Britain's Railway Disasters by Michael Foley

Author:Michael Foley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Bisac Code 1: KNGT; TRA000000; TRANSPORTATION / General
ISBN: 9781473831865
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books
Published: 2014-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Another fallen bridge and crashed train on the Midland line near Hereford, in 1880.

The Accrington correspondent of The Times said that the accident was the subject of much criticism. He said that it was considered a blunder to allow an express to approach within 20 to 30 yards of a station before applying the brake. The report didn’t make it clear if the express was supposed to stop at the station or whether he meant that it should slow down and brake even if it wasn’t supposed to stop.

March 1881 saw a case that showed the railway companies had become liable to pay damages in any situation where someone was hurt on the railway, despite their own negligence. The case was heard at Westminster Court and involved a Mr Wilkes and the North Eastern Railway Company.

The report did not mention where the accident happened but it seems that Mr Wilkes went through a small gate by a station and crossed the line. There was a clear sight of the line for up to 900 yards and it was broad daylight. However, Mr Wilkes did not look along the line before crossing and was hit by a train, which cut off his arm.

Despite his own carelessness Mr Wilkes was awarded £400. This was because the gate had been left open and the train had not whistled as it approached the station.

The new decade had seen an improvement in the number of accidents, with only one serious accident a year so far. The accident, in 1882, occurred on 27 November at Inverythan on the Great North of Scotland Railway, on the Macduff and Turriff branch line. There were five deaths. When The Bristol Mercury reported on the accident on 28 November they said that official accounts gave the number of deaths as five, but rumour stated fourteen.

The accident happened between Auchterless and Fyvie stations. It involved a mixed train of both passenger carriages and goods wagons. It was the practice of the railway to run such trains. The train left Macduff at 4.20 pm going to Aberdeen. The Huddersfield Daily Chronicle said it was an accident the likes of which had never occurred on the line before.

After leaving Auchterless the train reached a bridge over the Turriff Road, which was about 18 feet above the road. The engine and the guard’s van passed safely over the bridge but when the three goods wagons following tried to pass over, the bridge collapsed. The goods wagons and the following passenger carriages fell down onto the road. One Third Class carriage teetered on the edge for a time before following the others down onto the road. There were two Third Class carriages as well as the goods trucks that fell. The only First Class carriage stayed on the line. The accident had happened in a very rural area so, apart from the surviving passengers, there was no one to help the injured. It was 8.15 before a relief train arrived.

The report went on to say that the bridge had been in a ‘shaky state for some time’.

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