British Rail Class 86 - Accidents

Accidents

Over the years, several Class 86 locomotives have been involved in accidents. The most serious of these was the Watford Junction rail crash in 1975, when no. 86209 collided head-on with Class 83 no. 83003. The Class 86 was seriously damaged after falling down an embankment, coming to rest in a field. It was eventually recovered several weeks later. Surprisingly, considering the seriousness of the incident, it was authorised for repairs and later returned to service. Also in 1975, nos. 86006 and 86242 were involved in the Nuneaton rail crash. Both were later repaired. Another serious accident was the Colwich rail crash in 1986, when nos. 86211 and 86429 were involved in a head-on collision. Both locomotives were written-off and subsequently scrapped.

In 1996 a TPO train hauled by no. 86239 collided with the rear of a freight train at Stafford, writing-off the locomotive and killing two of the Royal Mail employees on board the train, John Thomson and Tommy Poynts.

The Norton Bridge rail crash in 2003, saw an intermodal train hauled by nos. 86631 and 86611, collide with the rear of another stationary freight train. The force of the impact broke the leading locomotive in half, although the driver was not killed. Both locomotives were written off as uneconomical to repair.