Oops......!

"The return, empty working of refuse containers for Greater Manchester's Northenden Depot was derailed in Knutsford station on the late afternoon of 2nd May (1990). The last two wagons came to grief in the station itself, and another bogie further along the train also came off the tracks. The line was closed for 24 hours after which the services began using only the down (Chester bound) platform." Quoted from 'The Railway Magazine' July 1990 page 464

 

This picture was printed with the article in the Railway Magazine.

An enquiry made to the Railway Observer about the cause of the accident resulted in this explanation:

"One of the M&EE 'on-call" engineers who attended this incident writes that the cause was the buckling of the track beneath the train. He remembers that the weather had been unusually warm for several days. The derailment occurred in the afternoon, in the cutting south of the station, at a point some 75 yards in advance of the tunnel that is adjacent to the station. All but the first few wagons derailed, and the train came to rest in the station with several empty containers partially on the platform." Quoted from the Railway Observer, June 2002, page 284.