London Tramways - template page

Permanent Way Incidents

Reports - 1 - 50, 51 - 99, 100 - 150, 151 - 199, 200 - 249, 250 - 284,

Amongst my fathers papers I found a list taken from a Permanent Way Inspectors notebook or diary. It detailed all the permanent way problems that he had attended between 8th December 1948 and the 5th June 1952 and notes the cause and rectification of each problem.

Most of the problems are dealt with extremely quickly, It seems strange to us now that a (simple) derailment of a car would in the 1950's only interupt services for around fifteen minutes whereas nowadays services would be interupted usually for the rest of the day.

It has not been recorded who wrote the diary so nothing can be attributed.

1. On the 8th December 1948 at 5.34pm a delay of 6 minutes occurred to the Tramway Services at the junction of New Kent Road and Walworth Road when the plough carrier of Tramcar No. 1246 was broken due to striking an obstruction in the conduit. On arrival the Breakdown Gang found the obstruction to be the head of a broken yoke. Permanent Way Gang were sent for and removed the paving and broken piece of yoke head fitted plate on broken yoke and repaved on the night of the 8th December.

2. On the 14th December 1948 at 1.14am a delay of 21 minutes occurred to one Tramcar only at the junction of Blackfriars Road and Southwark Street when the plough carrier of Tramcar No. 1177 was broken. On inspection it was found that the intersection of the conduit slot Diamond crossing was out of alignment owing to the castings being slightly loose on the foundations. The Mobile Gang were sent and regauged and tightened the castings on the night of the 14th/l5th December*

3. On the 14th December 1948 at 4.7pm a delay of 23 minutes occurred at Pemberton Gardens entrance to Holloway Car Shed when the plough carrier of Tramcar No. 1946 was broken due to a conduit slot rail being out of alignment. The Mobile Gang were transferred from other work and when the paving was removed it was found that the slot rail to track rail tie-rods had broken and allowed conduit slot to become out of alignment. A new tie-rod was fitted and track repaved on the 14th December.

4. On the 15th December 1948 at 3.10pm a delay of 50 minutes occurred to one Tramcar only at the junction of Tooting High Street and Garrett Lane when the plough carrier of Tramcar No. 2111 was broken. On inspection it was found that the joint of conduit slot rail was slightly out of alignment owing to the inside slot rail slackening back. Permanent Way men removed paving and tightened tie-rod nuts and re-gauged slot rails shortly after the occurrence.

5. On the 15th December 1943 at 7.22am a delay of 47 minutes occurred to one Tramcar only when the magnets of Tramcar No. 82 were twisted owing to striking a broken running rail. On inspection it was found that the rail had fractured through at the fishplate holes and the broken piece lifted as the Tramcar passed over. A temporary repair by means of plating and welding were carried out shortly after the occurrence and a rail closure installed on the night of the 15th/l6th December 1948.

6. On the 15 Dec 1948 at 8.40pm a delay of 24 minutes to the Tramway Services occurred on the down track at Old Kent Road opposite Mawby Street when the magnets of Tramcar No. 1226 were twisted and rear bogie derailed due to magnet striking a broken running rail. On removal of the paving it was found that the rail had fractured at the joint and allowed the broken piece to lift as Tramcar passed over. A repair was carried out by means of plating and welding during the evening of the 15th Dec.

7. Oh the 17th Dec 1948 at 8.32pm a delay of 11 minutes occurred at the crossover near Bedford Road and Clapham Road when the rear bogie of Tramcar No. 1561 left the track when turning from up to down track. as this crossover is seldom used it was found that the track over track was worn more on the straight road than the curved road allowing the rear pony wheels of Tramcar to leave the track. The curved road of track over track crossing was welded and ground on the night of 17th / 18th December.

8. On the 26th Dec 1948 at 12.35 pm a delay of 43 minutes occurred to the Tramway Services at Streatham Hill opposite Christchurch road down track when the magnets of Tramcar No. 1660 were twisted and the rear bogie derailed. On examination of the track it was found that the rail had fractured at the fish plate holes the broken piece lifted as the Tramcar passed over and the rear magnets struck same. A temporary repair by means of welding was carried out shortly after the occurrence and a closure installed on the night of the 26/27th December.

