Rubble

A recent story related to me by a local railway worker tells of an incident which left a gaping hole in the parapet of Watchet Bridge. Those of you familiar with the topography will know the Bridge takes the main Watchet street over the Railway via sharp bends in either direction. The story goes that a car was driven away from the Harbour area at high speed and the driver failed to negotiate the sharp left hand bend over the Bridge and crashed into the stone built parapet. Bits of the car fell down the steep embankment onto the Railway track along with much of the stonework. The car itself did not follow. Police were called and it seems the driver detained. What is extraordinary is that, despite the obvious missing stonework, no-one thought to contact the Railway, or at least, that is how it would seem. For the following morning, a diesel locomotive on a training run came across the rubble strewn across the rails. The driver made an emergency brake application and prevented a nasty accident. The remains of the wall were removed by the crew and other Railway workers. I'm sure the incident is being investigated along with a review of procedures by the relevant authorities so I'll not say any more about it here. Just food for thought, eh?