Railway Safety
Thursday, October 12, 2006 at 14:59 Railway Safety Rolling Stock: crash, derail, burn
by Ian Macfarlane
This fourth book in Macfarlane’s series is far-ranging and detailed, looking at the issue of railway safety from all angles. The author takes a broad view which includes technical and operational, as well as economic factors. He practised as a railway engineer for many years and assisted a coroner’s court and a prosecutor after railway accidents.
The book was edited by Richard Hope, a chartered professional engineer and former editor of Railway Gazette International. The book describes and analyses several railway accidents that occurred over many years throughout the world. It starts, in Chapter 1, with two London catastrophes — the worst and second-worst railway accidents ever to occur in England .
Chapter 2 looks at the concept of crashworthiness, looking at the issues involved from every angle, including the legal implications and pitfalls, and dispelling some widely held misconceptions. He points out responsibilities and liabilities in an accident. From a more technical point of view, he says a carriage made of stronger material may be more hazardous to the passengers than a carriage made of weaker, more pliable material.
He looks at the dynamics of a crash, the forces at play, and the way the materials and various types of railway carriage construction respond to those forces. There is a chapter on passenger train couplers and bogies, car body shells, fitout for safety, and fire on the train. A few chapters are devoted to derailments, including track-initiated and vehicle-induced derailments, and their effects on the train. The book also looks at human failings that may contribute to a disaster.
This review originally appeared in Engineers Australia magazine, July 2006
Railway Safety Rolling stock: crash, derail, burn, published by Engineers Media, is available from EA Books:
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