• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Sand Drags

Status
Not open for further replies.

Ploughman

Established Member
Joined
15 Jan 2010
Messages
2,882
Location
Near where the 3 ridings meet
How many Sand Drags still exist around the country?
On the Heritage side there is one at Goathland NYMR and there used to be some on the approaches to Goole Swing Bridge. Are they still there?
Are there any more?
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Watershed

Veteran Member
Associate Staff
Senior Fares Advisor
Joined
26 Sep 2020
Messages
11,945
Location
UK
Quite a number still exist on the mainline.

Britannia Bridge (between Anglesey and the mainland) - sand drags at both ends of the single line.

Hyde Junction just east of Guide Bridge, which is single lead. There's a sand drag on the Down Woodley Branch, presumably installed in the wake of the Newton and Bellgrove accidents?

Macclesfield, at the south end of the Up & Down Platform line (for platform 3).
 
Last edited:

lincolnshire

Member
Joined
12 Jun 2011
Messages
884
How many Sand Drags still exist around the country?
On the Heritage side there is one at Goathland NYMR and there used to be some on the approaches to Goole Swing Bridge. Are they still there?
Are there any more?
Goole Bridge ones was removed about 15 years ago approx. when TPWS arrived on the scene. The existing ones was well and truly life expired. So removing them took out two sets of points as no longer required and now trains stop another signal back from the bridge when it opens to river traffic.
 

Blockman

Member
Joined
19 Dec 2007
Messages
28
There's one on the Up & Down Westgate Curve between Wakefield Westgate and Kirkgate stations, located on the approach to Wakefield West Junction.
 

Chris125

Established Member
Joined
12 Nov 2009
Messages
3,074
Island Line has one at Smallbrook, protecting the single line.
 

Mojo

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Administrator
Joined
7 Aug 2005
Messages
20,382
Location
0035
A few on the underground, as far as I know all in sidings though.
I was going to say the same, there’s loads on the underground, in both open as well on tunnel sections.
 

EvoIV

Member
Joined
23 Jul 2013
Messages
64
There must be loads, there's one at Eastleigh, one at Bordesley just randomly off the top of my head.
 

Flange Squeal

Established Member
Joined
17 Jul 2012
Messages
1,251
A couple I can think of are St Margarets Up Passenger Loop protecting the Up Main towards Richmond, and the London end of Farnham Depot Reception Road protecting the Up Alton. Pretty sure there's one at Rye protecting the single line towards Ashford as well. Probably plenty still out there.
 

AMD

Member
Joined
6 Dec 2017
Messages
603
Platform 4 & 5 at Southport - they're there to protect the station building, hence why the other platforms don't have them.
 

ComUtoR

Established Member
Joined
13 Dec 2013
Messages
9,397
Location
UK
Thanks again,


We have them. Just that I have only known them as a "sand trap" so I was confused as to what a "drag" was. Out of "interest" what would be called if the trap points took you off a bridge instrad of into a sand drag :/
 

30907

Veteran Member
Joined
30 Sep 2012
Messages
17,864
Location
Airedale
Thanks again,


We have them. Just that I have only known them as a "sand trap" so I was confused as to what a "drag" was. Out of "interest" what would be called if the trap points took you off a bridge instrad of into a sand drag :/
Death trap? :)
 

ComUtoR

Established Member
Joined
13 Dec 2013
Messages
9,397
Location
UK
I always looked at those points and thought you would go head first into the concrete. Literally a 30 (ish) foot drop with a 2m run off. Sod having a SPAD there. Tea and biscuits with *God.



*Satan or other available Deities.
 

gledhill56

Member
Joined
12 Nov 2007
Messages
89
I believe there is one at Bradley Junction near Huddersfield on the end of the single line from Bradley Wood Junction.
 

61653 HTAFC

Veteran Member
Joined
18 Dec 2012
Messages
17,623
Location
Another planet...
I believe there is one at Bradley Junction near Huddersfield on the end of the single line from Bradley Wood Junction.
Yes there is. Was installed when the curve re-opened* in 2000.

*= when I say reopened, I'm not sure the curve was ever officially closed. It had been used for diversions in the mid to late 1980s but had since become engulfed by greenery including a number of saplings sprouting in the four-foot. Once the decision was made to reactivate the line, ripping it up and starting again was pretty much the only option.
 

Signal Head

Member
Joined
26 May 2013
Messages
398
Quite a number still exist on the mainline.

Britannia Bridge (between Anglesey and the mainland) - sand drags at both ends of the single line.

