3. OFF THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW
  4. OFF THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW

OFF THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW

This gallery is a sort of compendium of all the bent and the broken, the crashed and the bashed, both steam age and modern, loco and stock, both British and foreign. Most are duplicates of pictures to be found in other galleries, some taken by me and some very obviously not. These pictures are displayed for recreational/information/research purposes only and are not for sale under any circumstances. Every effort has been made to verify the information in the captions but its accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
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EASTLEIGH - At around 1131 hrs on January 28th, 2020, a freight train hauled by Class 70 No.70001 derailed on a set of points just south of Eastleigh station. The train was travelling at about 12 mph at the time, and was running from the down slow line, through a crossover which led to the down fast line. The locomotive became partly derailed and then re-railed itself, and some of the wheels on four of the following five wagons also became derailed, causing significant damage to the track in the process. The driver stopped the train before the remaining 25 wagons reached the damaged track. Nobody was injured, but the track and signalling equipment was severely damaged and there was extensive disruption to services on the south western main line for the following six days.<br /> The RAIB’s preliminary examination found that a series of rail fastenings, intended to maintain the correct distance between the rails, had broken. Initial evidence suggests that some of these were already broken before the derailment. Consequently, as the freight train passed over the points, the rails moved apart and the train wheels dropped into the space between the rails.
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EASTLEIGH - At around 1131 hrs on January 28th, 2020, a freight train hauled by Class 70 No.70001 derailed on a set of points just south of Eastleigh station. The train was travelling at about 12 mph at the time, and was running from the down slow line, through a crossover which led to the down fast line. The locomotive became partly derailed and then re-railed itself, and some of the wheels on four of the following five wagons also became derailed, causing significant damage to the track in the process. The driver stopped the train before the remaining 25 wagons reached the damaged track. Nobody was injured, but the track and signalling equipment was severely damaged and there was extensive disruption to services on the south western main line for the following six days.
The RAIB’s preliminary examination found that a series of rail fastenings, intended to maintain the correct distance between the rails, had broken. Initial evidence suggests that some of these were already broken before the derailment. Consequently, as the freight train passed over the points, the rails moved apart and the train wheels dropped into the space between the rails.

  • DULLINGHAM - On the May 17th, 1983, 31262 leading 31292 were running light engine at Dullingham, south of Newmarket, Cambridgeshire when they were in collision with a Plasser and Theurer track machine. The track machine was destroyed in the collision, 31262 suffered severe damage and 31292 a damaged cab. The driver of the track machine was killed. Both locomotives were taken to Cambridge where 31262 was withdrawn prior to them both being moved by road to Doncaster Works around the 25th June 1983. On arrival at Doncaster works 31262 was immediately broken up, 31292 was repaired.
  • EARLSDON, COVENTRY - In the early hours of July 2nd, 1904, four coaches, which had been left standing on a temporary siding, ran away, the siding having not been fitted with a stop block or buffers. The reason the coaching stock ran away was because the locomotive working the Swift Motor Company's 4:55am Coventry to Birmingham excursion had entered the siding to add four more coaches and when the two sets of coaches touched the set in the siding ran away to ultimately to finish up in Albany Street. The Rugby breakdown crane attended and the solution to the problem of getting the coaching stock back on top wasn't too difficult. A temporary track was laid down the bank to the road to enable the carriages to be pulled up one at a time by a locomotive. This involved the carriage being lifted by the crane, with the aid of jacks and timbers, so that it was positioned correctly on the track laid down the embankment. A cable was then connected between the carriage and the locomotive, which would then gently reverse pulling the carriage on to the siding at the top of the embankment.
  • EAST CROYDON - On January 15th, 1982, as the 2318 mail and parcels train from Brighton to London Bridge was standing at Platform 1 at East Croydon while station duties were carried out, it was run into violently at the rear by the 00.22 Three Bridges to New Cross Gate Civil Engineers Departmental freight train, hauled by 73115, which had passed a signal at danger. The rear three vans of the mail and parcels train were derailed and severely damaged as were the locomotive and the first 5 vehicles of the engineer's train. The platform canopy and coping stones were damaged in the area of the collision. The driver of the engineer's train was trapped in the wreckage of the locomotive cab until 0845 when, despite strenuous efforts on the part of the Fire Brigade, part of one leg had to be amputated in order to release him. The guard of the engineer's train, a member of the platform staff, and 6 Post Office employees attending the mail train suffered slight injuries.
