Felixstowe derailment – what we know so far.
On Tuesday, GBRf operated freight train 4L07 – the 14.40 Birch Coppice to Felixstowe North – derailed, finally coming to a halt at the docks.
Enquiries by Chime Whistle Publishing have revealed that the train initially became derailed by one bogie at Trimley and travelled for over a mile before striking the dock points and coming to a halt. It’s been reported that there has been extensive damage to points, sleepers, signalling equipment and track – the majority belonging to the Port Authority. As the train hit the King points, the derailed wagon attempted to take one route, with the rest of the train attempting to take another.
Port Authority Infrastructure contractors arrived on site at 07.00 on Wednesday to start assessing damage, but this will be limited until the derailed wagons are recovered. Port Authority Recovery Team also arrived on site at 07.00 to start formulating a wagon recovery plan. Recovery will involve heavy lifting equipment which they may need NWR assistance with. Up to three sets of points will need to be replaced. Port Authority management said that there is an average of 25 freight trains booked to serve the North Terminal on a daily basis and that the South Terminal is running at maximum capacity, meaning that there are very few opportunities to divert trains. As of Thursday evening, no wagons have been recovered and the locomotive is still attached to the train.
Drawing on internal 'secret' reports and candid staff interviews, the ' A Funny Thing Happened on the Train' series of books are a funny, fearless and sometimes shocking narrative of rail travel in the UK. They also cover the history (in a lively way!) of the stations and lines featured, along with approximately 200 colour photographs in every book. The first two best selling books in the trilogy are https://www.chimewhistle.co.uk/shop/p/a-funny-thing-happened-on-the-train-to-london and https://www.chimewhistle.co.uk/shop/p/afunnythinghappenedonthetraintothemidlands Both now down to very limited stock.