Disaster Around The Corner (The Morpeth Curve) - DISASTER BREAKDOWN
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- Опубликовано: 5 авг 2022
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This is Morpeth. A town located in county Northumberland in North-eastern England. Home to 14,000 people, this town is well connected to the outside world with the help of one of the busiest railway lines in the Country, the East Coast Main Line. When it comes to the railway, this town, its station and the track around it have a bit of a history. That’s what we’ll explore today, because what lurks around the bend is a section of rail littered with fatal injury and devastation.
www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/doc...
www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/doc...
www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/eve...
intrans.iastate.edu/news/trai....
www.bbc.co.uk/history/histori...
• BBC TV news report of ...
www.flickr.com/photos/marcusg...
www.railforums.co.uk/threads/...
• #RailNatter | Episode ...
If you found this video to be interesting, be sure to subscribe as there is a new video every Saturday. This video also went out to my Patrons on Patreon 48 hours before going out publicly. Consider joining here from £1 per month: www.patreon.com/DisasterBreakdown
Excellent presentation
I love your videos
Congrats on 100k subscribers!
Is there really a new castle at Newcastle?
How can u think I'm going to be satisfied with a boring vid stuffed with ads ? How can u possibly think that ?
This is why TPWS is so vital to the safety of UK railways, though a full supervision system like ETCS would be even safer!
Agreed
Seeing how much emphasis you put in your video about trains, it’s not really surprising to see you here XD
Really like your videos btw
But so much less of an adrenaline rush.
They should announce all these high risk areas as we go past them, then 1, the driver might take care and 2, it would be like a reality horror film. Bit like the amazing central line tube driver that you really want on hallowe’en because he gives all the ghost stories.
As a Traindriver myself i have to tell you: While ETCS, especially in LVL 2, is a safe System - it really poses problems. For normal lines with a lot of stops, manouvering trains etc. it is a struggle. Older, country specific systems like ZUB or LZB are at almost the same safety but with a lot better integration into daily train-business.
The idea behind ETCS is great - if all of europe would use it, passing country borders would be as easy as with a car for every traindriver. But yeah, in every day use it sadly still isn't up to our older systems :(
Hello Plainly Difficult. There is a more advanced system called ATP or Automatic Train Protection. It is however more expensive than TPWS or Train Protection Warning System (I think that is what is called) but both systems do what you think it is. Warn the driver of upcoming signals.
In addition British Rail has never addressed the very dangerous flaw of the Sunflower dial and it's sound between Preliminary Caution, Caution and Danger.
That is partly what caused accidents like the Ladbroke Grove Accident of 1999.
"So there's been like 5 accidents here, should we maybe do something?"
"Nah it'll be fine"
The local residents were probably like "Oh not again"
@@johnkelly1083 very true.
In the US, rail cars were linked by a brutally treacherous system called "link and pin". It involved the victim, I mean the railroad worker to hold a steel loop (like a huge single link from a steel chain) in between two railcars while the locomotive smacked them together, then quick drop a pin in each side before the rolled back. He had about 4-6" of slack space during which he could yank his hand out at the last second, but heaven help him if he pulled too soon and the coupler fell, requiring whole minutes for the loco to back up and try again. Finger amputation was so common, you could closely estimate how long someone had worked for the railroad by how few fingers he had left. And of course, once he's down to only a couple, the railroad fires him cause he cant do the job, or if he was buddies with someone important, and had the aptitude he could be switched to something that only required 2 fingers, like sending Morse code. In 1873 Eli Janney patented the automatic coupler which just clicks together with no one even near it (still in widespread use in the US and some other countries today [not in Europe]). But railroads felt it was just cheaper to hire workers with more fingers than spend _hundreds_ of dollars for _every_ railroad car. Why, for some railroads that could have amounted to almost $10,000! And merely to save lives and livelihoods! It wasnt until congress acted in ~1898 that it became mandatory, and accidents fell off a cliff; actually becoming MORE productive for the railways without all the screaming and re-attempts, plus it was simply a much faster machine to use, both coupling and uncoupling.
One recommendation from the first accident was the withholding of disciplinary letters until the driver signed off duty, not giving him such letters at the start of a shift.
