Jampot2
Eccles Rail Disaster 1984
One of the worst Rail Accidents to happen in the North West of England occurred on 4th December 1984 when the 1E79 10.05am Liverpool Lime Street to Scarborough express train smashed into the back of a train of fuel oil tankers at Eccles, Greater Manchester. The fuel oil train, the 6E85 09.00am service from Stanlow Oil Refinery to Leeds hauled by Class 47, 47310 was just accelerating away from a distant signal when it was struck from behind by the Scarborough express hauled by ‘Peak’ class 45, 45147. Upon impact the rear oil tanker was thrown to one side, however the next two oil tankers were thrown into the air and landed upon the class 45 loco and the first passenger carriage causing a massive explosion. Unfortunately the driver of the class 45 and one passenger were killed instantly with a further 68 passengers taken to hospital suffering from major injuries. Fortunately there were no passengers in the first carriage or the death toll would have been much higher, however one further passenger died later in hospital. The following enquiry into the accident was inconclusive as there had been a problem with signal failures in the area that day but this could not be pin pointed to the cause as the signal which had been passed at danger by the Scarborough express was in working order when it was later examined. These series of photos were taken by my father the day after the accident when the salvage operation was taking place.
Eccles Rail Disaster 1984
One of the worst Rail Accidents to happen in the North West of England occurred on 4th December 1984 when the 1E79 10.05am Liverpool Lime Street to Scarborough express train smashed into the back of a train of fuel oil tankers at Eccles, Greater Manchester. The fuel oil train, the 6E85 09.00am service from Stanlow Oil Refinery to Leeds hauled by Class 47, 47310 was just accelerating away from a distant signal when it was struck from behind by the Scarborough express hauled by ‘Peak’ class 45, 45147. Upon impact the rear oil tanker was thrown to one side, however the next two oil tankers were thrown into the air and landed upon the class 45 loco and the first passenger carriage causing a massive explosion. Unfortunately the driver of the class 45 and one passenger were killed instantly with a further 68 passengers taken to hospital suffering from major injuries. Fortunately there were no passengers in the first carriage or the death toll would have been much higher, however one further passenger died later in hospital. The following enquiry into the accident was inconclusive as there had been a problem with signal failures in the area that day but this could not be pin pointed to the cause as the signal which had been passed at danger by the Scarborough express was in working order when it was later examined. These series of photos were taken by my father the day after the accident when the salvage operation was taking place.