Salisbury Train Crash: Leaves On The Line Was The Excuse. The Cleaning Train Was 32 Hours Late

Leaves on the line is the railway's favourite joke excuse, but at Salisbury the leaves were the one thing that behaved exactly as predicted: the cleaning train was 32 hours late against a 24 hour rule, the trees had been left to close over the cutting for fifty years, and a signal set 3.1 kilometres back left every driver to guess when to brake. In this documentary: Thirty two hours What a leaf does to a rail Cost one: the cleaning train Cost two: the trees nobody counted Cost three: the check nobody could make Cost four: a signal three kilometres back Cost five: the tree he was looking for Twelve seconds Less than a minute The story that came first The bill Going Concern is a channel of long-form documentaries about companies, the decisions behind them and how they ended. This one is about Salisbury train. Questions this film answers: salisbury train crash salisbury train crash recovery 1906 salisbury train crash salisbury train station salisbury train salisbury train depot Image credits: Salisbury Tunnel Junction collision aerial.jpg by Rail Accident Investigation Branch, BY, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Class 158 No. 158765 at Yatton.jpg by Matt Davis, BY, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... South Western Railway Class 159 159020 Salisbury Station.jpg by BWard 1997, BY, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Railhead treatment train at Heath High Level.jpg by Dai Lygad, BY, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... South Western Railway 159019.jpg by andreboeni, BY, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Southwestern Railway Class 159 014 leaves Clapham Junc.jpg by kitmasterbloke, BY, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Worcester Shrub Hill Station old signals - First Great Western Class 158 (6365942943).jpg by Elliott Brown from Birmingham, United Kingdom, BY, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Somerset (UK) South Western Trains motorcar at the station.jpg by wwwuppertal, BY, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... South Western Railway Class 159 159010 Sailisbury Station.jpg by BWard 1997, BY, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Class 159 passes Battledown.jpg by kitmasterbloke, BY, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Rail Head Treatment train 66194 at Lincoln station.jpg by Rcsprinter123, BY, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Leaves off the line- Railhead Treatment Train at Coryton, Cardiff.jpg by Dai Lygad, BY, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Trackworker and 57008 on 3U18 Railhead Treatment Train (RHTT).jpg by kitmasterbloke, BY, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Class 159 DMU 159002 16.26 to Yeovil Junction, Templecombe 8.3.2009 img017 (10369910123).jpg by Gillett's Crossing from Bristol, United Kingdom, BY, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... South Western Railway 159003.jpg by andreboeni, BY, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Crushed leaf on rail on Fitchburg Line October 2025.jpg by 4300streetcar, BY, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Southern Region E5001, Ashford 150.jpg by Barry Lewis, BY, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Class 158 No. 158964 at Bath Spa.jpg by Matt Davis, BY, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Worcester Shrub Hill Station footbridge Network Rail workers (6365933947).jpg by Elliott Brown from Birmingham, United Kingdom, BY, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Magor footbridge with FGW Class 158 units.jpg by kitmasterbloke, BY, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... South Western Railway Class 159 159103 Andover Railway Station.jpg by BWard 1997, BY, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... London Waterloo Station concourse 2008-02-24.jpg by Mark Hillary, BY, https://c