Higham Freight Train derailment - 9/4/2020

[Murray J]

just been onto national rail travel news and they are reporting that a freight train has derailed near Higham, causing trains to not be able to run between Gravesend and Strood.
disruption is currently expected to last until the 13th April.
has anyone else got any knowledge of what occured, EG what loco was involved?

 

[The_Train]

just been onto national rail travel news and they are reporting that a freight train has derailed near Higham, causing trains to not be able to run between Gravesend and Strood.
disruption is currently expected to last until the 13th April.
has anyone else got any knowledge of what occured, EG what loco was involved?

6Y84 2127 Hoo Junction Up Yard to Guildford is showing on Railcam as at Higham and is lead by 66413 (according to Railcam data). The map is showing a T3 possession between Hoo Junction and Strood

Edit: added RTT link above

Edit 2: For clarity, 66413 confirmed as the loco on TOPS

 

[TU9120]

Hi, it was 6Y84 and from what I’ve seen 7 wagons became detached at Hoo Junc, then on it’s journey the rear 2 wagons of the front portion of the train have become derailed at Higham. I’ve seen pictures of at least two broken rails and extensive cable and equipment damage.

 

[Murray J]

anyone found any photos of the damage?

 

[gazr]

anyone found any photos of the damage?

https://twitter.com/Se_Railway/status/1248513538706022401

 

[LOL The Irony]

https://twitter.com/Se_Railway/status/1248513538706022401

Did the rail fail like that because of the derailment or did it cause the derailment?

 

[Metal_gee_man]

Imagine services were running normally, 2x Thameslink, 2x SouthEastern HS services p/h q1completely stuffed up, if it was the freight companies fault that would have cost them a bit more than pocket change.
Luckily very little is running

 

[PHILIPE]

just been onto national rail travel news and they are reporting that a freight train has derailed near Higham, causing trains to not be able to run between Gravesend and Strood.
disruption is currently expected to last until the 13th April.
has anyone else got any knowledge of what occured, EG what loco was involved?

Rather than asking at the start as to what the loco was and chasing photographs, it might have been better if you had shown concern in regard to anybody being hurt

 

[Murray J]

Rather than asking at the start as to what the loco was and chasing photographs, it might have been better if you had shown concern in regard to anybody being hurt

This was a minor derailment of rear wagons, it's fairly uncommon for severe injuries or probably injuries at all.

 

[221129]

This was a minor derailment of rear wagons, it's fairly uncommon for severe injuries or probably injuries at all.

But did you know that at the time of asking?

 

[Bald Rick]

Did the rail fail like that because of the derailment or did it cause the derailment?

Looks like two seperate broken rails, and not the sort of breaks you get ‘ordinarily’, so it looks to me that it was caused by the train.

 

[Murray J]

But did you know that at the time of asking?

I guessed it was minor as it wasn't reported in any major news outlets, therefore most likely to have no or very minor injuries.

 

[Class 170101]

I guessed it was minor as it wasn't reported in any major news outlets, therefore most likely to have no or very minor injuries.

Rarely is reported as news. Mind you at the moment it might make a change from the wall to wall coverage of the coronavirus.

 

[Domeyhead]

Rather than asking at the start as to what the loco was and chasing photographs, it might have been better if you had shown concern in regard to anybody being hurt

Can we stop with the piety please? If anyone had been hurt it would have been the main headline. The OP was using deduction, which seems to be in short supply.

 

[Deepgreen]

Sounds like the train was heading my way - the North Downs line has been closed for engineering work this weekend (although I did see a class 73 running light towards Redhill yesterday, which didn't appear on RTT). I wonder if this will set the works back.

 

[GB]

I wonder if this will set the works back.

I don't think so. A replacement train was found relatively quickly.

 

[Dr_Paul]

Some questions come to my mind. Looking at the pictures of the broken rails, can anyone explain what sort of pressure upon them caused them to break; was it vertical, lateral? I've seen cast iron that has broken like this, but how does the steel used in rails fracture in this way? Is it of any relevance that there is a weld near or at the break on these rails?