The evening of Sunday 6th August 1989 saw the derailment of 50 025 Invincible and 9 MkII coaches which comprised the 21:15 Oxford to Paddington Service.
The photographs were taken around lunchtime on Monday the 7th. The video clips that follow were taken much later in the day, after the Class 50 had been removed from the trackbed.
The crash was caused by an object (reportedly a 12ft length of rail) being deliberately placed on the Up Main line; After derailing, 50 025 travelled some distance on its side and a flash fire broke out, caused by the offending piece of rail puncturing the side of the loco's fuel tank.
Luckily, there were no fatalities or serious injuries, although the driver and 6 passengers were treated for minor injuries. To date, it appears that no one has been charged, or convicted, for this serious criminal and potentially fatal act.
By the evening, 50 025 had been lifted and moved onto blocks in the Car Park of Waitrose Supermarket, and much of the stock re-righted and shunted away. Unfortunately, Invincible was too badly damaged in the crash to be repaired, and was subsequently scrapped.
[Note: some of this content was posted to the channel previously but has been re-edited, still photographs added, and converted from 4:3 aspect to 16:9].
0:00 Photographs
3:18 Video