Car written off in steam train crossing smash

[156443]

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/car-written-steam-train-crossing-14873569

Car written off in steam train crossing smash

A car came off badly from a collision with a steam train.

The red Ford and the Welsh Highland service collided at a crossing near Beddgelert yesterday afternoon.

No-one was hurt, but the car was badly damaged and around 100 passengers on the train had to be taken away by road while investigations were carried out.

 

[markindurham]

Reported elsewhere that the train was already on the crossing, and the car simply didn't stop. Oops...

 

[yorksrob]

To be honest, I would have expected the car to come off worse !

Had it been the other way round, questions would have needed to be asked.

 

[edwin_m]

Train-car collisions on the national network rarely cause serious damage to the train or casualties to passengers on board it. The car is usually a different matter. However the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch has had two crew members killed in collisions with cars, showing that this isn't necessarily true for narrow gauge trains, which are slower but smaller and more prone to overturning.

 

[Flying Snail]

Train-car collisions on the national network rarely cause serious damage to the train or casualties to passengers on board it. The car is usually a different matter. However the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch has had two crew members killed in collisions with cars, showing that this isn't necessarily true for narrow gauge trains, which are slower but smaller and more prone to overturning.

Selby and Ufton Nervet say different, the car will come off worse but there is a serious risk of staff and passenger fatalities from cars on railways.

 

[edwin_m]

Selby and Ufton Nervet say different, the car will come off worse but there is a serious risk of staff and passenger fatalities from cars on railways.

Yes it's a different matter if the train derails - hence why I posted "rarely". But considering the much lower train mileage I'm pretty sure the statistics would show proportionately greater danger on the narrow gauge.

 

[Bedpan]

But surely that's what happened on the RHDR - the train derailed resulting in crush injuries to the unfortunate victims who were trapped between the loco and tender.

 

[edwin_m]

Yes, but I'd say that was much more likely on narrow gauge than on standard.

 

[Bedpan]

True. If my memory serves me correctly the fact that points were positioned near where the trains derailed played a major part in both accidents. In the case of Great Heck/Selby they deflected the derailed train into the path of an oncoming freight train, and in the case of Upton Nervet they caused the leading vehicle to overturn.

 

[markindurham]

True. If my memory serves me correctly the fact that points were positioned near where the trains derailed played a major part in both accidents. In the case of Great Heck/Selby they deflected the derailed train into the path of an oncoming freight train, and in the case of Upton Nervet they caused the leading vehicle to overturn.

Sadly there's not a great deal that can be done to reduce risk there from the railway's perspective - points are located where they are needed. In both your examples, of course, the crashes would not have happened had the cars involved not been there; thanks to the inappropriate actions of the person in charge of them, they were, and lives were lost because of them.

 

[Ploughman]

In the case of Heck I think that the 200 - 400m gap in the M62 side barrier fence still exists, so there is still the chance of it happening again.

 

[MarkyT]

But surely that's what happened on the RHDR - the train derailed resulting in crush injuries to the unfortunate victims who were trapped between the loco and tender.

Yes, but I'd say that was much more likely on narrow gauge than on standard.

The RHDR tragedies demonstrate a specific risk on miniature railways where the driver sits in the tender immediately behind the engine. In a loco - tender separation or 'jackknife' scenario following a collision and derailment there's very little protection from crush injuries or being thrown beneath the train. Conventional cabs on narrow gauge are less risky for crew. In the case of the WHR, the huge Garratt locos typically used, at over 60 tonnes, are heavier than many small standard gauge engines, so that will also influence consequences in a collision with a road vehicle.