Trains that became detached.

[Harvester]

In fact it was 1 a.m. on Thursday 27th January 1955. The press reports all stick close to the short text BR gave them, except this one, which adds something about the danger to the crew: The Rugeley Times; Saturday 29 January 1955; Page 3

The main bit of detail that version omits is the stopping place of the bare loco, at Carwardine, 1½ miles on.

The incident I posted was an entirely different event, and occurred in June 1958 at Cheadle Heath, with 70014 on the down ‘Palatine’. Astonishingly this has happened on three occasions with Britannias.

The 27th January 1955 incident with 70043, and a third with 70012 in August 1957, on a London to Norwich train.

 

[Nammer]

I recall a 10 car 442 came apart at Havant station in the late 90s/early 2000s on the commuter 1P00 0615 Portsmouth Hbr to Waterloo (I was working in the Station Control Point at Portsmouth Hbr that morning).

 

[Taunton]

Far and away the best stories of all this are in David L Smith's book "Tales of the Glasgow & South Western", about that line 100 years ago and more. Loose-coupled freight trains breaking couplings, running back, sometimes in more than one loose portion, everything. Stations in a dip with runaways running back and forth through it until they finally stopped. Double headed train where the lead loco broke away from its tender, described simply as "wisely, they decided to keep on going".

 

[The exile]

I believe the issue with the 155s was with the doors, not the couplings. They had a nasty habit of blowing open when moving at speed, causing the interlocks to trip, with a full emergency brake application (and associated wheelflats).

They were withdrawn en masse because of this, which resulted in a massive relocation of class 156s from Inverness to Cardiff overnight, so the 156s could take over the Marches etc.

The 155s stayed on the naughty step for some time before refurbishment and reinvention as 153s.

They returned to service as 155s though, long before the single car conversion.

 

[SargeNpton]

Sometime in the 1980s (or possibly early 90s)...

One evening the 1720 Euston-Northampton loco-hauled Cobbler lost it's last 2 or 3 coaches just as it entered Watford tunnel on the down fast. Eventually, the front portion carried on to Northampton. Those of us in the rear portion had to wait an hour or so until it could be hauled back into Watford Junction.

 

[35B]

They returned to service as 155s though, long before the single car conversion.

Absolutely - conversion to 153s was nothing to do with the problems they'd had, and all about where the (stopped before any work was done) class 157(?) order was going to be replaced from.

 

[45Fox]

Sometime in the 1980s (or possibly early 90s)...

One evening the 1720 Euston-Northampton loco-hauled Cobbler lost it's last 2 or 3 coaches just as it entered Watford tunnel on the down fast. Eventually, the front portion carried on to Northampton. Those of us in the rear portion had to wait an hour or so until it could be hauled back into Watford Junction.

Around about the same time I recall a WCML Manchester service coming apart at Stockport.

If my memory serves me correctly, it was down to the jointed pin on the end of the buckeye coupler securing bar not being pushed down correctly, eventually the bar worked it's way out and the buckeye dropped.

 

[Tetragon213]

Istr this happened a lot during Connex' brief and chaotic reign of terror over Southern and Southeastern metals back in the day.

BBC News | UK | Drivers blamed as trains come apart

 

[35B]

Istr this happened a lot during Connex' brief and chaotic reign of terror over Southern and Southeastern metals back in the day.

BBC News | UK | Drivers blamed as trains come apart

I lived there, and used both. I don't remember them being notably awful in that way.

 

[Wyrleybart]

I was on a 170+153 combo on a train from Rugeley to Birmingham New St which divided three times !! I got on the 153 at Landywood which was trailing the 2 car 170. Everything went well until we tried to cross Slow to Fast at Pleck Junction when the 170 left us behind. The driver walked back and drove us separately onto the 170 and coupled. We carried on until we got to Soho North the divided again. The driver came back to fetch us and recoupled a second time, and this lasted as far as the bottom of Monument Lane tunnel - just yards from the platform. This time the driver terminated his 70 in the platform then walked back to fetch us for the final time.

Would this be the record for most number of occasions the same train divided !!!!

 

[6PAN]

There were some incidents with SR 4 COR units dividing in service, I recall one in the early 1970s on the Guildford New Line and another on the Brighton main line around the same time.