Magnet fisher pulls railway track explosives from Long Melford river

[ANDREW_D_WEBB]

A magnet fisher checking a river for objects of interest had to call the police after explosives were pulled out of the water.
Suffolk Police said it closed a section of the B1064 at Long Melford on Saturday after the railway track explosives were discovered.
It is thought they were leftovers from the dismantling of the line to Bury St Edmunds in the 1960s.
An Explosive Ordanance Disposal team took the devices away.
The Sudbury and Haverhill Police team said the fisher was operating from a bridge and also found a knife, some shotgun cartridges and a BB gun, but it was the explosives that triggered the road closure.
It said the area still had "disused railway status".
The line was closed as part of Dr Beeching's branch line closures.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-64202079

 

[zwk500]

Sounds like a pack of detonators to me

 

[Mugby]

Sounds like a pack of detonators to me

Absolutely certain to be - but you know what the media is like, never miss an opportunity to whip up some hysteria!

 

[M7R]

Old news we had a thread on this not that long go when some one else magnet fishing found some dets.

 

[snowball]

Wasn't there another incident a few months ago of a non-railway person coming across some detonators?

 

[zwk500]

Absolutely certain to be - but you know what the media is like, never miss an opportunity to whip up some hysteria!

Yes, they've managed to make it sound like these were some kind of plastic explosive for demolishing bridges when the line was closed or whatever.

 

[Ediswan]

Absolutely certain to be - but you know what the media is like, never miss an opportunity to whip up some hysteria!

I don't see any hysteria. Just the explanation for a temporary road closure.

 

[mpthomson]

Absolutely certain to be - but you know what the media is like, never miss an opportunity to whip up some hysteria!

They're still explosives and can cause damage or injury, especially in quantity and handled inappropriately. The police don't know every type of existing or old explosive on sight or their current integrity, which is why bomb disposal were contacted. There's also a stability issue with old explosives. No hysteria anywhere, just factual reporting of what happened and emergency services doing their job properly..

 

[dosxuk]

Yes, they've managed to make it sound like these were some kind of plastic explosive for demolishing bridges when the line was closed or whatever.

Either you're reading a lot more into what they wrote, or I'm missing something... I can't see anything which even remotely implies the explosives were to do with demolishing things.

It does amuse me when people go on about the media hyping things up, but then actually reading the article yourself you find that the hype is just in the mind of the reader...

 

[zwk500]

Either you're reading a lot more into what they wrote, or I'm missing something... I can't see anything which even remotely implies the explosives were to do with demolishing things.

It does amuse me when people go on about the media hyping things up, but then actually reading the article yourself you find that the hype is just in the mind of the reader...

If you know what you're reading, then 'track explosives' is fairly clear that they're detonators, but the following line:

It is thought they were leftovers from the dismantling of the line to Bury St Edmunds in the 1960s.

To an unfamiliar reader would probably sound more like demolition than old warning devices.

 

[swt_passenger]

Either you're reading a lot more into what they wrote, or I'm missing something... I can't see anything which even remotely implies the explosives were to do with demolishing things.

It does amuse me when people go on about the media hyping things up, but then actually reading the article yourself you find that the hype is just in the mind of the reader...

What I’m taking from the article is it’s another thing to blame on Beeching…

 

[zwk500]

I'd love to know what they meant by the area still having 'disused railway status' though. Do they just mean the area is protected in the local plan, or has somebody got very confused looking at an OS map?

 

[66701GBRF]

Old news we had a thread on this not that long go when some one else magnet fishing found some dets.

Well this is a new instance therefore not "old news".

 

[TAS]

I'd love to know what they meant by the area still having 'disused railway status' though. Do they just mean the area is protected in the local plan, or has somebody got very confused looking at an OS map?

That seems to have been taken from the police's post on Facebook about the incident (quoted below), which claims that as a result of this status Network Rail should have dealt with the detonators but owing to the strike couldn't.

The most unusual job of the day played out along the B1064 in #LongMelford earlier this afternoon during which we had to close the road for a short while. A visiting magnet fisherman decided to see what he could pull out of the river using the local bridges. In amongst his "catch" was a knife, some shotgun cartridges, a BB gun and just for good measure,a couple of Railway Track Explosives. It was these latter items that triggered the road closure and as the area still has "disused railway status" it should have been Network Rail that came out to do the honours but they are on strike. In the end, EOD (Explosive Ordanance Disposal) came out and took the little devices away. The thought being here is that these were left-overs from the 1960's dismantling of the Sudbury to Bury Line thanks to Dr Beechings Branch Line Closures up and down the land..... didn't think that I'd be putting that in a post today!!. Thanks to Sgt Kegge and his #NRT2 officers for getting the road open asap.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

What exactly is "disused railway status"?

This term (if indeed it is one) only seems to exist online in connection with this particular story.