9. On the 26th Dec 1948 at 10.21pm a delay of 16 minutes occurred at the lay-by New Cross Gate ( Both tracks junction with White Hart Loop and New Cross Road ) when the plough carrier of Tramcar No. 1612 was broken and car derailed due to the conduit slot rail being tight to gauge. On removal of the paving it was found that the tie rod nuts had slackened and allowed slot rails to close in. The Mobile Gang tightened the tie rod nuts and regauged slot rails during the night of 26/27th December.

10. On the 31st Dec 1948 at 5.07pm a delay of 24 minutes occurred at the junction of Brixton Road and Camberwell New Road (Up track Trailing Points) when the magnets of Tramcar No. 2132 were twisted. On examination of the Special Work Castings it was found that the track over slot insert was loose due to the keys having slackened back and allowed insert to rock as cars passed over. The Mobile Gang were transferred from other work and tightened keys the insert being reset on the night of 31st Dec/ 1st Jan 1949.

11. On the 30th Dec 1948 at 12.35pm a delay of 10 minutes occurred in Kennington Road opposite the Waifs and Strays Offices when the life guard tray of Tramcar No. 2096 was buckled due to striking high stone sets. In this instance the life guard tray dropped and dragged along the track and struck a few high sets. The high sets were lowered by Permanent Way Men on the 30th December,

12. On the 10th Jan 1949 at 1.15pm a delay of 44 minutes to one Tramcar only occurred opposite Temple Station Victoria Embankment when the magnets of Tramcar No.119 were torn off owing to the check rail breaking away and springing up as Tramcar passed over. The track rails at this location are worn and scheduled for renewal during 1949. The Permanent Way Mobile Gang replaced the check rail during the night of 10th/l1th January.

13. On the 12th Jan 1949 at 11.55am a delay of 25 minutes occurred to Tramcars leaving New Gross Depot due to a paving plate falling on to conductor rail causing a positive earth on the run out road from Depot. On removing the paving it was found that the paving plate hangers had rusted and allowed paving plate to drop on to conductor rail. It is not possible to inspect paving plate hangers or bolts without removing the surface paving and in this case the paving was in good condition.

14. On the 13th Jan 1949 at 9.0 4am a delay of 10 minutes occurred at Beresford Street Woolwich when the lifeguard tray of Tramcar Mo. 1291 was broken due to high paving. Intending passengers were delayed 3 minutes.

15. On the 13th January 1949 at 3.15pm a delay of 35 minutes occurred at Battersea Park Road near Battersea Park Station on the up track when the magnets of Tramcar No. 1953 were badly twisted due to striking a broken running rail. 0n inspection it was found that the head of the running rail had fractured through at the fish holes and the broken piece lifted as the Tramcar passed over. A temporary repair by means of welding was carried out shortly after the occurrence and a closure installed on the 14th January.

16. On the 15th Jan 1949 at 2.26am a delay of 60 minutes to one Tramcar only occurred at the junction of London Road and Blackfriars Road St. Georges Circus when the plough carrier of Tramcar No. 1316 was broken. Single line was in operation at the time of the incident and on examination of the track it was found that the intersection of the conduit slot rails on the Diamond Crossing were slightly out of alignment for reverse running. The Night Mobile Gang was transferred from other work and regauged the Special work castings during the early morning of the 15th January.

17. On the 24th January 1949 at 8.35am a delay of 11 minutes occurred to the Tramway Services at the crossover Wandsworth Road near Queenstown Road owing to the plough carrier of Tramcar No. 1960 being broken. On inspection of the track it was found that the track over slot insert had fractured and the broken piece moved forward into the conduit and the plough struck same when passing. The Breakdown Gang removed the broken piece at time of occurrence and a repair by means of welding was carried out during the 24th January.

18. On the 25th Jan 1949 at 12.53pm a delay of 19 minutes occurred at the junction of Newington Causeway and Walworth Road when the plough carrier of Tramcar No. 1353 was broken due to plough striking an obstruction in the conduit. On removal of the paving it was found that the paving plate hanger bolt had broken and allowed the paving plate to move forward into the conduit. The Breakdown Gang removed the paving plate at the time of occurrence and a new paving plate hanger and bolt were installed by Permanent Way men on the 25th January.

19. On the 16th January at 8.42am a delay of 7 minutes occurred at Brockley Cross when the magnets of Tramcar 1934 were twisted owing to striking loose track over slot insert. On inspection it was found that the keys had slackened back and allowed insert to lift as Tramcar passed over. The keys were tightened shortly after the occurrence and the insert reset and new keys fitted on the night of the 26th/27th January l949.