  • EAST CROYDON - On January 15th, 1982, as the 2318 mail and parcels train from Brighton to London Bridge was standing at Platform 1 at East Croydon while station duties were carried out, it was run into violently at the rear by the 00.22 Three Bridges to New Cross Gate Civil Engineers Departmental freight train, hauled by 73115, which had passed a signal at danger. The rear three vans of the mail and parcels train were derailed and severely damaged as were the locomotive and the first 5 vehicles of the engineer's train. The platform canopy and coping stones were damaged in the area of the collision. The driver of the engineer's train was trapped in the wreckage of the locomotive cab until 0845 when, despite strenuous efforts on the part of the Fire Brigade, part of one leg had to be amputated in order to release him. The guard of the engineer's train, a member of the platform staff, and 6 Post Office employees attending the mail train suffered slight injuries. 73115 has been speared by the rails from it's load, completely crushing the rear cab. The loco was subsequently withdrawn.
  • EAST CROYDON - On January 15th, 1982, as the 2318 mail and parcels train from Brighton to London Bridge was standing at Platform 1 at East Croydon while station duties were carried out, it was run into violently at the rear by the 00.22 Three Bridges to New Cross Gate Civil Engineers Departmental freight train, hauled by 73115, which had passed a signal at danger. The rear three vans of the mail and parcels train were derailed and severely damaged as were the locomotive and the first 5 vehicles of the engineer's train. The platform canopy and coping stones were damaged in the area of the collision. The driver of the engineer's train was trapped in the wreckage of the locomotive cab until 0845 when, despite strenuous efforts on the part of the Fire Brigade, part of one leg had to be amputated in order to release him. The guard of the engineer's train, a member of the platform staff, and 6 Post Office employees attending the mail train suffered slight injuries. Note the pile of bogies in front of the wrecked GUV.
  • EAST CROYDON - On January 15th, 1982, as the 2318 mail and parcels train from Brighton to London Bridge was standing at Platform 1 at East Croydon while station duties were carried out, it was run into violently at the rear by the 00.22 Three Bridges to New Cross Gate Civil Engineers Departmental freight train, hauled by 73115, which had passed a signal at danger. The rear three vans of the mail and parcels train were derailed and severely damaged as were the locomotive and the first 5 vehicles of the engineer's train. The platform canopy and coping stones were damaged in the area of the collision. The driver of the engineer's train was trapped in the wreckage of the locomotive cab until 0845 when, despite strenuous efforts on the part of the Fire Brigade, part of one leg had to be amputated in order to release him. The guard of the engineer's train, a member of the platform staff, and 6 Post Office employees attending the mail train suffered slight injuries. This view is towards the front of the parcels train, the vans having been ripped from their bogies.
  • EASTLEIGH - At around 1131 hrs on January 28th, 2020, a freight train hauled by Class 70 No.70001 derailed on a set of points just south of Eastleigh station. The train was travelling at about 12 mph at the time, and was running from the down slow line, through a crossover which led to the down fast line. The locomotive became partly derailed and then re-railed itself, and some of the wheels on four of the following five wagons also became derailed, causing significant damage to the track in the process. The driver stopped the train before the remaining 25 wagons reached the damaged track. Nobody was injured, but the track and signalling equipment was severely damaged and there was extensive disruption to services on the south western main line for the following six days.<br /> The RAIB’s preliminary examination found that a series of rail fastenings, intended to maintain the correct distance between the rails, had broken. Initial evidence suggests that some of these were already broken before the derailment. Consequently, as the freight train passed over the points, the rails moved apart and the train wheels dropped into the space between the rails.