 

[swt_passenger]

That seems to have been taken from the police's post on Facebook about the incident (quoted below), which claims that as a result of this status Network Rail should have dealt with the detonators but owing to the strike couldn't.

Seems surprising to me for NR to have a call-out service for detonators - especially if found after so many years? I’d have thought the normal EOD organisations would be the first point of contact for a local police force.

 

[zwk500]

Seems surprising to me for NR to have a call-out service for detonators - especially if found after so many years? I’d have thought the normal EOD organisations would be the first point of contact for a local police force.

I suppose NR are able to positively identify them quite quickly and will have a well-used process for deactivating/using up old ones. Although I doubt it's as simple as lining them all up at the end of a siding and asking the shunter to do the honours...

 

[TAS]

Seems surprising to me for NR to have a call-out service for detonators - especially if found after so many years? I’d have thought the normal EOD organisations would be the first point of contact for a local police force.

When I read the post I was a bit surprised, but a search quickly turned up details of other cases of detonators being found where NR had been involved. None of them involved a disused railway line though, so I suspect the claim that the area has "disused railway status" and that was why NR was involved might be a misunderstanding.

 

[zwk500]

When I read the post I was a bit surprised, but a search quickly turned up details of other cases of detonators being found where NR had been involved. None of them involved a disused railway line though, so I suspect the claim that the area has "disused railway status" and that was why NR was involved might be a misunderstanding.

As they're old railway equipment, I wouldn't be surprised if NR were asked to attend despite it being a closed line, as a successor authority to BR. They'd have people who knew what detonators are and how to properly dispose of them. Chucking them in a river may have been fine once upon a time...

 

[TAS]

As they're old railway equipment, I wouldn't be surprised if NR were asked to attend despite it being a closed line, as a successor authority to BR. They'd have people who knew what detonators are and how to properly dispose of them. Chucking them in a river may have been fine once upon a time...

I don't disagree, but NR have previously attended charity shops and skip firms which have found them so I'm not sure the location matters too much.

 

[zwk500]

I don't disagree, but NR have previously attended charity shops and skip firms which have found them so I'm not sure the location matters too much.

Fair point.

 

[Sleepy]

Good job National Highways don't have attend - they'll probably try use them to blow up bridges ?

 

[Mugby]

They're still explosives and can cause damage or injury, especially in quantity and handled inappropriately. The police don't know every type of existing or old explosive on sight or their current integrity, which is why bomb disposal were contacted. There's also a stability issue with old explosives. No hysteria anywhere, just factual reporting of what happened and emergency services doing their job properly..

You have experience of handling railway detonators?

 

[mpthomson]

Seems surprising to me for NR to have a call-out service for detonators - especially if found after so many years? I’d have thought the normal EOD organisations would be the first point of contact for a local police force.

It still should have been EOD that dealt with old detonators immersed in water for a significant period and possibly unstable.

You have experience of handling railway detonators?

A significant amount of experience of handling explosives, which are what railway detonators are. Anything old should be classed as unstable until someone with the correct expertise declares that they aren't. That's not the police and I suspect that expertise doesn't exist within Network Rail either.

 

[Pinza-C55]

What exactly is "disused railway status"?

This term (if indeed it is one) only seems to exist online in connection with this particular story.

Maybe it means it is still owned by Network Rail like the Leamside Line ?

 

[zwk500]

Maybe it means it is still owned by Network Rail like the Leamside Line ?

NR won't own the river. I suppose they techincally may still own the detonators, but that would be a different issue.

 

[AndrewE]

They're still explosives and can cause damage or injury, especially in quantity and handled inappropriately. The police don't know every type of existing or old explosive on sight or their current integrity, which is why bomb disposal were contacted. There's also a stability issue with old explosives. No hysteria anywhere, just factual reporting of what happened and emergency services doing their job properly..

You have experience of handling railway detonators?

I have got experience of handling them - and of disassembling them for QC purposes!

Knowing exactly how they were / are constructed, I wouldn't be at all surprised if some of them were still viable. Tinplated steel, sealed by crimping then dipped in paint might well mean that there had been no moisture penetration so the black powder inside might be OK. The percussion caps might have degraded and become unstable though... I wouldn't play with them!

 

[Pinza-C55]

NR won't own the river. I suppose they techincally may still own the detonators, but that would be a different issue.

Obviously not the river. I meant the disused railway status. I don't think there are any disused rivers.

 

[Rich1974]

They probably just fell into the river when the line was open and work was on requiring detonators, as for "disused status" to me I read it as the railway isn't active anymore and is shut/disused so no threat to trains.

 

[Gloster]

The line closed in 1967 and was lifted in 1970 according to Disused Stations. As the B1064 does not seem to be closer to the Stour than about 100 yards they were either playing very safe or there were a lot of detonators. My personal opinion is that during the lifting and demolition work, although the station is still there, somebody found them and decided that the best way to be rid of them was to chuck them in the river, where they would rust away. But railway equipment was built to last.