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Photos are filed under the crane's CEPS number where this exists. A cross-reference will be found at http://bdca.org.uk/cepsdb.html
Photo Collection: 96709 Overturns at Dent Head
This series of photographs was taken by Gordon Allen when he was Section Supervisor at Appleby. Aerial photographs of the scene will be found in the Gallery at "Miscellaneous Images - Some Accident Scenes..."
Gordon explains what happened:
"In September 1998, the crane was being used to move the last wagons of a coal train that had derailed in July 1998. If memory serves me right the line had been re-opened after repairs to the track had been made and then closed again for a few days whilst the remaining wagons were moved to a strip of land where they were to be cut up and loaded onto a train for disposal as scrap.
"The modus operandi was to pick up the wagons, run free-on-wheels a couple of hundred yards or so to the pad, jib round and put the load on the deck. Unfortunately as the load was swung around it exceeded the radii for the weight and she began to overturn. Realising she was going over, the operator tried to reverse the movement but she was too slow to react and over she went.
"Good fortune prevented it becoming a worse incident as her jib landed on the driving cab of the road crane parked on the pad. The jib was loaded onto the scrap train and went out to the south whilst the rerailed crane body went to Kirkby Stephen Down sidings where she sat for a while before being taken away - I'm not sure which direction. The story at that time was that both parts were never to be reunited and were going for scrap.
"I'm pleased to see [from the BDCA website] that there was a change of heart and she is now in preservation."
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Some further correspondence from Gordon:
"I developed huge admiration for the breakdown teams that I met during my career. Teams from all around the country attended high level derailments that occurred on my patch - Aisgill, Crosby Garrett, Corbridge, Hexham. All executed their duties quietly and efficiently.
"Although they all worked quite slowly I was intrigued by the way they went about their tasks; a bit of discussion at the start then each of them setting up the recovery operation without really talking to each other but somehow communicating and knowing what the others were doing.
"I'd watched the crane crews several times before, with one of the team watching the back wheels to warn of the wheels lifting off the rails when the crane didn't have its props down, including at the Dent Head site. It was thus disappointing to witness the crane overturning incident, which I believe was due to the crane controller's excessively long hours on duty leading to a momentary lack of concentration."
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Note: Some images of the original recovery exercise can be found in the ADRC96702 Album.
Gordon explains what happened:
"In September 1998, the crane was being used to move the last wagons of a coal train that had derailed in July 1998. If memory serves me right the line had been re-opened after repairs to the track had been made and then closed again for a few days whilst the remaining wagons were moved to a strip of land where they were to be cut up and loaded onto a train for disposal as scrap.
"The modus operandi was to pick up the wagons, run free-on-wheels a couple of hundred yards or so to the pad, jib round and put the load on the deck. Unfortunately as the load was swung around it exceeded the radii for the weight and she began to overturn. Realising she was going over, the operator tried to reverse the movement but she was too slow to react and over she went.
"Good fortune prevented it becoming a worse incident as her jib landed on the driving cab of the road crane parked on the pad. The jib was loaded onto the scrap train and went out to the south whilst the rerailed crane body went to Kirkby Stephen Down sidings where she sat for a while before being taken away - I'm not sure which direction. The story at that time was that both parts were never to be reunited and were going for scrap.
"I'm pleased to see [from the BDCA website] that there was a change of heart and she is now in preservation."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some further correspondence from Gordon:
"I developed huge admiration for the breakdown teams that I met during my career. Teams from all around the country attended high level derailments that occurred on my patch - Aisgill, Crosby Garrett, Corbridge, Hexham. All executed their duties quietly and efficiently.
"Although they all worked quite slowly I was intrigued by the way they went about their tasks; a bit of discussion at the start then each of them setting up the recovery operation without really talking to each other but somehow communicating and knowing what the others were doing.
"I'd watched the crane crews several times before, with one of the team watching the back wheels to warn of the wheels lifting off the rails when the crane didn't have its props down, including at the Dent Head site. It was thus disappointing to witness the crane overturning incident, which I believe was due to the crane controller's excessively long hours on duty leading to a momentary lack of concentration."
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Note: Some images of the original recovery exercise can be found in the ADRC96702 Album.
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