ScotRail Express Polmont Rail Crash 30 July 1984

[NOMAD8459]

Must have been some bloomin cow!

[samthegreencat47]

@NOMAD8459 My understanding of it at the time was that it was more than one cow ,but several ,As in a HERD!

[scruffyted]

Ufton Nervet was a HST that hit a car, a HST power car is not a DVT, it is now classed as a class 43 locomotive. The HST has a power car at both ends. A DVT is unpowered and is basically a non passenger carrying coach with ballast weight and hopefully a cow catcher now!

Polmont involved a passenger carrying mk2d DBSO leading that wasn't fitted with a cow catcher.

[tynerider]

@Forty9Films At Hatfield it was the 91 Loco that was leading.

[MickeyLove01]

it's weird how the train was discussed and not the prevention of cows from tracks

[Asilren]

It's not just push/pull trains either. Infact any train where the heavier vehicle(s) are at the back and the lighter vehicles are at the front can amplify the severity of an accident.

The Lockington accident involved a pair of DMUs striking a vehicle on a level crossing in 1986. The front DMU was a relatively lightweight Cravens 105 DMU (iirc the trailer vehicle was leading), the rear DMU set was a rather heavier class 114. The result was that the lead 105 car derailed killing 9 people.

[sandletters39]

How safe are push/pull or top n tail trains?

[battlestarone]

this type odf sevice was withdrawn after this for a short time so they could add extra ballast to the control coach,...if the 47 had been leading this would not have happened i was told by my friends father who was a BR engineer.

[Middenraker]

Yeah, but the basic concept is still the same. All three accidents involved a driving car being propelled from the rear by a power unit. It doesn`t matter how quickly the power is released from the driving unit, there is still a time delay until the powering unit reacts to the loss of power. Would the train have derailed at Polmont had the 47/7 being at the Glasgow end? Even if it had derailed, would it have been so destrucvtive or just a track and sleeper wrecker?

[Middenraker]

Actually guys there have ben three serious accidents onthe UK rail network invilving DVTs. Polmont, Ufton Nervet and Great Heck, in which the DVT was destroyed. The reason you don`t get to ride in the DVT is because it is effect the crush zone around the passengers, the loco at the other end provides the same effect.

[joelang6126]

@Middenraker True but theres is a difference between a DVT and a DBSO

[taffy402]

@Middenraker

I think you will find that the Upton Nevert crash involved a HST125 not a DVT push pull type train. The cause was an Exeter bound train hitting a car parked on a level crossing . The driver committing suicide. Had it been a straight forward derailment and the train staying "in line" all might have been well, but the lead locomotive hit a turn-out this lead to it jack-knifing and the train piling up behind it. Sadly they were I think nine fatalities including

a child.

[limeyfox]

@Middenraker Just a small point - the leading vehicle at Ufton Nervet was an HST power car which is a 70ton diesel locomotive, a bit different to a 35ton DVT. But I agree if it was a passenger vehicle the consequences would have been even more horrendous.

[43050power]

@Middenraker Do you mean Hatfield as Ufton Nervet was an HST?

H

[MrJezza31]

@Middenraker Not to mention Hatfeild

[mix91132]

@Middenraker Ufton Nervet was a HST, and they don't have DVTs! Proof:

[mix91132]

look it up

[HSTHoward]

How the he'll does a cow do that?

[joelang6126]

@HSTHoward It was trapped under the wheels of the leading vehicle which was being propelled from the back by a loco. The cow caused the first vehicle to derail and has the train was being pushed caused other carriages to derail also.

[thepiper84]

I've travelled this stretch of line many time! and can personally say, many of the fences alongside the line are in questionable condition! so it's therefore not surprising that farm animals have a free pass to venture onto the line!!

[scotplane]

To think 12 deaths and 61 injuries could be caused by a simple coo. Did the coo survive or was the farmer verry angry?

[joelang6126]

@scotplane I dont think there was much left of the cow tbh

[dj205205]

@joelang6126 think the mince was sold at the local supermarket

[joelang6126]

@cathkinghost Whats your point? People die in road accidents in all types of car models every day, you dont see the models being blamed. The IC225 sets have been involved in two fatal crashes so far but you dont see their safety being doubted do you and their push pull. So it looks like you are the one with the throw away mark so please engage you brain before posting crap next time.

Cheers

[Sugababeslover]

How awful.

Might sound stupid but did the cow die?

[joelang6126]

@Sugababeslover em the train went straight into it lol

[ROBLOXROX007]

@joelang6126 - Anyone want Beef for dinner? xD

[Trainbuff2008]

soon after that accident they fitted cow catchers to all them vehicle's.

[rorymacve]

This crash is exactly the reason why Class 82 Driver Van Trailers on the Great Central and ECML have no passenger accomidation. Quite frankly, I think it was a stupid law to not allow passenger accomidation in the leading vehicle. How often does a crash like this happen? Not very often! As me and my dad have said for as long as we have known DVT's, "There should be seats in there!"

[joelang6126]

I agree mate, the ex scotrail dbsos are still in use today and to date this is the only incident so far.