Tebay rail accident , Cunbria, England, United Kingdom, Europe.
The Tebay rail accident occurred when four railway workers working on the West Coast Main Line were killed by a runaway wagon near Tebay, Cumbria, England in the early hours of 15 February 2004. The accident happened after a wagon laden with lengths of steel rail ran away from a maintenance area at Scout Green because it did not have properly working brakes. Wooden chocks had been placed in front of the wagon to stop it moving because the hydraulics brakes had been disconnected due to a fault; however they had been not repaired or replaced. As a maintenance worker began using an excavator's "log grab" in an attempt to drag sections of scrap rail from the wagon, the action caused the wooden blocks to dislodge. Slowly the wagon began to move downhill gathering momentum on the 1 in 75 gradient from Shap summit. In darkness, the 16-tonne steel wagon rolled down the West Coast Main Line reaching speeds of up to 40 miles per hour (60 km/h). Running almost silently and without any warnings, it struck the four railway workers (Colin Buckley, 49, Carnforth; Darren Burgess, 30, Carnforth; Chris Waters, 53, Morecambe; Gary Tindall, 46, Tebay) who were carrying out overnight work miles (5 km) further down the main line. Five men were also injured. The wagon continued to travel for almost 4 miles (6 km) until stopping.
Size: 4300px × 4123px
Location: Tebay, Cumbria, England, United Kingdom, Europe.
Photo credit: © Stan Pritchard / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: accident, coast, fatal, fatalities, line, main, memorial, rail, railway, tebay, west
