Railway Detonators In Action ! The Severn Valley Railway (2019)

Severn Valley Railway operations ordered their ten year old batch of railway detonators to be used before they're classed as 'out of date' so in the rarest of footage and pure luck we capture the sight and sound of steam locomotives running over the detonators.

Below is partial example on why railway detonators are used can be found below ! Anyway I hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

A detonator is a small flat cylinder, placed onto the rail and clipped into place. When a train runs over it, the force of the wheel causes the detonator to explode, creating a very loud and distinctive sound which the Driver of the train should immediately identify as being a detonator, stop his train and investigate the situation. The purpose of this is to warn of danger; detonators form part of what is known as 'Emergency Protection' which on the railway refers to the method of trying to prevent any approaching trains from colliding with or becoming involved in an emergency situation which has already taken place, they're also used to alert train crews about track workers further up the line.