| Posted by JanDerk on February 9, 2013 | |
In The Netherlands, the Dutch Railways NS immediately adjusts the timetable (read: cancels 50% of its trains) when a single snowflake is expected.
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Re. Jan's comment, the same thing once happened in the UK. I remember in 1987 - 10 years before I drove my first train, that 80% of trains were cancelled due to 'the wrong type of snow'. The tabloid press had a field day. I have since realised that in the UK, we experience dense, wet snow as a result of the rain clouds regularly blowing from the Atlantic. In 1987, the conditions were unusual, and we had fierce blizzards of fine powder which entered traction motors of diesels and electrics alike, and then froze solid. Also 3rd rails were entombed in ice.
Lessons have thankfully been learned from that year, and 'ice busting' trains are on standby throughout the network all winter, including semi-preserved AC electric locos - employed as 'ice breakers' to ensure a clean contact between pantographs and contact wires. As a result the rails in the UK run more freely in the past - this is probably as a result of privatisation, as today's companies demand more bang for their buck.
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Wasn't that the time of "thieves on the line"?
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Pictures like this should be running in all US newspapers just to let folks know Amtrak is still getting though in many places when other modes of transportation are sitting in place.
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