FOTR Derailment

3117 had an accident on the 20th of June 2010 and as a result we have launched an appeal. Please post ANYTHING related to the incident, the recovery and the Appeal here! Photos (usual rules - 800 by 600 pixels, 135kb max) and docs can also be posted.
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Derek Walker
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FOTR Derailment

Post by Derek Walker »

Guys, I heard about your derailment and I hope that none of our friends and fellow enthusiasts were not injured and that FOtR's passengers all came out unscathed. This is a serious blow to rail preservation and I hope that FotR will come out on top. Its so sad that for the want of a few sleepers something like this has to happen, and I hope that the line will be re-opened asap.
http://www.ewn.co.za/articleprog.aspx?id=42272
Not quite on the rails.
Check out my train vids. http://www.youtube.com/user/nixops
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Gabor Kovacs
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Re: Derailment

Post by Gabor Kovacs »

Hi Derek and all! Yes, FotR Father's Day Steam Special, led by 15F 3117 was derailed due to the removal of wooden sleepers, in the cutting about 1km short of Cullinan station, around 11H00 this morning. Fortunately no passengers or staff have been injured, however, the locomotive and water tank has been damaged. Damage assessment will only be completed once the locomotive and water tank have been righted, and towed to a safer assessment area!

Currently the Exco of FotR, are busy wrapping the days activities with regards to getting passengers back safely to Hermanstad via bus transport. I have been in touch them during the day, offering my assistance, but at this stage there is very little one can do.


further briefings from FotR Board will be made as they see fit!
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John Ashworth
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Re: Derailment

Post by John Ashworth »

From: Geoff Cooke <geoff@geoffs-trains.com>
Date: Sun, Jun 20, 2010 at 11:43 AM
Subject: DERAILMENT
To:

Hi Nathan, Chris and the FoTR Crew

I am shocked and so sorry to hear about the derailment of your 15F at Cullinan. I pray that no one was injured.

Sorry to see your wonderful locomotive on it's side, everyone in our tour group was full of praise for the show that you put on at Capital Park recently and I am sure I convey all of their thoughts along with mine.

Geoff Cooke
Geoff's Trains
From: Lauren Dawes
Sent: 20 Junie 2010 09:24 AM
To:
Subject: Father's day Train trip

Dear Arno.

My family and I would like to thank you for a wonderful train trip to Cullinan. We had a wonderful journey until the train derailed.

Our sincere sympathies go to you and the rest of the team at FOTR. We can only begin to imagine how you must all be feeling at this moment.

I would like to thank you all for the very professional manner in which the situation was handled, in getting everyone off the train and back to Pretoria via busses.

Listening to people chatting on the bus home, I would suggest you keep us up to date with the repair to your beautiful engine, via your website, and maybe a way in which people and especially corporate companies can contribute towards the repairs.

Yours sincerely

Lauren Dawes
Hi Arno

Just a note to say we were impressed in the way your team handled the
accident on Sunday. Our family still had a great outing and are real sorry
for FOTR - I am sure this will be a set back to you, but do hope you are
back on "track" again soon.

Dave
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John Ashworth
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Re: Derailment

Post by John Ashworth »

In the media: Railways Africa
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Gabor Kovacs
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Re: FOTR Derailment

Post by Gabor Kovacs »

From Eye Witness News website:

CLICK HERE to read.

Probe after train derails
Katharine Child | 3 Hours Ago

The Railway Safety Regulator on Sunday said it will make recommendations to prevent another derailment of the Friends of the Rail steam train.


The engine of the steam train travelling from Pretoria to Cullinan derailed on Sunday after sleepers were stolen from the track.


None of the 627 passengers were hurt and were bussed back to Pretoria in the afternoon.


The Railway Safety Regulator’s Lawrence Venkile said they were looking into the incident, while Friends of the Rail’s Nathan Bereolowitz said thieves do not realise how dangerous stealing wooden sleepers is.


Police are also investigating the theft.
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Marc Russell
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Re: FOTR Derailment

Post by Marc Russell »

I am deeply shocked and saddened by this terrible news. Also relieved to hear there where no injuries. It wasn't that long ago I got to experience the joys of going to Cullinan with fellow FOTR board member, KWS. On the upside I'm pleased to hear that the response to the tradgedy was swift and professional.
I hope you guys can get the line and locomotive operational once more.
Best wishes!
Marc
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John Ashworth
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Re: FOTR Derailment

Post by John Ashworth »

From: Nerina Skuy
Sent: 21 June 2010 11:46
To: Steve Appleton
Subject: RE: FOTR Derailment:

Hi Steve,

Very sad for heritage rail – please pass our support onto the FOTR TEAM… thank God no-one was injured.

