For passengers on the 14.10 from Birmingham to Norwich, via Stamford, it was not a very nice Saint Valentine’s day. The train came off the track just near the bridge over the A1.
“BRITISH Rail launched an enquiry on Wednesday to find out what casued a passenger train to veer off the track just outside Stamford.
Disk was falling on Tuesday evening as four carriages of the 14.25 Birmingham to Norwich service were derailed a mile west of Stamford station at the A1 rail bridge near the Ketton turn-off at Tinwell.
Shaken passengers reported ‘a horrible crash’ as the train made an emergency stop and the rear carriages of the six-copach train left the track.
It was said to have been doing 50 mph before it finished up at an angle.
Ambulances raced to the scene, and emergency lines were set up for anxious relatives of the passengers to telephone for news.
But miraculously non e of the travellers were hurt, and sub-officer Albert Exton, of the Stamford Fire Brigade said they kept their heads and didn’t panic.
Most of the passengers were walking along the line. ‘They were quite jovial,’ he said.
~Simon Crewe (17), of Winsover Road, Spalding, a junior apprentice in the Army on leave, said: ‘The engine cut and it just slid. It was grinding and shaking. It stopped quickly – the brakes were on straight away. I assumed it was ice on the track.
‘Bang’
Nicholas Sandford (19), of Knossington near Oakham, said: ‘There was a sharp bang. It was like if you go over a sleeping policeman on the road too fast.’
Adrian Gates (25), of Sudbourne, Suffolk, was in the last but one coaoch: ‘We saw some shingle being thrown up from the track, it shuddered a bit and it tilted and stopped. I thought the thing was going to go right over.’
Mrs Minifred Lissimore, of Norwich, in the first coach; ‘I have hurt mu arm a bit, it threw me forward on to the table. I’m just thankful no one else was hurt.’
‘Shocked’
Mrs Philippa Sykes (59), of Herefordshire, in one of the rear coaches: ‘It was a pretty terrifying experience.’
Miss Lesley Benstead (22), of Norwich: ‘I was sitting on one side and I ended up on the other side on top of a lady. I was thrown along the seat and across the gangway. I’m a bit shocked still.’
Some passengers walked to Stamford Station, but most waited in the two carriages still on the line for a train from Peterborough to pick them up.
They were given tea at Peterborough station before being put back on their way.
British Rail said later that a broken rail could have caused the accident, as could problems caused by the recent greezing conditions.
‘We are going to do a scientific study of the track as well as the coasssssches,’ said a BR spiokesman.
‘It would be wrong to speculate that it has been the weather, but that certinly has been taken into consideration.’
Three fire appliances from Stamford and one from Bourne attended and 13 firemen helped passengers out of the coaches.
By Wednesday morning all the coaches had been put back on the rails and were being removed from the site.
Single-line working was in operation and there were some delays.
Services were expected to [be] back to normal by Wednesday evening.”
The Stamford Mercury, 14th February 1986.