Baxenden Bank
Established Member
- Joined
- 23 Oct 2013
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An interesting suggestion.As long as the cable and fittings are rated for this load then everything will be hunky-dory. I suspect that the recovery experts can do simple arithmetic...
I am aware of three locomotives being dropped whilst being loaded/unloaded from ships. I too suspect the loading experts can do simple arithmetic... however arithmetic means nothing is there is a non visible flaw in the chain / wire / sling. Unless you test to full strain before each use, you cannot be sure.
Incidents are:
Newport Docks UK,
Owendo Gabon and,
the most recent was (I think) a loco heading for Zimbabwe* - sling broke when raised high, loco did a three-quarter roll and landed with quite a thump back on the road trailer!
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why you never stand under a lifted load - or within whipping distance of a train carriage being roughly dragged out of a tunnel using brute force.
* Correction: the loco was being loaded in India, headed for Mozambique. Video clip on Twitter here
A 3,000 hp BLW, Varanasi produced locomotive (No. 333) broke free of its crane and crashed to the ground, reportedly at Mundra port in Gujarat. The locomotive was being exported to Mozambique in Africa. More details awaited.
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