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Worst damage to a locomotive sustained while hauling a railtour?
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anothertyke
Member
Blue Peter?
Rumours have it that some quite serious damages has been done to locos to ensure they are not available…
CarrotPie
Member
Oh?
Gaz67
Member
45107 caught fire in the Hope valley hauling a railtour from Southport, pretty sure it was terminal and Phoenix didn't rise from the flame.
sprinterguy
Established Member
Yeah, I would say that was probably the worst one for steam traction.
For diesel traction, I would suggest class 47 1630, later 47048, 47570 and 47849, which was overturned after taking the 20mph curve at Eltham Well Hall at 65mph, while working a Margate - Kentish Town excursion on 11th June 1972. Regrettably, there were multiple fatalities:
More details on the Wikipedia page:Crewe built D1630 was substantially damaged in an accident at Eltham Well Hall whilst hauling the 20.05 Margate to Kentish Town excursion, with 10 coaches in tow. The accident was found to be caused by the train rounding a 20mph curve at 65mph in the hands of a driver found to have a blood-alcohol level more than three times the statutory limit, and was believed to have been drinking at the controls. The driver and three passengers died in the accident, two more passengers died later, and 126 people were injured; many seriously. Despite the severity of the damage, D1630 was fully repaired and returned to full operational status.Class47.co.uk ~ Numbers
Class 47. Brush type 4. Sulzer. British Rail. British Railways. Pictures. Photos. Photographs. Photo Gallery. Images. Trains.www.class47.co.uk
Eltham Well Hall rail crash - Wikipedia
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in_the_west
Member
Whilst hauling the Coastway Crusader railtour with 25191 on July 27th 1986, 25181 had a problem with it's brakes on the Ludgershall branch and had to be detached at Andover. It ended up being moved to Eastleigh depot on wheelskates where it languished before being cut up on site during July 1988.
Class 47s at Reading when the last 50 hauled Newquay ran, all allegedly of course
I was on that railtour, it was HRT's 'Lancashire Witch' on the unseasonably dark and rainy July 16th 1988:
https://www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/80s/880716hr.htm
Not obvious external damage, but i recall a Deltic suffering some sort of electrical issue while hauling a railtour on the ECML in the Dunbar area.
I cannot remember if it was a lightening strike or some sort of problem with the OHLE. It was out of service for quite some time and cost a significant amount of money to repair.
I cannot remember if it was a lightening strike or some sort of problem with the OHLE. It was out of service for quite some time and cost a significant amount of money to repair.
Tour lived up to its name then!
james_the_xv
Member
D9009 3rd March 2019. I'm not sure if it was ever confirmed exactly what happened but all 6 traction motors were fried.
lakeland844
Member
Not quite a Rail Tour. but in the summer of 1993, me and some friends boarded the 'Jolly Fisherman' excursion at Derby bound for Skegness. Motive power was 20090 and 20132.
After a very spirited departure from Derby the two Choppers suddenly lost power near Bingham Station, thick black smoke coming out of 090 and a horrible very loud clanking sound !
After a short stop, 090 was switched off and 132 gallantly carried on to the seaside.
We had our day in Skeggie but when we got back to the station in the evening, we were told to board the service DMU as the excursion was cancelled - a totally packed out Derby Class 116 subsequently left the station absolutely rammed !
Me and a handful of other brave souls decided not to chance the 116 DMU and wait for the next service - a short time later 20132 was fired up with 090 dead in tow and the guard told us we could board - single Chopper thrash all the way back to Derby ! Fantastic !!!
I doubt that would have happened on todays railway ?
As for 20090 - it was taken back to Toton that evening and never ever ran again - next stop MC Metals in Glasgow !
Train travel was so much more fun 30 years ago !!!
Deepgreen
Established Member
60532 'Blue Peter' must be the worst (and was directly driver-caused), but much more recently, 70000 'Britannia' suffered a major failure at Chilworth when part of the motion broke. The crew had to remove the broken parts in the dark. The Surrey Hills tour returned to Victoria at 0240! The closest to disaster may well be 34067 'Tangmere' at Norton Fitzwarren when it overran the junction signal and fouled the main line just after an HST had passed (I think I have that right but please correct if not).
