Fire bakkie

[John Ashworth]

"Fire bakkie" on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 03&nseq=41

[Dylan Knott]

Do we have anything like this here in SA? Would it be allowed?

[John Ashworth]

We had an e-mail discussion on this within FOTR recently (I'm in Sudan at the moment and I'm not sure if I can track it down - if I can I'll post it here, but if not maybe Kevin or Mike or someone could do so?).

The general feeling amongst our operations personnel was that it wouldn't be allowed. The fire trolley would be counted as a train and as such wouldn't be allowed into a section which already had our train in it.

[John Ashworth]

Here's the correspondence - Dylan, I see it was initiated by a request from you:

From Dylan:

Does Transnet Freight Rail allow "fire trolleys" or a trolley fitted with fire fighting gear to follow a train in the same section? In our case we would send a fire trolley to follow one of our trains to prevent any fires from breaking out. Reckon it will be about 10km behind the train.

From Steve Smith (Guard):

The short answer is no, train working rules would not allow it.

From Steve Appleton (Guard):

I agree with Steve. I think such a trolley would be classed as a separate individual train and would have to be scheduled as such and operate on the same basis and under the train control system as any other train in a section.

This would also put constraints on such a trolley in terms of stopping in section and setting back in section. It would also create operational difficulties in those sections which operate on the ’one engine in steam’ principle, such as the single token-controlled Rayton to Zonderwater branch line where, without serious senior intervention, only one train may occupy that line at any time.

From John Ashworth (Fireman/Train Assistant):

I agree with the two Steves.

From Mike Haslam (Fireman/Train Assistant and trainee Driver):

In fact not only do the train working rules apply, the trolley is considered a train, but the TCO must pay special attention to the passage of the trolley (because they don't always show up on the track circuits due to light weight) and the trolley driver must confirm he has left the section.

So, a fire trolley on the main or even branch line is not a workable solution.

End of e-mail conversation.

I would add that the picture referred to in this thread is from a small private railway, the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, so they may well have local train working rules which would probably be simpler than the rules used by a national railway operator like TFR.

[Dylan Knott]

Our line is RTO and not token section, but don't suppose this make it any different.

[John Ashworth]

I think you're right, Dylan - whether RTO or any other means of train control, only one train in a section at any one time.

In the old days when Spoornet still operated wooden staff and paper tickets it might have worked on a branch line using that system. Normally you can't enter a section unless you have the wooden train staff. However when the ticket system is in operation, the driver of the first train enters the section with a paper ticket after he has confirmed that the staff is present. Other trains can follow on the same principle - I can't remember how frequently (is it running time plus 30 minutes, or proceed on sight, or what? Mike?). The driver of the final train passing in that direction takes the wooden staff. But Spoornet had already stopped that system of operation long before becoming TFR. When you pick up the wooden train staff at Rayton Station for the Cullinan branch you can still see the box where the paper tickets were kept.