20. On the 27th Jan 1949 at 4.55pm a delay of 20 minutes occurred at Trafalgar Road and Blackwall Lane when the plough carrier of Tramcar No. 1867 was broken due to plough striking centre slot point. On arrival of the Breakdown Gang it was found that the tip of centre slot point was bent down and resting on Point Slides. On levering the centre slot point up to allow free movement of the sliding the tip fractured and broke. A new tip of centre slot point was fitted during the evening of the 27th January.

21. On the 31st Jan 1949 at 6.40am a delay of 40 minutes to one Tramcar only occurred at Islington Green when the plough carrier of Tramcar No. 1958 was broken due to the point slides failing to operate. On examination of the point mechanism it was found that the nut on the fork end of the connecting rod between lever socket and yoke had slackened back and would not allow point slides to operate for the curved road. A new fork end was fitted by the Section Point Adjuster shortly after the occurrence.

22. On the 4th February 1949 at 4.25am a delay of 10 minutes occurred to one Tramcar only at Clapham Road opposite the Oval Tube Station when the life guard tray of Tramcar No.140 was broken due to striking high and loose stone sets. Permanent Way Gang were carrying out repairs at the time of occurrence, the stone sets had been placed in the track in preparation for repaying and the employees failed to notice they were too high and allowed Tramcar to pass over.

23. On the 14th February 1949 at 12.40pm a delay 62 minutes occurred at Blackwall Lane opposite Terry's Dining Rooms when the magnets of Tramcar No. 1895 were twisted due to striking a loose rail joint. Single line working was in operation at the time of occurrence . The Tramcars were using the up track for down track and owing to the rail joint being loose and rail movement taking place, the magnet caught the end of the rail and became twisted. Permanent Way Gang tightened joint during the afternoon of the 14th February.

24. On the 14th February 1949 at 11.33pm a delay of 20 minutes occurred at the junction of York Road Wandsworth and Jews Row running up points when the rear bogie of Tramcar No. 1953 became derailed. On inspection of the junction it was found that a track over slot insert was slightly loose and movement taking place as cars passed over. The insert was tightened and new keys fitted on night of the 15/16th February.

25. On the 14th February 1949 at 11.40pm a delay of 10 minutes occurred at the entrance to New Gross depot when the plough carrier of Tramcar was broken. On inspection of the track it was found that the Special Work Castings were loose on their foundations and in consequence the intersection of the conduit slots were slightly out of alignment. The castings were tightened and slots regauged by Permanent Way Gang working in the vicinity during the night of the 14/15th February.

26. On the 15th February 1949 at 4.25 a delay of 20 minutes occurred at the junction of Brixton Road and Camberwell New Road when the plough carrier of Tramcar No. 144 was broken. Single line working was in operation at the time of occurrence and on inspection it was found that the intersection of the conduit slots on the Diamond Grossing were slightly out of alignment. Permanent Way Mobile Gang regauged slot rails during the 15th February.

27. On the 17th February 1949 at 3.2pm a delay of 16 minutes to one Tramcar only occurred at middle Park Circus opposite standard Na. 57 when the rear bogie of Tramcar No. 331 was derailed due to check rail breaking and lifting. The rails at this location are worn and scheduled for renewal during 1949* The broken check rail was removed by the Breakdown Gang at the time of incident and false check plate fitted by Permanent Way Mobile Gang during the afternoon of the 17th February. 1949

28. On the 24th February at 8.50am a delay of 25 minutes occurred at the crossover New Gross Road opposite Fairlawn Mansions when the plough of Tramcar No. 956?(936) was buckled due to striking the tip of centre slot point. On examination it was found that the short rod of Point Mechanism had broken and did not allow the conduit slot slides to operate when the points were set for the curved road. A new rod was installed on the morning of the 24th February.

29. On the 24th February 1949 at 925 am a delay of 17 minutes occurred at Streatham High Road opposite Leigham Avenue down track when the plough carrier of Tramcar No. 2072 was broken due to the channel iron striking high stone set paving. The Permanent Way Gang were breaking out the paving at the time of the occurrence and the channel iron caught the paving at the end of excavation. The paving was lowered by the Permanent Way Gang on the 24th February.

