Carmont (near Stonehaven) derailment - 12 August 2020

[No Fault Found]

ScotRail aren't using any blue power cars any more.

The picture of 43030 on the other end of the set is blue!

 

[Cowley]

A very sad day and something that at one time we were used to seeing a couple of times a year unfortunately.
Although I’m curious to know what‘s actually happened here, my thoughts are with the families and friends of the people involved who’s lives have been turned upside down completely out of the blue.

 

[AJW12]

How very, very, very sad.

I was travelling on that stretch about two weeks ago - beautiful part of the UK. And as a Londoner, you never really interact with railway staff (it's all very automated and clinical) but when I was visiting up there, I saw so many staff in such a different way; you see them interact with each other like friends or family, you see their love for the job, and their pride in the areas they serve. My thoughts are with the colleagues, friends and family of the two superb staff who will not return home from their shift today, and similarly for the friends and family of the passenger who got on a train like so many of us do on a daily basis, only not to come home.

Times like this bring you down to earth a little bit and remind you that sometimes, accidents do happen on the railway and there's always that chance. As others have said though, it's important to bear in mind that 'that chance' is fantastically low and our railways continue to be safer than they've ever been.

I'm sure the investigation will tell all in due course but wishing all those injured a speedy recovery, and hopefully before long the line can be restored, the railway staff can return to doing what they love and the public can once again use a train on what is a really great stretch of railway.

 

[43 302]

The picture of 43030 on the other end of the set is blue!

All are in ScotRail livery, which is blue and white/grey. I believe Journeyman was referring to the ex FGW plain Blue livery.

 

[No Fault Found]

The burnt end is the inner end, the cab end is closer to the camera in that picture of the PC. You can see that the bulkhead door visible is on the left hand side, so it must be the cab. I think a combination of muck/dust and sunlight is obscuring the colour of the paintwork. Also the grille is clearly towards the burnt end and you can see some light grey paint near there, as well as possibly the dark window ribbon.

I appreciate what end the cab is/was. It was in response to somebody saying that the van end was the end on fire, not the cab. I’m suggesting that it looks like the cab end had also been on fire as the body would be blue if it hadn’t been burnt.

 

[neonison]

Does RealTimeTrains not give a passing time anywhere heading north?

The Montrose -Inverurie dmu 2B13 is shown passing Carmont at 0658 (on time) but was terminated at Stonehaven 07:13 or 9 minutes late.

One can only surmise that nothing passed the incident site until 1T08 was heading back to Stonehaven too, nearly 2.5 hours later.

 

[Bertiethebobby]

It is the BBC though, all day they have been off the mark, The HST was a locomotive and 4 carriages, all the carriages went down the embankment, they still can't make up their mind if the train was going north or south and recently claimed that the last rail crash which involved a passenger losing their life was Ufton Nervet, the journalistic standard of the supposed Gold Standard of News output in the UK has spiralled recently

Absolute rubbish churned out by the BBC

On the Radio 2 news at 17.00 they said that "the driver was searching for another way through"

Ye Gods!

 

[AJW12]

Would rather not speculate, however there's a load of absolute nonsense already circulating about the cause. So far on Social Media (not this forum to clarify) I've seen:
Driver speeding (sigh)
Train continued on after the line was closed anyway
Driver found an alternate route to get through

And I thought most people had even a rudimentary understanding of the railway. Or at least, the ability to know you don't just jump into a cab of a train, choose where you're going and put your foot down.

 

[87electric]

Absolute rubbish churned out by the BBC

On the Radio 2 news at 17.00 they said that "the driver was searching for another way through"

Ye Gods!

Dreadful sentence to use by the media.

 

[Andyh82]

Absolute rubbish churned out by the BBC

On the Radio 2 news at 17.00 they said that "the driver was searching for another way through"

Ye Gods!

The report on the Ten was stirring it, suggesting that ‘questions need to be asked about whether trains should have been running at all’

 

[trebor79]

News at 10 continued the really poor reporting. Some reporter interviewed by Sophie Raworth in the studio, firstly said the driver "asked for permission to move onto another track". Then he went on a rant about how "questions must be asked should trains have been running at all in those weather conditions".
Dreadful standard of reportage. Turned the TV off.

 

[156443]

The driver has been named.

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/train-driver-killed-stonehaven-crash-22512237

A tragic train driver who died in the Stonehaven rail crash has been named locally as Scots dad Brett McCullough.

A grief-stricken colleague of Brett’s said ScotRail staff were shattered to learn he had been killed in the tragedy.

The colleague said: “He has a young family and a wife. He’s been in the railways for about six years and is a lovely man.”

Brett lived less than a 15 minute drive from the site of the accident.

My thoughts go out to his family, friends and colleagues.

 

[a_c_skinner]

suggesting that ‘questions need to be asked about whether trains should have been running at all’

Which is a bit rich considering the fuss the media makes when speed limits or late starts are put in place after bad weather.