Or holding disciplinary meetings instead of letters so that the driver can discuss tactics to avoid future errors and the disciplinary chair can ensure that those tactics do not include speeding through corners.
That would consume all my thoughts too, anything might happen.
Or, like in Japan, stop punishing drivers for being a bit late. This was a common thing in Japan, with drivers being forced to do 'day training' which involved writing pointless apology letters while being shouted at by managers, and then having to work a shift as normal. The number of fatal incidents due to the fear or being 'trained' or sheer exhaustion went through the roof until the practice was outlawed.
My late father was signalman at Colwich Junction on the Trent Valley Main Line, where the 'Knotty' swings off the main for Stoke on Trent and Manchester. In the 1960s the junction layout was altered in a way he felt to be dangerous; if a Stoke bound train 'ran through her sticks' (aka a SPAD these days), there was a very strong chance of it meeting a southbound train from Stafford head on. It worried him so much that he left the railway service. He died in 1977 and about five years later exactly what he predicted happened. A northbound Manchester failed to observe distant signals, got the brakes down far too late and ground to a halt in the middle of the junction, right in the path of a fast London bound express. Why does authority never learn?
Because beauracracies refuse to spend time & money on PREVENTING ANYTHING, until it has already happened. This story proves that even after an accident, they still do not come up with any real viable answers. Just temporary bandaids.
My personal experience with engineers, administration, gvnmt entities, ALL look at money and convenience of changes over safety contingencies ALL THE TIME. There is a human cognitive tendancy to make decisions like a gambling establishment. If the "odds" are not "high" enough, then no action is taken. Rather then "imagine worst-case-scenario" and then tell me what "excuse" would justify their lack of action?! Many humans base their decisions on their "odds" assumptions. Which are NEVER based in statistics of reality/possibility/probability!
September 1986 Colwich collision was remarkable in having just one fatality (driver of the Liverpool-Euston) given the 90/100mph cross-impact and the wreckage. Colwich's junction layout was 'asking for trouble' until signalling was modified to avoid drivers mistaking aspect sequences when the first part of the junction is clear but the second (across the Up Fast and round the corner towards Stoke) is not.
Morpeth is my home town where I still live today, I was so shocked when I saw this come up in my subscriptions!!! Was not expecting anyone to notice our little corner of northumberland! Thank you for covering it, very interesting.
And I can assure everyone I travel in and out of Morpeth regularly by train and have survived so far 😁
Wet leaves on the Line is a
Constant worry in...Britain's AUTUMN ........Meaning the FALL in the States for our American Cousins !
As a Morpeht resident, were you also shocked by the narrator (who is a Geordie) referring to Northumberland as "County Northumberland" and putting on a truly silly fake American accent? ("Morrrrrpeth").
Are the accidents well known locally?
@@Mikadobiscuits I believe the major one in 1969 is well known, but the others perhaps not so much?
Survivorship bias :-)
Absolutely massive congratulations on 100,000 subscribers! You deserve every last one of them and I truly hope that the road to 1,000,000 subscribers will be quick for you with this absolutely amazing high-quality content
Thank you for your kind words!
🤍💙👌🏽👍🏼
I went down to the comments to wright just this. Spot on :)
Wow, I'm from Morpeth and live 2 miles away from this railway curve! My mum lives literally right next to the curve. Crazy seeing our little town mentioned, and I learned loads of things they certainly never taught us in school here..!
i live near amble
I was just reading about this curve the other day! My partner is from this area, so we've travelled to and from Morpeth countless times and I'd had no idea how dangerous this section of track was!
In my younger life, I lived in Morpeth and worked in Newcastle for over ten years. I travelled by train to work, so I went over this rail curve more than one thousand times ! Including some evenings out. Returning on the KX to Edinburgh Mail Train, which stopped at Morpeth. I remember the May 1969 derailment. My GP Doctor lived very near the railway line curve at time, and was out of bed at the lineside by 1.45am. Never arriving for his Surgery that day ! As a result of this 1969 derailment, very large warning signs in Red were erected , in both directions, 2 miles before entering Morpeth Station. Advising of a 40mph max. speed limit travelling through Morpeth Station. Unfortnately, it failed to have the appropriate effect concerning the June 1984 derailment, which I remember. Causing ECML Trains to be diverted, both North and South, on to the freight only line via Bedlington to reach Newcastle. With the electricfication of the ECML in 1990, the curve, just to the West of Morpeth Station has been slightly realigned, thus the altered Max. Speed to 50mph. Up to 1930, it would have been possible to construct a straighter by pass rail line , but Morpeth has become larger and more built up, including around the Railway Station, which it wasn't in my 1950s childhood.
