Trailer crashes into rail bridge (From Western Telegraph)

Trailer crashes into rail bridge

A quick-thinking barmaid averted a potential disaster after a tractor trailer crashed over the edge of a bridge, dumping eight tonnes of silage on to the railway line below.

The crash, on the Clarbeston Road railway bridge, happened at 10.10 pm on Saturday night, just ten minutes before a train was due to pass through.

Terina Wells, aged 31, a barmaid at the nearby Picton Inn, phoned the manned signal box further down the track to warn of the danger.

Dai Rees, landlord of the pub, said: We had the number of the signal box to hand because one of the gentlemen who mans it is a regular.

Trains were cancelled and the bridge closed off as fire crews, including a heavy rescue unit from Carmarthen, worked to clear the site.

The tractor was in an unstable position on the bridge, with one wheel in the air as the weight of the trailer, balancing precariously on the remains of the bridge wall, threatened to pull it over the edge.

In a four-hour operation, the tractor and trailer were righted and the tracks below cleared of silage and debris.

The bridge has been inspected by engineers from Railtrack and the highways department, and trains are now running as normal. The bridge is open, although traffic controls are in place.

The tractor driver, a 19-year-old local man, escaped unscathed from the smash. Police are currently investigating the cause of the collision.