 

[AJW12]

The driver has been named.

Train driver killed in Stonehaven crash named as Scots dad Brett McCullough

Brett tragically died alongside the train’s conductor and a passenger this morning after heavy rain caused a landslip on the track.

www.dailyrecord.co.uk

My thoughts go out to his family, friends and colleagues.

Really really hoping that for once, this time, the press surprise me, and show his family decency; and leave his family alone / give them plenty of space.

 

[Andy Pacer]

News at 10 continued the really poor reporting. Some reporter interviewed by Sophie Raworth in the studio, firstly said the driver "asked for permission to move onto another track". Then he went on a rant about how "questions must be asked should trains have been running at all in those weather conditions".
Dreadful standard of reportage. Turned the TV off.

The same so called expert was at it earlier as well, spouting the same stuff, so they were obviously confident it was accurate.

 

[DB]

That Daily Record article states that:

It is understood the locomotive and three carriages derailed and slid down an embankment

Followed by a photo which shows quite clearly where the carriages are - it's really not difficult to get this right!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Was that the same guy that was suggesting that derailments usually result in fatalities?

 

[Andy Pacer]

Was that the same guy that was suggesting that derailments usually result in fatalities?

That's the chap!

 

[Llanigraham]

My condolences to all those affected, including the poor signaller who has had to deal with this.

 

[Ashley Hill]

My sincerest condolences for those concerned. Its difficult how to put this but I am glad to see that the guards death has now been acknowledged by the media rather than just the drivers.

 

[grumpyoldman01]

I've only just watched tonight's Channel 4 News, and in an interview with Nigel Harris he claimed that the alarm was raised by a member of the public.

Is that right? I thought it had been determined that the alarm was raised by a member of staff.

 

[trebor79]

Was that the same guy that was suggesting that derailments usually result in fatalities?

That's the chap!

Yes "almost always result in fatalities". He's clearly decided it's an open and shut case, weather conditions were too bad for trains to run.
Literally hasn't got a clue what he's talking about. I wish they'd teach these folk that they have a moral duty to get it right, and if they don't know the first thing about a subject, STFU or find a different story to report on rather than mislead millions of people.

 

[Strathclyder]

Good lord, what a horrible thing to wake up to. The images linked further back in this thread made my blood run cold. My thoughts & condolences are with the familes, friends & colleagues of the deceased and the emergency crews who have the unenviable task of rescue & recovery. Truly a dark day for the industry.

 

[paulprentice]

I've only just watched tonight's Channel 4 News, and in an interview with Nigel Harris he claimed that the alarm was raised by a member of the public.

Is that right? I thought it had been determined that the alarm was raised by a member of staff.

It is of course possible that it was both - we just won't know for sure until the facts are determined by the investigation.

 

[Speed43125]

I thought that the power cars were still blue underneath, with vinyls applied over the top. You can see this looking at the cab area where the blue goes from the matte of the vinyl to the gloss of the paint.

They're all grey underneath where the vinyls are. It's blue only on the nose.

 

[DB]

Yes "almost always result in fatalities". He's clearly decided it's an open and shut case, weather conditions were too bad for trains to run.
Literally hasn't got a clue what he's talking about. I wish they'd teach these folk that they have a moral duty to get it right, and if they don't know the first thing about a subject, STFU or find a different story to report on rather than mislead millions of people.

They ought to be using informed commentators like Tony Miles, who will be clear and accurate.

 

[LOL The Irony]

Yes "almost always result in fatalities". He's clearly decided it's an open and shut case, weather conditions were too bad for trains to run.
Literally hasn't got a clue what he's talking about. I wish they'd teach these folk that they have a moral duty to get it right, and if they don't know the first thing about a subject, STFU or find a different story to report on rather than mislead millions of people.

Was he the science editor or transport correspondent?

 

[bramling]

My condolences to all those affected, including the poor signaller who has had to deal with this.

Yes easy to forget that the signaller will have been heavily involved in the events both before and after. One of the news reports showed the box surrounded by police tape (no doubt routine rather than indicating anything untoward). Very much thoughts with him or her at this difficult time.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I've only just watched tonight's Channel 4 News, and in an interview with Nigel Harris he claimed that the alarm was raised by a member of the public.

Is that right? I thought it had been determined that the alarm was raised by a member of staff.

Could both be true (ish) i.e. it being a member of staff who was travelling as a passenger? It won't have been either of the two traincrew as they sadly did not survive. Was there a buffet steward on board or are those closed at present?

 

[Huntergreed]

Could both be true (ish) i.e. it being a member of staff who was travelling as a passenger? It won't have been either of the two traincrew as they sadly did not survive. Was there a buffet steward on board or are those closed at present?

Scotrail HST's don't have a buffet I'm sure, but there may have been a trolley worker onboard.