A true "dead man's curve". We had one on the roadway for a long time in my city, so many people crashed on that curve it got that nickname and it sticks to this day.
Are you from Cleveland?
Congrats on 100K! The Morpeth Curve has a striking similarity to a similar stretch of railroad in my city: Frankford Junction in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia. A deadly accident occurred on that curve in 2015 (Amtrak), and is eerily similar to one that occurred in 1943 (then the Pennsylvania Railroad).
I love both your plane and train videos!
4:54 Deltic number 55011 was the 12th Deltic.
They were originally numbered from 00 to 21 but under the new numbering system, number 00 became number 22.
Deltic #55011 was also named _The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers_ . It would be scrapped at Doncaster in 1982.
I was going to say that!!!
Incredible, a simple AWS magnet way ahead of the curve, with an advance warning indicator would have prevented at least one accident. And tpws speed restrictions could also prevent trains from speeding at the Morpeth curve. And indeed a short cut of the line for high speed trains would be better.
Exactly what I said modern roadside speed indicators show the driver his feed back speed approaching the radar derived speed readout dont even need magnets unless you want to link it to a brake application .
Just a series of red lights at 50 M intervals that stay illuminated whilst the train remains above speed limit and a circular illuminated readout of the train MPH the on the drivers left side would probably be enough to alert the driver ( on the occasions this has occurred night time darkness )
@@andyrichards2569 Ok but having the driver to actually confirm that he/she has seen the lower speed area approaching by pressing a button is always better than just show him/her that the train is approaching the curve too fast by lights. And if still missed, an emergency brake should apply.
@@Ztbmrc1 I was taking this as a site specific issue , where on three occasions all in the black of night trains have sped into the curve ( I surmise from driver concentration or loss of spacial position on the route which is all fast running . ) At night alone in a cab peering into mostly virtual darkness is no fun especially if there are no route features such as girder bridges to alert you to where you are .. whilst this may not have been specifically highlighted in any of the enquiries held , without doubt the drivers did not intend to enter the curve at the speeds they did !!
So by deliberation nothing had alerted them to shit Im about to enter the curve at 70 -80 mph which is generally route speed ..
@@Ztbmrc1 this combined with the fact the network is using older and older drivers to fill operating services , does not bode well as we get older holding concentration and recall of immediately previous info becomes difficult Im 65 and I notice a distinct drop off of concentration at night in the dark .
I surmise temporary lack of concentration and route possition was a big factor . Fitting a system which links to the AWS TPS is complex. Probably classed as Cost prohibitive in installation .
Where as as a trial this upgrade of a stand alone idea is cheap and can be installed at lineside without a full occupation .
I agree that linking may be good but no action at all is not good !!!
@@andyrichards2569 The driver of the Royal mail train was pissed, so I guess no amount of warnings would have made any difference. Automatic braking may have helped though.
wow, i am not travelling via train through morpeth. the anxiety would be too much LOL. excellent video once again chloe!!! congrats on 100k, its well deserved. 200k here we come!!
It didn't stop me travelling through the curve, but let's say I was thinking about the history when I heard the train announcer saying 'The next stop is Morpeth' when I travelled on that section in 1997
I often get anxiety on trains and only feel better when the brakes come on.
I've travelled the east coast line from Edinburgh to Newcastle many times over the years and i never knew about this next time I'll definitely be thinking about this video haha
live at peth, you would be fine
The journey will still be about a thousand times safer than if you went by car, and about ten times safer than if you went by plane.
This was very informative. I'm enthralled, as Autistic people often are, by railways and rolling stock. Especially the historical significance of the British railways.
'Red for Danger' by LTC Rolt is an old classic but a most basic 'Bible' for how the railway rule book and safety systems learned from accidents and incidents. it is enthralling and eminently readable.