30. On the 4th March 1949 at 5.23 am a delay of 10 minutes occurred at the crossover opposite King William Walk Romney Road Greenwich down track when the plough carrier of Tramcar No. 1884 was broken owing to the conduit slot slides failing to operate when the Tramcar was turning from down to up track. On examination it was found that the short connecting rod between the slides and the yoke had broken. A new rod was fitted by the Point Adjuster during the 4th March.

31. On the 9th March 1949 at 5.45 am a delay of 57 minutes occurred to one Traverser at New Gross Depot owing to the check rail breaking away on the rail in the bottom of the Traverser pit. New guard rail was fitted by Permanent Way Gang on the morning of the 9th March.

32. On the 12th March 1949 at 7.44 am a delay of 18 minutes occurred to one Tramcar only at the junction connecting the two down tracks at the top of Dog Kennel Hill when the magnets of Tramcar No. 1855 were twisted. On examination it was found that the track over slot insert had become loose and lifted slightly as the cars passed over. Temporary repairs were carried out by means of packing during the 12th March and the insert was re-set and new keys fitted on the night of 12/13th March.

33. On the 13th March 1949 at 12.06pm. a delay of 12 minutes occurred on the down track at Peckham High Street opposite Rye Lane when the plough carrier of Tramcar No. 1491 was broken due to striking a plough hatch cover. On examination it was found that the seating of the cover had broken and allowed cover to move forward into the conduit slot. A new seating was fitted by means of plating and welding during the 13th March 1949.

34. On the 16th March 1949 at 5.16 pm a delay of 34 minutes occurred to the Tramway Services at the junction of London Road and Blackfriars Road when the plough of Tramcar No. 152 left the carrier. On inspection it was found that the intersections of the conduits slots on the Diamond Crossing were slightly out of alignment due to movement of the Special Work Castings. A temporary repair was carried out shortly after the occurrence and the castings were regauged and tightened on the night of 16th/l7th March.

35. On the 18th March at 11.5 am a delay of 23 minutes occurred at the facing points single line Crown Hill Croydon owing to the rear bogie of Tramcar Ho. 2119 being derailed due to points failing to operate correctly. On inspection of the point mechanism it was found that the operating spring had broken, consequently did not allow the switches to completely cover the curved road. The points were hand operated until a new spring was fitted by the Section Point Adjusters during the afternoon of 18th March.

36. On the 19th March 1949 at 3,21 pm a delay of 5 minutes occurred at South Lambeth Road opposite War Memorial when Tramcar No. 2099 left the track due to a fracture in the movable switch. The Tramcar was turning from up to down at the time of the occurrence and the broken piece remained on the straight road and the wheels mounted same and the car left the track. The crossover was out of commission until a new switch was fitted during the night of the 19/20th March.

37 . On the 24th March 1949 at 1.42 pm a delay of 11 minutes occurred to the Tramway Services on the down track at Northover Downham Way and The Green owing to Permanent Way Gang renewing running rail. After all rail fastenings had been released some difficulty was experienced in removing rail from the concrete foundations. No damage to rolling stock occurred owing to this incident.

33. On the 1st April 1949 at 2.52 pm a delay of 26 minutes occurred to the Tramway Services on the down track opposite No.216 Creek Road Deptford when the rear bogie of Tramcar No. 1673 was derailed and plough carrier broken due to a broken running rail. On inspection of the track it was found that the rail had fractured through the fish plate holes and the broken piece lifted as the Tramcar passed over. A temporary repair by means of plating and welding was carried out shortly after the occurrence and closure installed on the 2nd April.

39. On the 3rd April 1949 at 7.50 am a delay of 40 minutes occurred at the junction from The Elephant and Castle headway to Walworth Road when the plough carrier of Tramcar No. 295 was broken. On inspection of the track Special Work Castings it was found that the intersection of the conduit slots on the Diamond Crossing was slightly out of alignment owing to castings being loose on their foundations. A temporary repair was carried out shortly after the occurrence and the paving was removed and new bolts fitted on the night of 3rd/4th April 1949.

40. On the 6th April 1949 at 10.25 am a delay of 15 minutes occurred to the Tramway Services at Brigstock Road Thornton Heath owing to Permanent Way Gang renewing a running rail. All the rail fastenings had been released but some difficulty was experienced in releasing the rail from the concrete bed. No damage to rolling stock due to this incident.

