INVESTIGATIONS have been launched into the deaths of local rail workers who were ploughed down by a runaway wagon as they worked on the line.
Carnforth lost two sons when the track-laden flatbed trolley separated from a stationary train and careered three miles downhill into them at an estimated 40mph.
Track maintenance workers Colin Buckley, 49, and Darren Burgess, 30, died in the early hours on Sunday with colleagues Chris Waters, 54, from Morecambe, and Gary Tindall, 46, of Tebay.
The railway workers union, the RMT, is demanding a public inquiry and a sus-pension of all similar works on lines.
Morecambe and Lunesdale MP Geraldine Smith would not be drawn on whether there should be an inquiry but said the families' wishes would guide her actions.
Mr Waters' widow Christine and their children Alan, 16, and Donna, 21, said they are not pointing the finger at anyone.
Families of the two Carnforth men did not want to talk about the accident.
Christine, who lost her husband on the 23rd anniversary of their engagement, said: "Chris was safety conscious and he did complain about the new hats being intrusive. But he was just voicing his opinion."
Her son Alan said: "He didn't like the new hats because they were ill-fitting, made him sweat and slipped off - but he never complained about the safety issue. We are not looking to blame anyone," he stressed.
Christine, a WRVS volunteer, added: "You can't bring him back and accidents do happen."
But she said a public inquiry will enable outsiders' to look at what happened.
"It has to be done within the railway to help the men who have to go back out onto the track. I think they are all having counselling. The shock was bad enough for us but for them to see what happened to their mates - I can't imagine what they went through."
Chris, who worked on the railways for more than 20 years, had planned to spend Wednesday with his mother in Inverness for her birthday.
"She got a letter from him on Monday confirming the details that made the shock of it worse," said Christine.
She described her husband as a good family man' who was also a Royalist and an avid football supporter of England and Arsenal a passion he shared with his son Alan.
The victims were among 10 men working for rail contractor Carillion on the West Coast main line south of Tebay. Three others were injured.
The British Transport Police's Peter Davies said the accident was a scene of devastation'.
Chris Connell, a BTP inspector, said: "The inquiry will take some time. It is a process of discovery. As soon as the investigation is finalised it will go to the relevant authorities."
Police and the Health and Safety Executive are probing whether anyone should be prosecuted.
Inquiries will focus on how the trolley separated from its engine and on communication between the depot and workers on the line.
The use of all similar railway wagons has been suspended.
Network Rail, which took over running the railway infrastructure from Railtrack, has also launched a probe.
The company's Kevin Groves said he understood the trolley was modified to have an automatic braking system. The question now is what went wrong?' Carnforth mayor Sheila McNulty said: "This is a terrible tragedy."
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