@@johnjephcote7636 Thank you!
@@dorian4534 is it common the interest in trains? My 6 year old is autistic and absolutely loves trains especially steam, have had to travel to York multiple times just to see the mallard (his favourite).
@@admiralsnackbar69 Yes, very! We love predictable routines, objects we can organize. Also, trains run on tracks, straight lines. It's visually soothing, which helps when the world is an incredibly unpredictable and overwhelming place.
Whoops hello, I'm on the spectrum and have been scratching my itch for public infrastructure disasters
That was freaking epic. I love the fact that you dived into something else than air traffic accidents. Keep it up!
Great quality video, thank you so much once again!! BTW, the UK's "abysmally slow" rail development still looks amazing compared to us here in Canada. When I visit the UK, I am so envious of the rail service. I know Canada's geography is less conducive to rail networks, but even in places where more train connections would make sense, we are years behind.
An excellent video!!!
I forget the date but here in NYC 4/5/6 IRT Line there was a major derailment at 14th Street / Union Square station due to the driver's use of drugs and alcohol while driving the train nearly 100mph. Like this Morpis Curve, the curve at Union Square is very tight. You should do a video on this one as well.
Hard to believe in the 1969 incident that any train could round that curve at a speed of 80mph and still stop in the station.
LOVE the new video!! I swear, this is one of my very favorite channels. ALL the congratulations for 100k subs!! So happy for you. Definitely well deserved! I can’t wait to be around to see you gain 100k more! You’re great. Keep it up!! ☺️
given the amount of times ive been on this track myself, i had no idea about this. i live literally 5 mins out from the train station, and pass it every time i go into morpeth. to be fair it did always shock me that even 50mph was allowed round that bend. definitely going to be holding my breath going round the bend from now on!
Congratulations for you reaching 100k subs although I am a recent subscriber. Your content is superb not only the visual, but also your description of the events. Finally it is very kind of you to share your sources.
Wish you all the best and keep up your outstanding work
Hey mate, congrats on 100k!
Wish you the best for lucks!
Hey, thanks!
charting the history of this one curve right from the first accident to the most recent was really interesting to watch! great video, as always!
The history of British railway accidents & the introduction of safety measures is very well covered by L.T.C. Rolt; Michael Foley & Christian Wolmar.. Rolt’s ‘Red for Danger being one of the best.
Amazing video, as always. Had to pause and see whether the LNER journey I took last month went through Morpeth (it did).
Congrats on 100k subscribers!
Unfortunately in the UK you can build a new road almost at the drop of a hat, but to build a new railway, even a short bit, takes years of legal wrangling. This is because most people never use trains so they don't see the point of them.
Yay yay!!!! You deserve every single one of those subs. Congratulations on reaching such a milestone. Your channel is amazing!
Such a thoroughly researched, well made and very interesting video. You deserve a lot more subscribers than mere 100k. Congratulations and big thanks from me!
Well done on that first major milestone of 100K subscribers. The professionally produced quality of your content is superb, and your voice is a delight to listen to (if I'm honest). Here's to the next hundred thousand. 🎉
As an American, I have to humbly admit to the British:
"Your Steam Locomotives look WAAAAAAAAY better then our hulking behemoths of moving factorys on wheels, that's for sure..."
Congrats on 100k subs. You deserve it and your content is always high quality and informative to watch. Please keep it up.
Congrats on 100k! Well deserved and know you will only keep growing!
Love Your Videos
Train Protection Warning System (TPWS) would prevent this from happening. Overspeed Sensors (OSS) can be spaced to set the linespeed speed limit. Any excessive speed causes the onboard train equipment to issue a brake application which brings the train to a complete halt. The driver cannot override the system once the brake application is in progress.
I recently found out that the original ECML route would have by passed Morpeth, taking a route over the River Wansbeck near Ashington. Morpeth was chosen due to money and potential customers. I've often wondered if they would ever dig a bypass route, for future faster services, which would allow slower local trains to go via Morpeth opening up more capacity. I guess the cost of such works would be very high and probably not in Network Rail's minds, plus we're not in London...
Love the train videos and a huge congratulations on reaching 100k subscribers! Hope the channel continues to grow.
