Accidents Happen (3)
Accidents happen all the time in the haulage industry and unfortunately over the years W & J Riding suffered their fair share.
Below is another selection of various incidents which the late Tom Riding documented from the mid 1950’s through to when he retired from the company in 1995.
Accident at Copster Green
On Tuesday the 22nd of June 1982 driver Kenneth Fell was returning to Longridge depot in Atkinson Borderer 4×2 tractor unit Reg No OTF 550M Fleet No 81 ‘Robust’ hauling a partially loaded 40 foot tandem axle trailer with isopropanol in 40 gallon drums on board.
On the main A59 Whalley to Preston Road at Copster Green, just before the left hand bend approaching the Park Gate Hotel, a Toyota car travelling in the opposite direction was overtaking a Ford Cortina and hit OTF 550M head on.
During the collision the front offside axle of OTF 550M was wiped out causing the vehicle to veer across the road resulting in around ten drums of isopropanol dropping off the trailer.
Driver Kenneth Fell, who was in no way to blame for the accident, was not hurt although he was badly shaken up.
Unfortunately as a result of the accident the driver of the Toyota car a Mr Keith Townley aged 43 of Oswaldtwistle was killed while his two passengers were taken to hospital with head and leg injuries while a driver of a third vehicle involved, Mr Frank Riley of Sutton in Craven near Skipton, was uninjured although his Ford Cortina was badly damaged.
Atkinson Borderer 4×2 tractor unit Reg No OTF 550M Fleet No 81 ‘Robust’ finished up on the opposite side of the road after the head on collision with the Toyota car pictured below.
The seriously damaged Toyota car in which the driver, Mr Keith Townley, died after it hit Atkinson Borderer 4×2 tractor unit Reg No OTF 550M head on while attempting to overtake a Ford Cortina on the A59 Longsight Road at Copster Green Lancashire.
Press cutting from the front page of the Lancashire Evening Telegraph dated Wednesday the 23rd of June 1982.
Atkinson Borderer 4×2 tractor unit Reg No OTF 550M Fleet No 81 ‘Robust’, powered by a Cummins NH250 engine, was registered new on the 1st of September 1973.
After the accident above it was rebuilt and went on to serve Riding’s for many more years until it was sold on to J. Canning of Leyland.
When J Canning ceased trading it later passed into the hands of Kevin Dennis and into preservation in Norfolk were it is now in the livery of Morgan Transport as can be seen in this photograph here.
Roll Over at Stourton
On the 26th of April 1983 Seddon Atkinson 4×2 tractor unit Reg No VHG 570R was negotiating the roundabout beneath the M621 interchange at Stourton Leeds.
The vehicle rolled over while hauling a 20 foot demount tank loaded with Isopropylamine and stopped just short of hitting a lamp post.
Fortunately the fully loaded tank held firm and there was no spillage what so ever.
To see this exact location today click HERE
The accident made the front page of the Yorkshire Evening Post on Tuesday the 26th of April 1983.
Roll Over at Whittingham
Seddon Atkinson 400 Series 4×2 tractor unit Reg No XFV 910V Fleet No 98 ‘Royal Star’, powered by a Gardner 240 eight cylinder engine, came to grief just three miles from Longridge depot when the whole outfit turned over on a right hand bend on the B5269 at Whittingham.
Hauling a 40 foot tandem axle trailer loaded with 20 tons of Coca Cola and Lilt it rolled over and finished on it’s side in the adjoining field.
After the accident this bend was always referred to by Riding’s drivers as Coca Cola corner.
After being righted Seddon Atkinson 400 Series 4×2 tractor unit Reg No XFV 910V Fleet No 98 ‘Royal Star’ was in a rather sorry state after suffering extensive cab damage in the accident.
Powered by a Gardner 240 eight cylinder engine XFV 910V had been registered new to Riding’s on the 1st of April 1980 at a cost of £24,550
Rear End Shunt in Grimsargh
While travelling solo on the B6243 Preston Road in the village of Grimsargh, opposite Station Garage, Seddon Atkinson 6×2 tractor unit Reg No KPF 421W unfortunately skidded in the wet conditions and ran into the back of a tanker operated by Fleet Haulage in September 1986.
Seddon Atkinson 400 Series 6×2 tractor unit Reg No KPF 421W Fleet No 50 ‘Alfred the Great’ was powered by Cummins E290 engine.
Registered new on the 1st of August 1980 it was bought second hand when three years old from Yardley of Kidderminster for £9,400 plus vat on the 7th of August 1983 and was fitted with Norde third axle conversion to run with a tandem axle tipping trailer at 38 tons.
It came to grief in the wet when it ran into the rear of a Fleet Haulage tanker when travelling unit only at Grimsargh about 3 miles from the depot at Longridge.
After the accident KPF 421W was rebuilt using the cab from Seddon Atkinson 400 Series Reg No UJP 758S Fleet No 79 ‘Hardwicke’ which had been scrapped earlier that year in June 1986.
Taken from another angle you can see the DAF tractor unit and tanker operated by Fleet Haulage which KPF 421W ran into the rear of while traveling through the village of Grimsargh in Lancashire.
