Oban line reopened as rail crane on way to derailed West Highland freight train

For Argyll reader, Robert Wakeham says: ‘With regard to the landslide on the Fort William railway, apparently a large rail crane has been brought up from England (in the absence of road access) to retrieve the derailed wagons, but the locomotive will be more difficult to deal with.

‘The timetable shows the line to be closed between Fort William and Crianlarich until Wednesday midnight, so presumably the intention is to get trains running again before removal of the locomotive. The Oban line has reopened.’

Mr Wakeham has shown us spectacular photographs he has found on the Internet showing the landslide in the remote area between Tulloch and Corrour that derailed this train. They show where the locomotive came to rest – on a sharp downhill incline alarmingly close to the shores of Loch Treig.

We cannot use these photographs as their copyright position is unclear but we are asking Mr Wakeham, if he still has them, to add the links in a comment below, so that everyone can see them for themselves. They certainly demonstrate the difficulties a track based crane will have in getting this locomotive shifted.

If the plan is to try to get the West Highland Line reopened by Wednesday evening, the plan must be to leave the locomotive where it is for the time being. We are asking Network rail for a situation update.