Impressive video as always! Congratulations on reaching 100k subs! You deserve it, and more!
It’s always a real treat when you upload. I see it pop up and think yes!!! I’m entertained throughout and find it so interesting. The way you deliver it so factually and clear is perfect for me. Thankyou for all you do, from all of us fans!
This is a great video, I never knew about the latter two accidents. Very well done mate. Subbed
Very good vid. 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 Reaslly surprising the Morpeth curve had SUCH a history, BUT no one has laid new track and closed it down. Its like mycountry's MD DC-9 cargo door design. Saving money is more important than people's safety in the eyes of the people on charge.
I HOPE 🙏 NO MORE PEOPLE ARE INJURED OR KILLED!
Patty from America
wasn’t expecting to see my home town on my recommended page but i’m glad i did! great video :)
You have such a lovely style of narration and presentation of info. Keep it up! Also I’ve been very much enjoying the Twitch content, just checked out your channel and having a blast watching past streams.
Brilliant video's , thank you for the work and research you put into making them 😊👍.
A great channel .... congratulations .... a well-deserved thanks for your videos
Congrats on 100K Subs! You've grown so fast and I've seen and enjoyed every video.
Congratulations on hitting 100k. It is indeed a large milestone.
Congrats on hitting 100K!! 🎉
And thanks for another great video!
Congratulations on 100K subscribers, Chloe!
Great video, I'd love to see more about railroad accidents. And congratulations to 100.000 subscribers!
WOW! CONGRATULATIONS ON REACHING 100K SUBSCRIBERS! 🎉🎉😊😊 IT'S NO WONDER YOU REACHED THIS MILESTONE CONSIDERING HOW WELL YOU PRODUCE AND NARRATE THEM! KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK, AND LET'S CELEBRATE 200K AS SOON AS POSSIBLE 😊😊❤❤
Grats on the 100k! Been following you for a year and a half or so now and am so very excited to see you reach this milestone! You deserve it and more.
This was a great video! Neat that you could travel to Morpeth as well and found several stories to knit together to a really splendid video. This is why I'm a patreon of yours! :)
I can remember both the 1984 and 1994 derailments happening. I regularly drive past the houses at Duchar Park where the passenger train came to rest and it's always in mind. The 1984 crash in particular shocked the whole town and is still well remembered by long term residents.
Very interesting video.
Just FYI the Class 55 `Deltic' locomotive featured not one but two Napier Deltic 2 stroke high speed Diesel engines each rated 1,650 bhp (1,230 kW), total 3,300 bhp (2,460 kW) which I understand operated in series, i.e. one ramped up to maximum power while the other idled and then on further power demand the second engine ramped up. This resulted in problems (exhaust fires due to a build up of lubrication oil) on low power demand duties (e.g. Heritage railways) so that sometimes the locos were operated with only one engine running when not on the main line. 4:17
To be very picky it would have been fitting for the Ammeter to show some traction motor current e.g. 1,750 Amps instead of zero as the train accelerated north of Newcastle 5:21
True, but this footage was taken from a game that came out around 2008 originally, called Train Simulator Classic (or Railworks).
The locomotive is by Kuju, and it dates back to around at least 2010-2011, so inaccuracies for it aren't that surprising.
Congrats on 100K❣🎉🎊
Keep up the amazing work ❣
Man, 1 in a half years, congrats on 100k man! You deserve it.
love the channel and really enjoying the rail breakdowns
In the US,there are several curves,that come under that rubric,of excessive speed,plus an extremely tight radius! One accident that stands out was the Chicago Transit Authority's derailment on the Loop,which literally had one of the cars,fall on the street; that was on a 50 foot radius curve,as the rolling stock on the CTA,is patterned after the original elevated cars[50ft.length,9ft.width,12ft.height
Congrats on 100K!!! Well deserved! 🏆
Congratulations on 100k subscribers!!
Hey, congratulations on 100 thousand subscribers!
I'm not sure why this was recommended to me, but it was fascinating. Good work
Great video as always, Chloe. I would love to travel there and see the infamous curve for myself
Congratulations on reaching 💯k subscribers. 🏆🥇🎇🎈🧨🎊
Thanks so much for sharing. 😉👌🏻
congratulations on 100K, I hope you enjoy to plaque, you deserve the recognition
Very interesting video, beautifully executed. Thanks !