Regards

Nerina
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Steve Appleton
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Re: FOTR Derailment

Post by Steve Appleton »

More condolences:
Hi Steve,
Thanks for sharing these pictures although they are very sad and heart breaking to look at, the news of 3117 laying on her side came as a massive shock!!.......my brother Shaun phoned me from Magaliesburg to give news of the first revenue run of our [Reefsteamers' class 15F] 3046 when he also mentioned the fate of 3117, the irony is just too much to handle! Let's all be very thankful that no one got seriously injured.
I do hope that the damages are not too serious and that 3117 will return to the rails soon. I wish everything of the very best to FOTR to get the engine back in order and don't allow this incident to get you guys down.

Take care and keep the steam alive,
Patrick Ackerman
Hi Steve,
I am sorry tp read this sad news - I hope you guys have insurance that will help cover the costs of restoring the locomotive.
Pierre de Villiers (from the USA)
Dear Steve,
Thanks. Amazing that long grass never caught alight.
Sorry to receive this news.
Regards,
Wilfred Mole
HI Steve,
What a tragedy, besides that fact that it will take time to repair, the cost involved will be quite high.
There must have been quite a long stretch of removed sleepers to have caused the derailing.
I wish you guys all the vert best and may 3117 be back on track soon.
Regards,
Des Wellen
Steve,
This is very sad, indeed. I'll put it up on the blog witha not about how buying sleeper furniture is a scourge on tourism. Sorr, Man, what a depressing sight.
Glad no-one was hurt though.
Paul Ash
Oh no that is terrible!
Glad that no one was hurt though
Nick

Nicholas Buxton
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Investec Specialist Private Bank
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Hi Steve
Indeed, a sad day. Are the crew OK?
I wait to hear how bad the damage to the loco is.
Geoff Cooke
Geoff's Trains
Hi Steve,
A sad day, glad to see all OK.
Kind Regards
Dave Richardson
"To train or not to train, that is the question"
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Steve Appleton
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Re: FOTR Derailment

Post by Steve Appleton »

Paul Ash's blog and story up on The Times' web site:
http://blogs.timeslive.co.za/wanderer/2 ... #more-2476
"To train or not to train, that is the question"
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John Ashworth
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Re: FOTR Derailment

Post by John Ashworth »

Les Pivnic
to ashworth.john@gmail.com
date 21 June 2010 13:55
subject Derailment

Dear John, Chris, Nathan and all at FOTR

I learnt with great sadness of your Father's Day derailment.

I'm pleased to hear that there were no injuries but I felt a twinge as I
viewed 3117 on her side!

I only hope that you can repair 3117 and return her to service.

Sterkte Manne!!!

Hoping to hear good news that FOTR will restore everything to working order
again.

Sad regards

Les Pivnic
Reefsteamers wrote:From: Elize Lubbe
Date: Mon, Jun 21, 2010 at 12:34 AM
Subject: Hi
To:

Morning Nathan and Chris

I am so sorry to hear of your derailment at Cullinan yesterday. When I heard it on 702 I was in total shock and we can just thank God that there was no injuries. This must be a major set back for your club, will you guys be able to restore your locomotive?

Should you need any assistance, please do not hesitate to ask.

Thinking of you

Regards

Elize
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Gabor Kovacs
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Re: FOTR Derailment

Post by Gabor Kovacs »

From: Clayton Fourie
Sent: 2010-06-21 07:26
To: Gabor Kovacs


Hi Gabor and all at FotR.

So sorry to hear about the derailment of yesterday.
Thank goodness nobody was hurt in that incident and it saddens me that it was with the 15F that was recently restored. Hopefully the damage is not too big on the loco and watertank.

One thing I was wondering is how does a person handle a situation like that when it happens ie: boiler full and on its side. Would a person clear the area around the boiler after opening all the steam outlets and wait for the boiler to lower pressure?

I know it may seem like a pretty simple question, was just wondering.

Anyways, let me get going. I wish you guys all the luck in catching those responsible and the loco is restored soon ( and the damage is not too big ).

Kind Regards

Clayton.
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John Ashworth
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Re: FOTR Derailment

Post by John Ashworth »

From: David Rodgers
Date: Mon, Jun 21, 2010 at 3:10 AM
Subject: Derailment
To: Chris Janisch <janisch24@gmail.com>, Nathan Berelowitz <nbtrainman@gmail.com>


Dear Chris and Nathan and all the other volunteers at FoTR.

I am still shocked after reading the news of yesterdays derailment at Cullinan and my heartfealt sympathy goes out to all at FoTR who have worked tirelessly to keep steam alive. It is indeed fortunate that no-one has been injured. Let us hope that, from what has been written, that being a slow-speed derailment damage to the loco, tender and water tank is only superficial.

Let us also hope that the Rail Safety Regulator does not over-react and apportion blame on a private operator or ban operations on a normally freight-only line.

It must have been a terrifying experience on the footplate but it seems that the crew and other FoTR personnel behaved in a most professional manner which must give great credit to the Club.

