Events & Entertainment, Swanage | Posted on May 13th, 2024 | return to news
Diesel locomotive partially derailed during Swanage Railway event
Train services on the Swanage Railway heritage line were suspended after a diesel locomotive was partially derailed at Corfe Castle station.
The partial derailment of a diesel locomotive happened on Saturday 11 May during the evening of the second day of the 17th annual diesel gala and beer festival on Swanage Railway.
No passengers were injured and no damage was sustained to the carriages of the train. There was a diesel locomotive on the front of the train.
The incident involving the 1968-built ex-British Rail ‘Indomitable’ happened around 6.30pm as a passenger train bound for Harman’s Cross and Swanage was running into Corfe Castle station from Norden.
The restored 115-ton heritage diesel locomotive was on the back of the six-carriage passenger train when the incident happened.
Train passengers attending the beer festival at Corfe Castle station from Swanage were returned to Swanage by the Swanage Railway after evening train services were suspended on Saturday.
Specialist contractors were brought in to re-rail the partially derailed Class 50 diesel locomotive and that operation was completed in the early hours of Sunday, 12 May.
Swanage Railway Company chairman Gavin Johns said: “The Government’s Rail Accident Investigation Branch has been advised of the incident and we liaised with the RAIB regarding the recovery of the diesel locomotive and the RAIB’s investigation into what caused the partial derailment of the diesel locomotive.”
Planned train services for Sunday 12 May were altered following the incident. However the Jurassic Crompton rail tour from Swanage to Eastleigh and London Waterloo via the main line connection near the River Frome took place on the afternoon of 12 May.
Class 50 locomotive No 50 026 ‘Indomitable’ was withdrawn from British Rail service in 1990 with a dedicated group of volunteers spending 15 years restoring the heritage diesel.
The locomotive, which carries a nostalgic British Rail 1980s Network South East livery, has been taken out of service and will be examined for any damage as a result of the incident.
The Government’s independent Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) is investigating the cause of the partial derailment.
The heritage line’s regulator and inspectorate – the Government’s Office of Rail and Road (ORR) – is aware of the incident.
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