  • ELLIOT JUNCTION - The Elliot Junction rail accident occurred on 28 December 1906 between Arbroath railway station and Carnoustie railway station in Scotland, with 22 fatalities and 24 injured. A Dundee and Arbroath Railway train was standing at Elliot Junction railway station during a blizzard when it was hit by a North British Railway train hauled by Class K 4-4-0 No.324. In the subsequent enquiry, it was established that Driver Gourlay of the NBR train had drunk whisky whilst waiting at Arbroath Station, although the weather was extremely cold and his train was running tender first, another contributory factor. One of those injured in the crash was the Liberal Member of Parliament Alexander William Black, who died of his injuries shortly afterwards.
  • ELY - On June 22nd, 2007, a loaded LaFarge stone train fell through the decking of the bridge over the River Ouse at Ely on the single line to Soham. The bridge, already subject to speed restrictions due to it's condition, was condemned and the line was only reopened on December 20th, resulting in massive disruption.
  • ELY - On Monday, August 14th, 2017, at about 1415, the 4Z33 Felixstowe - Doncaster freightliner, hauled by 66713, derailed just past Ely West Junction, with 11 wagons leaving the track. There were no injuries but the track was completely blocked and all trains cancelled, not expected to start running again until Monday, August 21st. Although only about a mile north of Ely itself, the site is very isolated, the only access being along farm tracks. Here we see, taken from the West Loop overbridge at Queen Adelaide, the site on Wednesday evening. 66701 has brought up the Colas railcrane and recovery on the containers from the derailed wagons is (slowly) underway - look as though about 3 have been done so far. 66701 sits on the Up line, the train on the Down. Ely West Junction is literally just out of shot to the right.
  • ENFIELD TOWN - On October 12th, 2021, London Overground Class 710 EMU No.710 124 crashed through the buffer stops at Enfield Town Station, narrowly avoiding one of the station buildings. The train had left Liverpool Street at around 0745 and hit the buffers at around 0815 with about 50 passengers on board. Two were slightly injured. No reason for the crash is yet known but brake problems seem highly likely.. The driver was later arrested for being under the influence of drink/drugs.
  • ENFIELD TOWN - On October 12th, 2021, London Overground Class 710 EMU No.710 124 crashed through the buffer stops at Enfield Town Station, narrowly avoiding one of the station buildings. The train had left Liverpool Street at around 0745 and hit the buffers at around 0815 with about 50 passengers on board. Two were slightly injured. No reason for the crash is yet known but brake problems seem highly likely. The driver was later arrested for being under the influence of drink/drugs.
  • ENFIELD TOWN - On October 12th, 2021, London Overground Class 710 EMU No.710 124 crashed through the buffer stops at Enfield Town Station, narrowly avoiding one of the station buildings. The train had left Liverpool Street at around 0745 and hit the buffers at around 0815 with about 50 passengers on board. Two were slightly injured. No reason for the crash is yet known but brake problems seem highly likely. The driver was later arrested for being under the influence of drink/drugs.
  • ENFIELD TOWN - On October 12th, 2021, London Overground Class 710 EMU No.710 124 crashed through the buffer stops at Enfield Town Station, narrowly avoiding one of the station buildings. The train had left Liverpool Street at around 0745 and hit the buffers at around 0815 with about 50 passengers on board. Two were slightly injured. No reason for the crash is yet known but brake problems seem highly likely. The driver was later arrested for being under the influence of drink/drugs.