Let us hope that this was an isolated occurance and that the problems are soon behind you. I will avoid making any reference to those who willfully endanger lives by removing sleepers in this manner!

Dave
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John Ashworth
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Re: FOTR Derailment

Post by John Ashworth »

Sleeper theft derails steam train

2010-06-21 08:22

Mia Willemse, Beeld

Pretoria - A steam engine pulling carriages with hundreds of passengers on board derailed just outside Pretoria on Sunday, probably because sleepers were stolen from under the train track near the Cullinan station.

The carriages did not derail, and none of the 627 passengers were injured. There were no tourists on board.

"Thank God my dad's okay," Dominique Smith, 25, from Pretoria-East said on Sunday with a huge smile, shortly after the locomotive of the Friends of the Rail steam train derailed and landed on its side after a "loud crash".

Her 55-year-old father, Steve, was the stoker.

According to police spokesperson Johannes Jaftha, the accident happened at about 10:55. The passengers were on a Father's Day trip on the 190 ton train.

A preliminary investigation shows that thieves stole a few sleepers from the track near Cullinan, and that seems to be the cause of the accident," said Jaftha.

Loud crash

The steam locomotive, coal tender and the train's water tank derailed and overturned.

A relieved Dominique told of how she and her sister, Bernadine, 24, had been on the train as their father had to work on Father's Day and they wanted to spend the day with him.

The train was about 800m from the Cullinan station, which would have been its final stop before returning to Pretoria, when the accident happened.

"I heard an incredibly loud crash and the first thought that crossed my mind was whether my dad was okay.

"I knew he was at the front in the locomotive, and when we stopped I jumped out immediately and ran as fast as I could to get to him."

According to her father, he did the same and immediately ran to find his two daughters, who were in one of the carriages at the back.

"I couldn't find them immediately, so I phoned Dominique (on her cellphone) and was incredibly relieved when I heard neither of them was hurt.

“We can celebrate today that all three of us are still alive and that we can spend Father's Day together again next year," he said.

Too late

He said everything happened very quickly.

"A train can't come to a stop immediately, and by the time we realised what was going on, it was already too late.

"I grabbed onto anything I could hold onto so I wouldn't end up underneath the falling train," he said.

According to Nathan Berelowitz, chair of the Friends of the Rail club, this is the second time in 25 years that something like this has happened to one of their trains.

"If it hadn't been for the driver who was going almost as slow as walking pace, this accident could have turned into a terrible tragedy. Luckily he had slowed down because he was quite close to the Cullinan station," said Berelowitz.

Henry Lazenby, who was in charge of the train on Sunday, said he's grateful that nobody was hurt, but sad that the engine was badly damaged.

"We'll only be able to say what the exact scope of the damage is at a later stage, but the thieves certainly caused a huge amount of damage," he said.

He was in the bar area with some of the passengers when they heard the loud crash.

"When I heard that terrible bang, I knew there was only one thing which could have caused it. The passengers were scared but nobody was screaming or panicking too badly," he said.

Sleepers used to make furniture

According to him, the thieves use the stolen sleepers to make furniture.

Friends of the Rail is a non-profit organisation. The money they make with trips like the one on Father's Day is used to restore old steam engines.

The Rail Safety Regulator said in a statement on Sunday that they are investigating the incident.

Anyone with information about the theft of the sleepers can contact the Cullinan police station.
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John Ashworth
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Re: FOTR Derailment

Post by John Ashworth »

Rovos Rail wrote:From: Andrew Gaul <andrew@rovos.co.za>
Date: Mon, Jun 21, 2010 at 4:37 AM
Subject:
To: Chris Janisch <janisch24@gmail.com>


Hi Chris

What can one say at a time like this, I hope you over come All the difficulties including what the RSR is going to have to say. I hope this is now not the closure of the line as it will be "un economical" to repair.

Regards

Andrew Gaul
Operations
Nominated Rail Safety Manager
Rovos Rail Tours
E-mail: Andrew@rovos.co.za
Tel: +27 (0)12 315 8201
Cell: +27 (0)82 820 6227
Fax: +27 (0)86 669 5607
Web: www.Rovos.com
GPS: S 25º 43' 06", E 28º 11' 20"
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Steve Appleton
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Re: FOTR Derailment

Post by Steve Appleton »

From The Times, 21 June 2010:
Sleeper theft derails Father’s Day outing
A FRIENDS of the Rail steam locomotive derailed 300m from Cullinan station yesterday following the theft of 30 timber sleepers that caused the tracks to collapse. Friends of the Rail is a steam heritage railway club based in Pretoria. The train was travelling from Hermanstad to Cullinan on a Father’s Day trip.

Steve Appleton, a board member of the club, said a couple of people had minor scratches and bruises but there were no major injuries. — Zwelakhe Shangase
"To train or not to train, that is the question"
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