The remarkable thing about the Grayrigg rail crash were the photos of the aftermath.Normally, rail crash photos show absolute carnage - smashed carriages, roofs torn off, sides buckled, debris all over the shop etc etc. However, the photos of this crash showed an intact train, carriages still linked, no smashed walls or windows. Sorry to sound like a Virgin Trains PR man (not a likely persona for me to adopt) but this seems to be a tribute to the new Pendolino rolling stock, with its strengthened walls and windows.
Moving to the dodgy points which are suspected to have caused the crash, I am staggered to read in the Guardian today that, according to Roger Ford of Modern Railways: "of the four stretcher bars at the site, three were unbolted and one was missing altogether. A visual inspection would have picked up a missing stretcher bar..." That visual inspection should have taken place on February 18th, but didn't. Oh dear.
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