Driver is Killed As Steam Train Hits a Car

THE driver of a miniature steam train died yesterday after it collided with a car at a level crossing.

The train was carrying sightseers on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Light Railway in Kent.

After the collision, at 6.20pm near Dungeness, the emergency services arrived at the scene within minutes and tried in vain to save the driver’s life.

None of the passengers on board was hurt. Eyewitness Mark Richardson said: ‘I heard a massive bang then saw all the passengers climbing off the carriages to safety.’ The train, which is a third of the size of a normal locomotive, is designed to run at speeds of 25mph.

Another accident involving the light railway occurred in August 2003 when train driver Kevin Crouch died after a car crashed into his engine on a level crossing.