place?  The hose that's connected, and then pulled apart, is for the brakes isn't it?  Gotta love the DE10 operator going after the Tokyu set.

 

[The_Ghan]

Five workers on that one ... almost as many as we would have in Sydney ... lol. 

 

On a serious note ... I have the same problem with my models sometimes ... I find a glass of Shiraz or Bordeau usually helps. 

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[Jace]

Fascinating video - it's not often you get to see an accident from start to finish like that. My guess is that they 'bottled the air' on the train, i.e. charged the brake pipe and then closed a valve on the line so that they could close up with the locomotive a second time (potentially saving a little time since they wouldn't need to recharge the brake pipe). The valve that was closed wasn't the angle cock on the brake hose as the guy on the far side of the track wasn't reaching for that as the train rolled away. Instead it seems he was reaching for a valve on the opposite side, inboard of the brake hose and under the floor. Once he got it you could hear the air dump and the train stop.

 

Seems like a bunch of questionable practices all caught on video for these unfortunate guys: 1. they didn't have or even confirm they had a good hitch (couple) yet they pumped up the brake pipe right away, 2. they may have bottled the air probably to save a little time as they attempted to get a better couple, 3. it looks like they opened the cut lever on the coupler of the locomotive as they went to recouple thus causing the short-lived runaway and 4. they didn't have anyone on board in the cab on the dump valve just in case any of these questionable moves went awry. Their saving grace when they get called in to explain all this may be that the train was parked with the air already bottled since it didn't seem to take long at all to charge it up in the first place (much more engine revving after they caught it and recharged the brake pipe). If that's the case, who ever left the train like that without parking brakes applied or chocks should be brought in to explain. Either way, they were very, very lucky it didn't completely runaway.

[Guest Closed Account 1]

Wow!

 

Amazing what one can of spinach and a spider bite will do for strength and grip.

 

That guy stopped the train.

[westfalen]

A lot more waving and yelling than you usually see in normally neatly choreographed Japanese shunting, I can see these guys going back to school for a while. They are lucky the runaway unit didn't go through a signal at the other end of the siding or they would be all wearing a spad between them too.

 

The golden rule they broke was not doing a stretch test to make sure you're coupled before releasing the brakes and whoever parked it not properly securing it in the first place, I'm assuming the unit would have some sort of park brake. The coupler on the EMU looks like a dummy coupler for towing so only the coupler on the loco would need to be opened and if they are like our units the brake hose may also be placed only for towing with the cock under the front of the unit, it's a bit hard to tell.

 

Several times in Japan I've seen shunting crews connect the air before cars are even coupled, much less do a stretch test, I've always thought it was a dodgey practice.

[Densha]

That guy stopped the train.

Did he? I thought it was just because the gradient was so that the train stopped a bit ahead or someone in the train turned the brakes on again.

[Davo Dentetsu]

Crikey, can't help the natural reaction to trying to stop a moving object by yourself. :O

[Jace]

The golden rule they broke was not doing a stretch test to make sure you're coupled before releasing the brakes...

 

I'll say! But you can get away with that so long as you don't bottle the air. Note that you can hear some air vent at the initial separation, probably whatever was in the hose up to the valve under the floor. 

 

The coupler on the EMU looks like a dummy coupler for towing so only the coupler on the loco would need to be opened and if they are like our units the brake hose may also be placed only for towing with the cock under the front of the unit, it's a bit hard to tell.

 

I thought that the coupler looked a bit odd too. I've seen plenty of different knuckle to automatic coupler adapters but never a dummy coupler complete with a shank. Seems like a lot of work to have to take the automatic off and replace it with a dummy like that just for towing. I wonder what the reasoning is there.

[JR 500系]

Great find! Thanks for sharing!

 

Strange that the brakes were released BEFORE hooking up... I hook up Artillery cannons to 10ton trucks while i was in my army days, and i always got punished to wash the toilets if i were to release the brakes BEFORE the hook up...

 

However, credit has to be given to the guy who actually risked his life to attempt to pull back the rolling train. Also fortunate that the gradient was not too steep and an eventual level was not too far for the rolling train to catch too much speed, otherwise the aftermath would be so hideous...

 

Brings even an astonished face to Mrs. JR500! 

[Guest ___]

I can't speak for J-trains, but per US regs on most class-1, (or at least for CSX) I recall we had to apply handbrakes to 20% of the consist in addition to having the air set.