Hyde Junction just east of Guide Bridge, which is single lead. There's a sand drag on the Down Woodley Branch, presumably installed in the wake of the Newton and Bellgrove accidents?

Macclesfield, at the south end of the Up & Down Platform line (for platform 3).
The Hyde Junction example was installed after the collision there, resulting from a start-away SPAD by a train in the platform.
 

Dren Ahmeti

Member
Joined
17 Oct 2017
Messages
550
Location
Bristol
There’s a few that I think I know of:
Kennet Bridge Loop (nr. Reading) has a sand drag at the country end (down direction, towards the station) of the loop, protecting the Down Relief.

Swanley Platform 4 (Down Chatham Slow) has one at the country-end (towards Farningham Road), protecting Swanley Jct.

Exeter St Davids has one on the Down Waterloo approaching the station from Exeter Central, protecting what I think is called Exeter St. Davids Jct.
 

Signal Head

Member
Joined
26 May 2013
Messages
398
There's a drag (well, actually, more of a ballast hump, it doesn't have the boarding which a true sand drag has) at Chinley North, installed after a couple of runaways, one of which resulted in the withdrawal of 47089 and a Class 31 which hit the errant 47 after it went through the traps and fouled the main line.

After another incident (involving a 37 I think), the traps were moved further back to allow room for a makeshift drag.

Historically, there was an interesting example at Valehouse on the Woodhead Route. This was situated in the Down Goods loop and was interlaced with the loop track, before rejoining it via a set of trailing hand points. The entry to the drag was controlled from the box, so that a runaway could be diverted into it deliberately, to give it a chance to stop.
 

Tio Terry

Member
Joined
2 May 2014
Messages
1,178
Location
Spain
There used to be one just the Great Yarmouth side of Carrow Road Bridge at Thorpe Junction, Norwich. Don't know if it's still there though, I guess it will have disappeared with the electrification and resignalling.
 

DaveTM

Member
Joined
25 Mar 2014
Messages
83
Approaching the buffers at both Bognor and Littlehampton, there is perhaps half a carriage length of sand/soil/detritus which likes to a depth of perhaps 10cm above the rail head. Do these count as sand drags, or just neglect? I've always wondered why we don't approach to 6ft from the buffers like we do in all other termini.
 

randyrippley

Established Member
Joined
21 Feb 2016
Messages
5,078
not a sandtrap, but the bay platforms at Lancaster have a curious arrangement with an inner spring-loaded pinch rail which would serve the same purpose. Also the railheads have a raised zig-zag pattern on the surface presumably created with welding equipment - I assume to try to scrape sliding wheels?

There was a previous thread on the sandtraps at https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/railway-geology.143118/
Mainly discussing this interleaved one on the climb to Bincombe tunnel

9WRR-Tunnel-Steam-Train.jpg


(photo comes from this geological study)
 

Signal Head

Member
Joined
26 May 2013
Messages
398
not a sandtrap, but the bay platforms at Lancaster have a curious arrangement with an inner spring-loaded pinch rail which would serve the same purpose. Also the railheads have a raised zig-zag pattern on the surface presumably created with welding equipment - I assume to try to scrape sliding wheels?

There was a previous thread on the sandtraps at https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/railway-geology.143118/
Mainly discussing this interleaved one on the climb to Bincombe tunnel

9WRR-Tunnel-Steam-Train.jpg


(photo comes from this geological study)
That sounds like electric depression bars - an electromechanical switch linked with the track circuit to reinforce operation over the last 60' or so where the rails aren't as polished by the wheels, and the zig-zag pattern is stainless steel weldstrip which has replaced the bars, but they've not been removed (not uncommon, they are heavy pieces of kit) .

Here's a photo of the depression bar in the bay at Stoke-on-Trent. Train detection is by axle counters so the bar is redundant, but there is no need for the stainless steel strip.
 

Attachments

  • DSC_0401-02.jpeg
    DSC_0401-02.jpeg
    4.4 MB · Views: 89
Last edited:

randyrippley

Established Member
Joined
21 Feb 2016
Messages
5,078
That sounds like electric depression bars - an electromechanical switch linked with the track circuit to reinforce operation over the last 60' or so where the rails aren't as polished by the wheels, and the zig-zag pattern is stainless steel weldstrip which has replaced the bars, but they've not been removed (not uncommon, they are heavy pieces of kit) .

Here's a photo of the depression bar in the bay at Stoke-on-Trent. Train detection is by axle counters so the bar is redundant, but there is no need for the stainless steel strip.
Not sure if its the same or not - from memory they're on both rails and at rail height, as if intended to pinch the back of the wheels, though I guess that could be for electrical continuity
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top