Steam train hits lorry

A RAILWAY enthusiast couldn't believe his eyes when he saw a lorry pull out in front of the train he was travelling on.

Paul Ellis took these pictures of the moment the vintage steam engine hit the lorry near the Winchcombe Station of the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway.

The lorry had just delivered some tracks to the station used by the railway and was waiting to go out again.

Paul, 47, said: "I was on a train pulled by the Foremarke Hall loco as it was coming into Winchcombe Station.

"I had my head out of the window, as you do with steam trains, and I could see an empty articulated lorry waiting at a crossing."

He said when the train was only 20 yards from it, the lorry started to move across.

"I have to say the train driver did a brilliant job – he slammed on the brakes and really got the speed down but the train still hit the truck in the passenger door of the cab," said Paul.

"We were only travelling at a few miles per hour but that was enough to push the buffers through the plastic on the cab and break the wing mirrors."

Paul, who lives in Strensham and works as a photographer, said he "couldn't believe it" when the lorry pulled out.

He said: "I spoke to the train driver later at the Racecourse Station and asked him whether this happened often and he said it never happened, ever. It was pretty incredible but it hasn't put me off travelling with the GWR."

GWR spokesman Ian Crowder said even though there were no injuries, it was taking the accident seriously and had interviewed everyone involved.

He said: "We will thoroughly review our trackside work procedures. The GWR has been running for over 25 years and has run many thousands of trains over this time and has an exemplary safety record – this is the first event of this type that has happened.

"The train crew reacted with admirable promptness, fully complying with train operating safety rules."

The GWR has started a review of procedures for the way work is to be carried out alongside the track when a train is moving and the Railway Accident Investigation Board has been informed of the crash and has decided not to take it any further.

Foremarke Hall was built in 1949 and to celebrate its 60th birthday the GWR is offering free rides on trains pulled by the engine for anyone born the same year who is accompanied by a paying passenger.