Wootton Bassett, I believe, rather than Norton Fitz.
Didn’t 47500 catch fire while on the rear end of a railtour, or was that an ECS?
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12LDA28C
Established Member
Was that actually an excursion or just a normal timetabled service train? I seem to recall certain Class 20-hauled trains to Skegness being marketed as the 'Jolly Fisherman', complete with headboard.
That was an ECS move
43096
On Moderation
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- 15,308
I'm not sure why we're still having possibilities when the Eltham Well Hall derailment is pretty clearly the most severe incident so far mentioned.
The extent of the damage can be seen in this photo of D1630 at Crewe Works with major damage: http://www.class47.co.uk/c47_zoom_v3.php?img=0998051012200
The extent of the damage can be seen in this photo of D1630 at Crewe Works with major damage: http://www.class47.co.uk/c47_zoom_v3.php?img=0998051012200
GRALISTAIR
Established Member
I was on "The Grampian Highlander" railtour run by RESL November 16-18th 1984 and 46026 LADY ran Derby - Newcastle. Apparently engine caught fire (or similar) and it never worked another train and was withdrawn.
anothertyke
Member
I was on that train and D9009 proceeded at greatly reduced speed from Drem. where the incident happened, to Berwick-on-Tweed. So it must have run on something!
It was a normal service Derby-Skegness train hauled by a pair of class 20s during the summer peak, with a morning departure, and an evening return from Skegness. The last Derby-Skegness ran on 4th September 1992 with 20090+20132. The following summer a Leicester-Skegness class 20 hauled train ran, ending on 3rd September 1993 (the last BR class 20 hauled train to Skegness)!
Dunfanaghy Rd
Member
Not forgetting 34067 (again!) losing a connecting rod at Farnborough. Can't remember the year.
Pat
Class15
On Moderation
Indeed. It does sound pretty horrific. Not sure engine failures come close.
PFX
Member
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Not UK but as they're cross border I suppose it counts. Railway Preservation Society of Ireland loco 85 dropped a fusible plug at Gorey, ROI, on a passenger run in July 2019. As I understand it, the fire service had to hose 85 down as a safety precaution. There was a similar incident in the 80s with loco 184.
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blackfive460
Member
- Joined
- 23 Jun 2010
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- 829
On 20th August 1984 while coming south over the S&C 777 Sir Lamiel dropped a fusible plug just north of Appleby. Fortunately the owner's rep on the footplate was able to get an injector on to deliver a little water to the firebox crown thus preventing any serious damage.
ChiefPlanner
Established Member
King George V had an argument with a bridge (somewhere on the North and West ?) as a result of track renewal causing the loading gauge to be changed. Pretty sure the safety valve brass cover was torn of.
Gloster
Established Member
Can Eltham (Well Hall) be described as a railtour? It was an excursion to the beach for the general public or, possibly, rail staff, not a train intended for bashers. The same seems to be true for many trains to Skegness.
EDIT: bathers corrected to bashers. (It was a train for bathers.)
EDIT: bathers corrected to bashers. (It was a train for bathers.)
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sprinterguy
Established Member
It bears consideration, but it was a one-off out and back outing, outside of the public timetable, solely for passengers (in this case rail staff) holding tickets specifically for that train: Seems to fit all the criteria required to be defined as a railtour, even if the term wasn't in as widespread colloquial use fifty-odd years ago.
It's listed on the Six Bells Junction website, which I tend to treat as the definitive source for what we now regard as railtours.
The Skegness trains were part of the public timetable provision, as was acknowledged previously.
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Gloster
Established Member
If you are going to define railtour as any one-off out and back passenger trip, then I am sure that there would have occasions when steam locomotives were written off in the early days. I have a feeling that there were a couple of the approaches to Blackpool.
sprinterguy
Established Member
Certainly, it had crossed my mind that there were some Victorian-era prangs, or worse, that'd qualify for this thread. The 1889 Armagh disaster would count in that regard.
I suppose it depends whether the definition of "railtour" is predicated on a train that is run primarily for enthusiasts, which would then exclude Armagh and, quite probably, Eltham. Though that then becomes more difficult to define for more recent tours, where Premier Diners generally enjoying a day out might outnumber the enthusiasts with an intrinsic interest in the train or track.