That was a fantastic video, very interesting mi really liked it , thank you and congratulations on your 100,000 sub
I've lived in morpeth for nearly 10 years and have never heard of this! Thanks for sharing
Congratulations on 100k!
I just had this recommended by the almighty algorithm...YT has its issues but sometimes hits it out of the park, so to speak. I'm subbed now
welcome to the channel :) and thanks!
Very interesting video on a stretch of track I have travelled over numerous times - the first occasion being 1952 !
LOVING THE TRAIN VIDS! i love all your content tho so
Another fantastic rail video, Chloe! I'm a huge fan. A question: you've talked before about making aftermath videos for disasters, like the Mount Erebus accident for example, are they still in the works?
Great video! :) Glad you're doing some rail related videos too.
Cleveland Ohio has a freeway turn into the city that is similarly sharp. It's referred to as ' Deadman's Curve' .
Isn’t that one on the highway that goes towards Erie
Congrats on 100k! 🥳
Very enjoyable video! Astonishing that on every occasion, the infamy of the curve was believed sufficient enough to keep drivers safe on it, and repeatedly this was clearly insufficient.
There was a similar menace in the town of Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire called the Charlestown curve. It forced drivers to brake their trains hard for an unusually wiggly piece of line that was snaking its way around a hillside. Like with Morpeth, decisions to include bends like this were taken by the engineer (the very same George Stephenson) as he was under pressure to keep line costs down, and only had to concern himself with the speeds and sizes of locomotives from the 1830s.
Eventually there was a fatal accident on the curve in 1912, and for once the rail company actually did something. They hacked out a section of the hillside in order to flatten out the curve of the line and as far as I can tell, that put an end to any further mishaps.
Interesting video. Regarding your closing comment - the UK is Geographically small but with a huge dense population. The UK simply does not need 300km/hr lines like mainland Europe or China have.
Remember the British built the fastest diesel locomotive and widely uses tilting trains to overcome Victorian rail curves. Also the UK has a 300km/hr track - HS1 which now connects the London to Continental Europe, and they’re building HS2 connecting London to the North. I often travel London to Newcastle in just over 3 hours which is fine for me. On the same route It’s just not worth using domestic flights unless I’m connecting with an international flight out of London.
Domestically, the UK still has a vast national network. Ask any American who visits and soon discovers.
Funny I’ve just arrived back from Morpeth while watching this. Currently wiping away the sweat as we soeak
It is very interesting to hear about these cases for me, since I am not invested in trains at all. Keep it up!
One accident you should talk about in the future is the train crash in Eschede in Germany. It is the most devastating in German history
Congrats on 100k! Knew you'd be there before too long~
Congratulations and thank you for the great content, friend
I watched so many of your videos, one thing I just have to say, love the way you say “devastation” there is just something about it
I never expected someone to mention, let alone produce a video about Morpeth! I’ve been on that line multiple times and didn’t know about how bad the curve is, or it’s fatal past. The more you learn!
I'm subscribed and have been watching your very well researched presented videos for the last few months. As a multi-string musician Morpeth caught my attention, as there is an instrumental titled Morpeth Rant.
Congratulations on 100K!!
Congratulations on your milestone 👍
Really enjoyed this week’s video. I love learning about history and how the world has changed through disasters and how they change the course of history through learning. B
I wish Saturdays would come more frequently, so that we would be able to watch more episodes of Disaster Breakdown.
Terrific production.
Congrats on 100k subs... well 108 now. Keep em coming!!
Beautiful animations. Fine video.
Congrats on 100K 🥳
i could listen to you, and the writer with any documentary,,, great voice,,, well done
Good job. Interesting how good ideas never seem to go away, even 150 years later.
I noticed quite a few shots of Pelaw metro station during this, and how much track is used. This was a part of the original main line until it was diverted through durham. It shows how railways lines fan go from vital lines to lines that get very little use.
fantastic video Chloe!!
I really enjoyed watching this, very interesting!
Love your work!!!!
Congratulations on 100k! Show off the Play Button when you get it.