European Railroad Discussion > Coasting

Or freewheeling as they call it.
13 miles.
impressive.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/train-driver-freewheels-broken-down-train-13-miles-to-london-euston-after-a-power-cut-a3748781.html

Were there any stops for signals/stations along the way. I imagine it would be dificult to start moving again after a full stop???

WP17 Wrote:
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> Were there any stops for signals/stations along
> the way. I imagine it would be dificult to start
> moving again after a full stop???

No stops for stations or signals.
Wind at back for sure.😀
 

May I ask if there were no power how were the brakes kept in operation?

If there was no power, how did they throw the switches to line up his route, and how did they give any signal indications to the train?

4489 Wrote:
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> May I ask if there were no power how were the
> brakes kept in operation?

Apparently an auxiliary compressor, battery powered.
As for the switches and signals, I believe only the overhead catenary was without power.

prrmpup Wrote:
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> 4489 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > May I ask if there were no power how were the
> > brakes kept in operation?
>
> Apparently an auxiliary compressor, battery
> powered.
> As for the switches and signals, I believe only
> the overhead catenary was without power.

Thank you for the explanation!

I'm sorry this simply isn't credible. There is no way an EMU could start from Bushey without power and coast to Euston arriving just a few minutes behind schedule. Are we really being asked to believe that it could reach in the region of 80 mph from a stop without any traction power? This is the former London and Birmingham Railway, opened in 1837 and built by Robert Stephenson with very moderate grades, given the power of contemporary steam locomotives. I suggest that any power loss would have occurred after one of the neutral sections en-route after the train had reached line speed, and that may only have been a couple of miles outside Euston. The descent into Euston (Camden Bank) is steep enough to get a roll on, in Stephenson's day it was worked by stationary steam engines, but not all the way from Bushey.

There's another reason for not believing it; the story appeared in the London Evening Standard.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/26/19 19:12 by 86235.

There’s a chain on another forum suggesting coasting from quite a long way out, if starting at line speed, if perfectly feasible to Euston. Coasting from a dead stop is something different.

Maybe at line speed AND assuming there's no signal checks, but what about the resistance from the traction motors, it's not like a car when you can disengaged the gears.

That "....chain on another forum..." might be RailUKforums, and since this event happened in early 2018, there is a fair amount of insight from drivers [ well, it's the internet, but they seem well informed ] and others on coasting into Euston and elsewhere, mostly emu's of course, including a Pendo from Tring [ at line speed ] to Euston.  It was pointed out that the train in question was scheduled to run nonstop from Watford Junction;  hence the train did not stop at Bushey station, but apparently farther on, probably about  MP 14.2 or less, where the down grade start after the level section through Carpenders Park.

SZ

Thanks, if the professionals say it can be done then I'm not going to argue. What seems extraordinary to me is that a train, with or without power, arrived in Euston without a signal check!

Some decades ago, Trains magazine had a feature article about the French TVGs.  Two details have stayed with me all these years.....

First, it was explained that, regards French auto production.......domestic cars were 90% manual transmissions, whereas exports were 90% automatic transmissions.

While the TVGs were equipped with cruise control, it was reported that the engineers preferred to control the trains manually.  Approaching Paris it was considered sporting to attempt a free wheeling apporach to the station.  If the engineer hit a spot about 14 miles out, at a certain speed, he could close the throttle and coast into the station, making a small brake application to bring the train to a stop at the proper spot on the platform.  As I recall, there were some who were quite good at this.

AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA