General Discussion
just a thought could the webcam be turned facing the station it make loads better by seeing the seafront aswell
There's a wall in the way when it faces that direction.
It does interest me as to why people who, ahem, live in Dawlish are so reliant on the webcam to see the town, and don't just leave their home and walk to the seafront area. If you get my drift...
Handy as it is, should help FGW not to be so daft as to send trains towards Dawlish when track is blocked with stones, or to rescue passengers getting the car wash treatment from sea soaked failed engines
@Mrs C - primarily it's a question of health and safety. you cannot put a price or frequency limitation on that. fact is, fgw send a 2 car train all the way up to the 'soon to happen' (just 12hrs later?) breach section from exeter when there were already stones on the line and dangerous waves. thankfully the driver was proceeding slowly enough to not derail the train. passengers then had to wait 20mins getting the 'car wash treatment' before the driver had permission to reverse out of danger. a controller with real time visual information would have had better information and the possible option to throw a red signal to prevent said train from proceeding beyond the warren. similarly cliff falls have the potential to derail trains and/or cause delays and real time info. on these is of huge benefit to controllers.
@Mrs C - however, not wishing to dodge a reasonable statisical question purely with h&s logic:
- Feb/March 1986 – blocked 26/02/86 to 03/3/86 – serious damage to wall at Smugglers Cove. Services commenced on 03/3/86 with the Down Main Line (Westbound) remaining shut until reopened on 11/3/86. And yes I was on a train from Plymouth that was brought to an unscheduled stop and decanted onto a bus after much ado.
- January 1996 saw a major incident when the wall was damaged between Dawlish and Dawlish Warren at Rockstone with further severe damage at Sprey Point. Here, the down line (nearest the sea) was suspended over a washed out void, which reached to sleeper ends of Up line. Both lines closed several days were closed for about a week.
- The Winter of 2000/2001 following prolonged heavy rain, saw many cliff falls and again Sprey Point featured with a big fall with the line closed for a few days and some more damage to the sea wall. (The Teignmouth Sea Cliffs Warning System was installed at this time and based in Exeter Signalbox. So controllers obviously value any info they can get ASAP.)
- When the Class 221 and 222 ‘Voyager’ trains were introduced by Virgin on the route just over 10 years ago they suffered from the sea water as the heat diffusers on the roof failed so they had to be modified.
- That NR have installed reversible signalling on the northbound line to avoid the waves demonstrates the frequency with which they view the seriousness of it happening.
- Sadly Dawlish now (jokingly) has the reputation of being the only line in the world where it is a good idea to check the tide tables before using.
Mrs C, I use the webcam to see where the tide is for walking the dog. No one in this household ever puts the timetable back in the right place.
my opnion is should be moved to look at the station because it is a better view than just a narrow track
So Clive, the short (non-Googled) answer to my question is, "not very often". We know your agenda is all about closing the line through our town. But it's all based on third-party photos and quotes that you've copied.
@Mrs C - 'closing the line' - where did heck that come from!! no, no, no, don't get me wrong, i love the stretch, and visited it out of choice countless times when living for many years in exeter. it's also the best relief of scenery to pass the time on a lengthy journey to cornwall. need something on a route that takes twice as long as getting to paris from london. i would die of boredom otherwise.
True you've caught me out though, I don't spend enough time sitting on the platform all day with my anorak on counting the trains! And yes, I agree, it's not completely closed very often thank goodness.
But that is missing an even more crucial point. I can assure you without any google data that NA to Exeter is, from very personal experience, the stretch that is most likely to delay Cornish trains, ok maybe second to the tradegies of people topping themselves at West Drayton. Weather, single line running, engineering closures and lack general lack of capacity all conspire. My personal short term preference is to re-open Oke-Tavy but that will not remove the necessity of investment in the SD line. You cannot play the begger thy neighbour game here either, the SW needs to pull together (not our town vs your town) otherwise there will be a divide and rule and do nothing outcome.
Hence, also spare some thought to others in the SW. Don't forget, it is their fares paying most towards the cost of the line. Once delayed trains are then fouled up for the rest of the journey to London or Penzance as they have then lost their precious train path. I have never in the last 12months ever arrived at Truro or Paddington on time. The timetable is just a target example of what might happen if you get extremely lucky once in a blue moon.
So to be clear, my point is that there is no point burying one's 'head in the remaining sand' or playing King Canute. This line (never built to modern stands of resilience) 'protects' both rail and the town. Is is therefore seriously overdue for investment in sea defences, something I am very much in favour of and which should be pressed for.
The fact that NR has put 'breakwater' on the table as one of the options being looked at is extremely good news and something that you should keep an eye to and be backing if you are really serious about saving the line..
Au contraire - I for one have made many more suggestions than most as to how this may be most robustly achieved and the reasons why it is so imperative given the poor level of defences. Whether my support and enthusiasm gets similarly matched, locally (and by DC), will be the acid test of just how badly folk are really prepared push to save their iconic line. We must address the civil engineeering issues with honesty and frankness for the best solution to be deployed to save it's very long term future.