After the accident KPF 421W was rebuilt using the cab from Seddon Atkinson 400 Series Reg No UJP 758S Fleet No 79 ‘Hardwicke’ which had been scrapped earlier that year in June 1986.
Twisted Chassis
Seddon Atkinson 401 Series 4×2 tractor unit Reg No C50 OBV Fleet No 72 ‘Vulcan’ is seen here back in Longridge depot after recovery from it’s accident in Edinburgh.
Seddon Atkinson 401 Series 4×2 tractor unit Reg No C50 OBV Fleet No 72 ‘Vulcan’ was powered by a Gardner 6LYT 16 litre 320 engine.
Registered new on the 1st of June 1986 at a cost of £27,468 plus vat it was driven from new by Alan Bretherton.
The picture above shows it at Longridge after being recovered following an accident coming out of Edinburgh when it went off the road into a ditch.
The damage included a badly bent chassis resulting in the vehicle being totally written off and scrapped.
Fortunately the Gardner 6LYT 320 engine was undamaged and was later transferred into Seddon Atkinson 401 Series tractor unit Reg No D400 SRN.
Collision on the A59
February 1995 and Seddon Atkinson 4-11 Series 4×2 tractor unit Reg No F340 SHG Fleet No 14 ‘Firth of Clyde’ left the road during icy conditions on the A59 just east of West Marton and unfortunately collided with a large tree which resulted in the vehicle being totally written off.
In this series of eight photographs below, taken by the late Tom Riding, we see the recovery operation with a mobile crane from Settle called in to recover the trailer and container which after the collision had turned on their side and landed in the adjacent field.
In 2024 Riding’s driver Paul Holliday who was driving F340 SHG at the time of the accident recalled…..
“When Tom’s BMW appeared over the hill my heart sank I’d only been with Ridings a few months and thought for sure I was gonna get sacked after having an irate conversation with Dave Nicolson in the traffic office on the phone.
But I couldn’t have been further from the truth.
Tom approached me and asked how I was after several apologies from me his words were ‘Don’t worry son your not the first and you certainly won’t be the last’
He was the best boss ever and W & J Riding the best company i ever had the pleasure of working for even to this day”
Seddon Atkinson 4-11 Series 4×2 tractor unit Reg No F340 SHG Fleet No 14 ‘Firth of Clyde’, driven by Paul Holliday, left the road during icy conditions on the A59 just east of West Marton in North Yorkshire and unfortunately hit a large tree.
At the time of the accident it was hauling a Bell 30ft box loaded with 24 tons of Barley for Whitbread’s at Samlesbury which over turned into an adjacent field but fortunately remained attached to it’s trailer which made the recovery easier.
This picture was taken shortly before the crane began work in righting the 30 foot trailer and container which had overturned into the field after the collision.
From this angle you can see the badly twisted chassis and damaged cab which resulted in the vehicle being written off.
Rear end view of the container lying on it’s side still attached to the trailer with the Kraanverhuur mobile recovery crane on hire from the Settle Coal Company of Station Road, Settle having arrived on site to begin recovery.
This picture, taken from the adjacent field, shows the container lying on it’s side with the Kraanverhuur recovery crane from Settle getting into position.
Another view from the adjacent field showing the 30 foot Bell Line container on it’s side shortly before it was recovered.
Fortunately the container remained attached to it’s trailer, atestement to the strength of the trailers twist locks, which made the recovery operation a lot easier.
With the road closed the mobile crane is in the process of righting the overturned container which fortunately remained attached to the trailer
This particular tractor unit along with Reg No F110 SRN Fleet No 22 ‘Solway Firth’ were both fitted with Gardner 6LXDT engines and were the very last Gardner engined vehicles to come out of the long gone Seddon Atkinson factory at Oldham in 1988.
With the mobile crane having now left the scene the trailer and container are seen here now upright back on the road awaiting recovery.
The BMW on the right was the late Tom Riding’s who had traveled to the scene from Longridge and took all the photographs of the accident featured in this gallery.
Another shot taken from a different angle with the mobile crane having left the scene after it had recovered the trailer and container out of the field next to the A59 just east of West Marton in North Yorkshire.
A Longridge depot mechanics Ford Escort Garage Van Reg No F456 FWG is seen here on the scene.
This van was registered new on the 4th of April 1989 and joined the fleet as a second hand purchase in 1993.
Burnt out Tanker
This was the end result after a tyre went soft, with the driver unaware he kept ploughing on causing the tyre to overheat and burst into flames.
The incident occurred on the A66 near Penrith with the tanker loaded with twenty seven tons of PTA for Kodak Workington.
Fortunately the tractor unit was disconnected and driven clear and did not suffer any damage.
Another shot of Riding’s burnt out tanker after it had been recovered and brought back to the depot ay Longridge.
Seddon Atkinson Strato Fire
ERF Electrical Fault Fire
Overloaded Forklift
The late ‘Big’ John Elliot was the depot manager at W & J Riding’s Motherwell depot.
John was fantastic worker and used to turn the vehicles around in double quick time.
Sometimes this haste had dire consequences especially, before the yard was concreted.
In this series of pictures below the overloaded fork truck could not manage the weight and as can be seen below it finished up in a precarious position.
Luckily no one was hurt on this occasion.
