Dean Forest Railway

A video from the end of December of 5541's members day farewell.

 

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16obsWu6iX/



There are photos on the Facebook link of the footbridge wrapped around the front of the 08 and the JCB sitting at an odd angle on the lowmac.

 

Said photos have, understandably, been removed by the railway I assume but it doesn't sound good. At least nobody was injured, that's the main thing.

 

Unfortunately, by being so cryptic in their mention of an 'incident', gossip and misinformation will be rife. Best to be straight out with it.

 

https://www.facebook.com/1000635570...U6KrFLs1irQRBArqJsLyHG3GGWFNLrSpokXl/?app=fbl

 

But for those who won't touch Facebook with a barge pole:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgjyd194gp0o

 

Thats quite a blow. They have my sympathy, the railway has achieved some really good work over the past few years. I hope their insurance is up together

 

It's also on the BBC news app plus another picture of the damaged footbridge (BBC news Gloucestershire)

 

It's common to refer to such things as 'incidents'.

 

The problem is these days with litigation and potential investigations the organisation involved can't really say a lot as they may affect these and be accussed of interfering, it's OK for others to post and speculate as they are not directly involved, hence OK for BBC to publish but not Dean Forest.

 

Form One incoming.

 

Images are being shown by the BBC

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgjyd194gp0o Images speak for themselves

 

Yes. The term accident is rarely used these days as true accidents are few and far between.

 

That's fair, but the lack of any information is what creates the void. It is also possible to describe what has happened, in neutral language that avoids detail. For example, in this case "There has been an incident in which the footbridge at St Mary's Halt has been damaged. We are working with the relevant authorities, and regret that we will be offering a limited service this weekend ."

Speculation and rumour will happen, but avoiding the say nothing of "operating incident" or suchlike helps significantly.

As an aside, I'm reminded of the obituaries of Gordon Pettit recently, and how he took ownership of the much more serious incident at Clapham.

 

Which is indeed true, but a poor choice of words by those driving it, as the word "incident" usually meant something worse, and no replacement word has been found for them. I suggest "Very Bad Thing".

 

One begs to ask how fast they were travelling...

 

Not very fast an 08 is nearly 50 tonnes. there is a lowmac type wagon and the excavator at walking speed it is still lot of energy to be dissipated when it comes to a sudden stop

 

I know it’s a serious incident, but the “Stop” board did make me smile!

 

The Helston Railway had a similar incident in 2019 when a road/rail swing shovel got the better of a steel footbridge. It's only just been replaced.

I can guess what's happened but won't speculate on here as it will set the armchair legal experts off!