Jimbob52
Member
Thank you to all who contributed to the ‘Accidents in the month of December’ thread.
Turning to the month of January, the most serious, in terms of the effect on the operation of the railway, is probably the accident on 6 January 1968 at the Automatic Half Barrier (AHB) level crossing at Hixon (Staffs) when a Manchester to Euston express running at about 75 mph collided with a road transporter carrying a 120-ton transformer. There were 11 fatalities.
Because HM Railway Inspectorate had itself recommended the introduction of AHB crossings, the investigation was held as a judicial enquiry under Section 7 of the Railways Act 1871, the first Section 7 inquiry since the Tay Bridge disaster of 1879. (A similar enquiry was held into the Clapham Junction accident in December 1988). Although the Report made several recommendations, the introduction of AHB crossings almost ceased.
There was a serious accident at Lichfield TV on 1 January 1946 when a goods train ran into the rear of a stationary passenger train owing to a points failure in extremely cold weather. There were 20 fatalities.
On 30 January 1958, 10 people were killed at Dagenham East when two trains collided in thick fog.
Perhaps the most inexplicable accident occurred at Sutton Coldfield on 23 January 1955 when an express from Sheffield to Birmingham failed to reduce speed for the extremely sharp curve in the station. Despite a permanent speed restriction of 30 mph (preceded by a 40 mph restriction) it was estimated the train was travelling at 55 – 60 mph. Because of engineering works, the train was on a diversionary route, running via Sutton Coldfield rather than Tamworth. The booked driver had therefore been replaced by a ‘conductor driver’ who was familiar with the route. The approach to the station was recognisable by a short tunnel but no attempt was made to reduce speed.
Finally, Ilford has the unfortunate distinction of suffering two January accidents. On 1 January 1915 a fast passenger train failed to observe a red signal and collided with a local train in the station. There were 10 fatalities and a remarkable 500 passengers who complained of injuries. A similar accident occurred on 16 January 1944 when two trains collided in dense fog. There were 9 fatalities.
Turning to the month of January, the most serious, in terms of the effect on the operation of the railway, is probably the accident on 6 January 1968 at the Automatic Half Barrier (AHB) level crossing at Hixon (Staffs) when a Manchester to Euston express running at about 75 mph collided with a road transporter carrying a 120-ton transformer. There were 11 fatalities.
Because HM Railway Inspectorate had itself recommended the introduction of AHB crossings, the investigation was held as a judicial enquiry under Section 7 of the Railways Act 1871, the first Section 7 inquiry since the Tay Bridge disaster of 1879. (A similar enquiry was held into the Clapham Junction accident in December 1988). Although the Report made several recommendations, the introduction of AHB crossings almost ceased.
There was a serious accident at Lichfield TV on 1 January 1946 when a goods train ran into the rear of a stationary passenger train owing to a points failure in extremely cold weather. There were 20 fatalities.
On 30 January 1958, 10 people were killed at Dagenham East when two trains collided in thick fog.
Perhaps the most inexplicable accident occurred at Sutton Coldfield on 23 January 1955 when an express from Sheffield to Birmingham failed to reduce speed for the extremely sharp curve in the station. Despite a permanent speed restriction of 30 mph (preceded by a 40 mph restriction) it was estimated the train was travelling at 55 – 60 mph. Because of engineering works, the train was on a diversionary route, running via Sutton Coldfield rather than Tamworth. The booked driver had therefore been replaced by a ‘conductor driver’ who was familiar with the route. The approach to the station was recognisable by a short tunnel but no attempt was made to reduce speed.
Finally, Ilford has the unfortunate distinction of suffering two January accidents. On 1 January 1915 a fast passenger train failed to observe a red signal and collided with a local train in the station. There were 10 fatalities and a remarkable 500 passengers who complained of injuries. A similar accident occurred on 16 January 1944 when two trains collided in dense fog. There were 9 fatalities.
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