JohnWEDDLETwenty Five years ago today Newcastle and Yorkshire experienced one of the worst railway crashes. Newcastle railway depot lost three wonderful GNER train crew members who went to work that morning. The morning of the 28th February 2001 changed many lives!
Train Driver John Weddle was one of those staff members! John at the time was just entering into his 26th year of service. He loved his job, he appreciated driving trains all the years that he did, he basically deified anything that had an "engine"!
The morning of the crash John was running late. As always he would run down the staff railway car park (not locking his car) and go and get a coffee before entering his drivers cab, but that morning the train stood empty without a driver. John was seen minutes before the train was due to depart, running straight to his cab, no coffee in hand and still managing to leave Newcastle only a couple of minutes late. Driving over the King Edward bridge at Newcastle, John would have never thought for one minute that he wouldn't return. After leaving York station and only a few miles down the line when the crash was starting to unfold, John in those few minutes must have felt such fear knowing that his driver's cab had been derailed after the impact of hitting a landrover on the railway line and a fast approaching freight train in the distance. As a driver John did all he could safety wise and protecting his passengers and crew would have been at the forefront of his mind.
The aftermath of the crash was horrendous and losing someone who was close to you in those circumstances, with such attention was unimaginable.
I would like to thank all who have helped to commemorate the milestone of 25 years and its poignancy, in that the Selby Rail Crash is never forgotten and all those involved are always remembered - "always"!
Joanne Weddle-Wheatley.
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