Sepp K hiding behind a sign badlandnp got a trio of duces kevsmith coming around the bend BuddyBurton with his hockey stick r_i_straw enjoying a creamsicle HemiAdda2d being chased by a beaver Daves_Trains fading away
Once again this forum beckons me. I think I saw the hockey stick on the side of that unit. Poor old 95 fading away, I used to photograph these years ago.
Very good choices again! Kudos to all the photographers (Hemi, don't let that beaver bite!) and to our Master of Ceremonies, BNSF FAN for having a good eye! (full of creamsicle?). @kevsmith - is that an 18 inch radius curve?
18" Hmm let me see. It is pretty tight hence the four trucks on the KXA-C Nuclear flask wagons. Minimum curve for these is only 75 metres which if my math is correct would be 21" radius in H0 Kev
I would assume that these cars are designed to take curves of that radius only at very low speeds, such as on trackage in cramped areas within a plant, etc. Otherwise, a very horrendous picture of nuclear material scattered across the countryside comes to mind....
Even on the straight and level main line they are only allowed to run Class 6 (60 mph when empty) and Class 7(45 mph when loaded). Inside Sellafield and on the dock branch it is strictly walking pace only for the obvious reasons to give you a better idea.....You can see how the train crew walk besides it all the way in Kev
How much time is required to load or unload those flasks? Seems as though it should be a fairly swift process?
Looks like both track and rolling stock in the U.K. are much more carefully maintained than they are here.
Not quick at all. The paperwork, Q.A process, safety inspections and Health Physics monitoring (Geiger counters to the layman) all need to be 100%. The turnround time for the five flask move was 4 1/4 hours but the two KXA-Cs left on the dock were being loaded as the other wagons were on their way down. Kev
Kev, all your photos and videos show no security. Is there not a concern that this material might be stolen to make some sort of weapon?
The security missing is kinda weird, but maybe the Brits are more educated about it than we are here in the States. I do know there is less paranoia about nuclear power in Europe than here. We ship stuff like this, but in highly secure movements with no public allowed ways. The only weapon that could be made would be to spread radiation. The differences between power production reactor cores and fissile material for a bomb is like the difference between the charcoal in your grill and a dam buster bomb. Huge difference. Yes, there is fissile material in the core, but the tech required to extract it and 'upgrade' it to bomb material is extremely expensive, difficult, dangerous and rare. Neat video of the transport equipment!
I've never been to Britain, but have cousins there and it seems that trainwatching/trainspotting is more common there than in the U.S. and is accepted as normal behavior. Here in the U.S., paranoia over people with cameras around railroad tracks somehow remains strong. A few weeks ago someone called the railroad about me, as I stood near a fairly busy grade crossing waiting on a train. A railroad vehicle arrived and parked nearby, but no conversation ensued. Upon seeing a greybeard with a Nikon standing in a safe spot, he must have appraised that all was well. Nonetheless, I packed it in and went home. This sort of thing sometimes happened when I was younger, but it was unusual.
The security are there just not obvious. Less so on a move like this than one of the 'Secret Squirel' moves when the escort coaches are used carrying a whole variety of agencies armed to the teeth. On the video you see a police patrol car go past. Their main concern would have been any sort of protest being organised (Used to happen a lot) and any sort of embarrasment a a result The security detail and dock personnel and train crew were not bothered about me at all. I did use to work with them for twenty years so I think they knew it was me! Kev