Accident in Edinburgh - 13th August 1994

[pras]

I sometimes collect extra accidents for the Railways Archive that were not the subject of a published formal accident investigation report.

I found an accident that is intriguing. The only narrative I have comes from the Independent newspaper:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/train-crash-railman-may-be-charged-1383556.html

This raises a number of questions:

Is the report accurate?

Were there any other published accounts of what happened?

What were the circumstances resulting in the runaway locomotive? I would have thought that the "dead man's handle/pedal" would have almost eliminated these incidents. It says the locomotive weighed "100 tons" so this was not a shunter.

What happened to the drivers involved? One was subject to a police report - what came of this? The other, the driver of the passenger train, is named as Tom Campbell. Did he make a full recovery in hospital?

I am curious as to why some incidents involving passenger injuries get lots of press coverage and some do not.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

....I would have thought that the "dead man's handle/pedal" would have almost eliminated these incidents....

I would have thought the dead man's handle is only active when the drivers desk is.

 

[richw]

Another independent report slightly different details
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/runaway-loco-hits-express-1376393.html

 

[pras]

Quote:
Originally Posted by pras
....I would have thought that the "dead man's handle/pedal" would have almost eliminated these incidents....

I would have thought the dead man's handle is only active when the drivers desk is.

Was the driver's desk not active in the Edinburgh incident?

Another independent report slightly different details
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...s-1376393.html

Thank-you - noted.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I have made a little progress.

The magazine of the Pennine Railway Society of September 1994 gave me a lead or two:
http://www.abrail.co.uk/Mag%2089.htm
See the section entitled "37113 Rams HST".

Since then I have learned that locomotive 37 113 did not return to service but that the power car it hit (43 180) was repaired.

From the British Medical Journal:
http://adc.bmj.com/content/80/5/406.full
See Table 1. It gives the figure for "All Casualties" as 47 of whom 10 were children.

None of which answers my original questions...:neutral:

 

[richw]

I have just found a picture of 37113 post accident.
Post number 12 in this forum thread.
http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/50785-newbie-on-forum/?p=674126
and another
http://jamespower.zenfolio.com/p137639462/h366C3E5B#h366c3e5b
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
43180 is now in service with FGW.

 

[Murph]

A long time ago, so fuzzy memory, but I seem to remember the local pub chatter being that it was simple brake failure followed by gravity rolling it eastbound on the ECML out of Waverley. Not under power, so no dead man.

Speculation by me: loss of air allowing the brake to release, having not been properly secured after its last move?

As for news reports, you're likely to get better detail in The Scotsman and Edinburgh Evening News (same publisher for both), due to their proximity to the event (literally adjacent to Waverley, with their own goods platform/dock (disused), at the time), rather than The Independent.

 

[Bushy]

The BMJ Article references an HSE 'personal communication'. There was some HSE involvement.
I assume the 1-150 indicates reference 150 in reference 1 (if that makes sense). An amendment to reference 1 is indexed here but all the links are broken.

Regards

Bushy

 

[richw]

As for news reports, you're likely to get better detail in The Scotsman and Edinburgh Evening News (same publisher for both), due to their proximity to the event (literally adjacent to Waverley, with their own goods platform/dock (disused), at the time), rather than The Independent.

I did a Google Search on initially seeing this post as it interested me, and only the Independent seems to have archives from 1994 online.

 

[pras]

A long time ago, so fuzzy memory, but I seem to remember the local pub chatter being that it was simple brake failure followed by gravity rolling it eastbound on the ECML out of Waverley. Not under power, so no dead man.

Speculation by me: loss of air allowing the brake to release, having not been properly secured after its last move?

This theory seems to me to fit the information that I have very nicely. I just need some documentary evidence (witness account, official statement, court records, inquiry report or something along these lines) in the public domain to confirm it.

My only interest in finding out about the driver subject to the police report was to see if there was any public record produced which might give an explanation.

The BMJ Article references an HSE 'personal communication'. There was some HSE involvement.
I assume the 1-150 indicates reference 150 in reference 1 (if that makes sense). An amendment to reference 1 is indexed here but all the links are broken

So near yet so far

I did a Google Search on initially seeing this post as it interested me, and only the Independent seems to have archives from 1994 online.

I could not find anything from "The Scotsman" or the "Edinburgh Evening News" for the 1990s either.