  • ESHOLT JUNCTION - On Thursday, June 9th 1892, at the point at which the Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway from Ilkley divides, one branch in the direction of Leeds and the other Bradford, a short distance after Guiseley railway station, two trains collided at around three thirty in the afternoon, resulting in the deaths of five passengers, and injuries to twenty-six more. The driver, fireman and guard of one of the trains were injured, as was a guard on the other train. Although vegetation obscuring a signal was accepted as the primary cause of the crash, a recommendation was made to alter certain signalling procedures at the junction to prevent a recurrence. The crash arose as three trains neared the junction at much the same time. From the direction of Bradford, a Bradford-Harrogate train was following a route taking it in the direction of Guiseley; from the Leeds branch, a Leeds-Ilkley train was also heading towards Guiseley; whilst in the other direction an Ilkley-Bradford train approached the junction from Guiseley. Signalman Harry I'Anson, in the Esholt signal box, gave the Bradford-Harrogate train permission to pass the junction; meanwhile in the Apperley signal box, signalman Thomas Aubrey, knowing the Ilkley-Bradford train was approaching, gave the Leeds-Ilkley train permission to proceed towards the junction under a procedure called clause 16, which allowed trains to near the junction under the proviso that they were likely to encounter a danger signal before the junction proper. At the junction, the Leeds-Ilkley driver, Archibald McLay, despite acknowledging that he had been given a clause 16 permission, and in spite of his four and a half year's service on the line, mistook the proceed signal given to the Bradford-Harrogate train as relating to his line. In fact, his signal was at danger, but obscured by vegetation at the time he looked at it. By the time his train arrived at the junction, it was being crossed by the Ilkley-Bradford train. The Ilkley-bound train ploughed through the last six carriages of the Bradford bound train, overturning the last of these; the engine and tender of the Ilkley bound train, 2-4-0 No.179, also turned over. Five passengers, all on the Ilkley-Bradford train died, one instantly, one en route to and three in hospital. Twenty-six passengers were injured and McLay and his fireman, Walter Bolton, received serious injuries, as did the guard on his train and one of the guards on the Bradford-bound train. An investigation by Major General C. S. Hutchinson concluded that whereas the immediate cause was the obscured signal, signalling practice at Esholt Junction — specifically clause 16, which allowed trains to approach the junction simultaneously — should be abolished and considered to be a breach of the Regulation of Railways Act 1889. The Bradford junction signal was also repositioned so that it could not be seen from the Leeds line.
  • ESKDALE GREEN - On February 23rd, 2020, RIVER ESK of the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway collided with a DPD delivery van at Eskdale Green level crossing. The train was the 1230 from Dalegarth to Ravenglass. No passengers, staff or members of the public were injured in the incident. RIVER ESK was not derailed and returned to Ravenglass with its train.
  • EVERTON LEVEL CROSSING, SANDY - On July 19th, 2022, a wildfire spread onto the East Coast Mainline at this point and has melted signalling equipment and damaged the tracks causing major disruption to services. After record 40C temperatures, engineers from Network Rail are carrying out repairs to the railway line in Sandy, Bedfordshire. The fire caused major damage to signalling equipment and a level crossing in the area, both of which need complex repairs. It appears to me that the anti-trespass mats have carried the fire across the line.
  • EVERTON LEVEL CROSSING, SANDY - On July 19th, 2022, a wildfire spread onto the East Coast Mainline at this point and has melted signalling equipment and damaged the tracks causing major disruption to services. After record 40C temperatures, engineers from Network Rail are carrying out repairs to the railway line in Sandy, Bedfordshire. The fire caused major damage to signalling equipment and a level crossing in the area, both of which need complex repairs. The fire damaged warning lights at the level crossing.
  • FARNHAM JUNCTION - On April 13th, 1876. There was an end-on collision between two goods trains. The brake van of the stationary train was destroyed and the engine of the colliding train, urged forward by the weight of the train behind her, climbed over the wreckage and came to rest, bolt upright, on top of two coal trucks. The engine was LCDR No.123 PHYLLAS, a double-framed 0-6-0 Class H goods engine, built by Robert Stephenson and Co in 1862 to a design by W Martley. There was one fatality but no mention of a name - probably the guard in the destroyed van!
  • FELLING - On March 26th, 1907, the 10.52 am. down express passenger train from Leeds to Newcastle was derailed while running between Heworth signal-box and Felling Station. The train consisted of NER Class R 4-4-0 No.725 fitted with the Westinghouse brake on the four coupled wheels and six wheels of the tender, and of eight vehicles, which had 24 pairs of wheels braked out of the total of 30 pairs by the Westinghouse automatic continuous brake. The whole train was derailed with the exception of the last two vehicles, which were partially so. The engine fell over to the left against the south side of the cutting, and the two leading vehicles fell over on to their sides foul of the up main and adjoining goods lines. Eight passengers were seriously injured, two of whom have subsequently died. Complaints of shock were received from 34 other passengers. The accident was caused by buckling of the track from a very cold night to a very warm day.
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