41. On the 11th April 1949 at 4.15am a delay of 15 minutes to one Tramcar only occurred at Old Kent Road and Bricklayers Arms owing to Permanent Way Gang renewing Plough Hatch and slot rail. Arrangements had been made for single line working and the track to be "dead" between 1am to 4am but owing to work taking longer than anticipated the Tramcar ran on to the "dead" line. There was no damage to any Tramway rolling stock owing to this incident.

42. On the 15th April 1949 at 6.55pm a delay of 18 minutes occurred to the Tramway Services at Streatham High Road opposite No. 95 when the magnets of Tramcar No.2160 were twisted owing to catching in the groove of worn rail. The rails are worn but serviceable and the groove had become wide owing to wear. The paving was removed and the check rail renewed on the night of 15/16th April. The rails at this location were lipless rails.

43. On the 16th April 1949 at 3.37 pm a delay of 31 minutes occurred at the junction of Brixton Road and Effra Road when the plough carrier of Tramcar No. 2000 was broken. On examination of the track it was found that the intersection of the conduit slot on the Diamond crossing had become tight to gauge on the straight road owing to the abnormal heat prevailing at the time. The mobile Gang were sent from other work and regauged Special work castings on the afternoon of the 16th April.

44. On the 23rd April 1949 at 7.12 am a delay of 10 minutes occurred to one Tramcar only when the Life Guard Tray of Tramcar No. 1501 was broken due striking high stone sets. The Life Guard Tray dropped and dragged along the surface of track and struck the high paving breaking the wooden slats. The few high sets were lowered by Permanent Way Gang during the 23rd April. Occurrence happened at the junction of Kennington Road and Kennington Park Road.

45. On the 23rd April 1949 at 6.5 pm a delay of 10 minutes occurred at the single to double turnout at Mitcham Lane near Theale Road when the plough of Tramcar No 2110 left the carrier due to conduit slot slides failing to operate for the curved road. On arrival of the Breakdown Gang they found that the short mechanism rod between the slides and point yoke had broken and did not allow slides to operate. The Breakdown Gang renewed mechanism rod at time of occurrence.

46. On the 26th April 1949 at 10.0 am a delay of 15 minutes occurred to the Tramway Service at the single line at Brigstock Road Thornton Heath when Permanent Way Gang were renewing running rail. The new rail had been laid in position and when tightening fishplates the head of the adjoing rail broke away. A closure was installed at the time but necessitated holdin3 the service for 15 minutes. No damage to rolling stock occurred owing to this incident.

47. On the 26th April 1949 at 11.15 pm a delay of 5 minutes occurred at the entrance to New Cross Depot when the front bogie of Tramcar No. 1128 became derailed due to point switches failing to operate correctly. The Breakdown Gang examined point mechanism and found that point spring had broken. The Night Point Adjusters were transferred from other work and installed a new spring and re-adjusted point mechanism on the night of the 26th/27th April.

48. On 27th April 1949 at 4.52pm a delay of 11 minutes occurred to the Tramway Services at the junction of Upper Kennington Lane and South Lambeth Head when the plough carrier of Tramcar No. 1546 was broken due to striking an obstruction in the conduit slot. On examination of the conduit it was found that a tie rod nut had slackened and the plough caught same when passing through the junction. The paving was removed and a new tie rod fitted during the night of the 27/28th April.

49. On the 2nd May 1949 at 6.58 pm a delay of 10 minutes occurred at the crossover York Road Wandsworth near Jews Row when the plough carrier of Tramcar No. 199 was broken due to the conduit slot slides failing to operate correctly when the Tramcar was turning from down to up track. On examination of the points it was found that the short connecting rod of point mechanism had broken and consequently did not allow the slot slides to operate. The Breakdown Gang renewed the rod at the time of occurrence and Section Point Adjusters overhauled the mechanism on the 3rd May.

50. On the 3rd May 1949 at 4.44 pm a delay of 5 minutes occurred opposite No.102B Plumsted Road down track when the rear bogie of Tramcar No. 1496 was derailed owing to check rail breaking away. The rails at this location are worn and are scheduled for renewal during 1949. New check plate was fitted by the Mobile Gang on the 3rd May.

Reports - 1 - 50, 51 - 99, 100 - 150, 151 - 199, 200 - 249, 250 - 284,

London Tramway Notes
Search for Photographs