1872 minor rail accident, ledbury tunnel - any hope of a source?

[samzeman]

Hi there. First time posting, if it's the wrong forum pls point me the right way, terribly sorry if so. I was looking at the article for the ledbury tunnel and it mentions a minor accident in 1872. The citation led to something that didn't even mention the word accident, was totally unrelated, so I did remove it (and there was a link embedded in the citation that led to a dead page on the nationalarchives site, which I searched and couldn't find anything on it there either).

I know this is incredibly specific but does anyone have any more info on this that isn't on the empty railwaysarchive page? Also, would that page really be an okay source for a wikipedia page? It kind of has no corroborating documents, and I don't know if you can just trust railwaysarchive by itself.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[John Webb]

The accident is reported as one without injuries. The Railway Inspectorate of the Board of Trade would not therefore have investigated it, hence the lack of any reference on the Railway archives website. The railway company may have carried out their own investigation - that may or may not have been saved for the National Archives - that would need a detailed search of their records.

Clearly someone at some time found something about this incident - my guess is that the National Archives hold the answer somewhere.

 

[Matlock Man]

A number of local newspapers (across the country, not just local to Ledbury) reported an accident in the tunnel: the reports are in editions dated in mid-August 1872. The reports can be accessed through the British Newspaper Archive, available on line for a fee. The website is also accessible through the Findmypast website which is available without charge at many public libraries.

 

[samzeman]

A number of local newspapers (across the country, not just local to Ledbury) reported an accident in the tunnel: the reports are in editions dated in mid-August 1872. The reports can be accessed through the British Newspaper Archive, available on line for a fee. The website is also accessible through the Findmypast website which is available without charge at many public libraries.

Thanks man, I don't know why I didn't check newspapers. Unfortunately they are all for a fee, but beggars can't be choosers. I have my source

 

[Gloster]

Looking at railwaysarchive, two accidents are listed on 18 July and 15 August 1872; it is possible that this is two entries for the same accident (one the accident, the other a report, for example) or there may genuinely have been two accidents a month apart. The site’s operator mentions that it has a document for each accident, but when it will appear depends on when he finds the time. I note that some recently posted documents are from 1873, so if he is working chronologically backwards (and I have no way of knowing if this is the case) then it shouldn’t be too long.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

A long time acquaintance of mine has done some online sleuthing and advises that the incident was reported in various newspapers / journals of the time, including the "Shipping and Mercantile Gazette"...

Incident was on the 15th of August (1872).

Luggage train spring broke and five waggons ruined and roof of the (mile long single track) tunnel was much injured. Heavy train drawn by two engines. Tunnel was closed from afternoon till after midnight and a coach replacement service was used for passenger service till it was open.

 

[Royston Vasey]

a coach replacement service was used for passenger service till it was open.

Some things from the past are so very familiar!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

The July 1872 incident seems to be a separate incident.

Date was the morning of Thursday 18th July 1872.

Gist of the July incident was that an excursion train from Ledbury to Worcester races had departed Ledbury, passing through the tunnel and was emerging when it collided with the engine of a goods train. Several passengers on the excursion train were reported as "shaken".

 

[samzeman]

Oh, that is interesting. Seems like I have more to add than a source.

Then again, maybe I shouldn't set the precedent of adding every minor accident that has ever been recorded happening there - I wonder how many there are overall. That sounds like a good thing to do on a rainy day.

Thank you very much for your help tell your acquiantance that I appreciate his research skills.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Will pass on your regards.

A coincidence, perhaps, that they were two separate incidents at this location within four weeks of one another, and both on a Thursday (!)

 

[krus_aragon]

Thanks man, I don't know why I didn't check newspapers. Unfortunately they are all for a fee, but beggars can't be choosers. I have my source

One free source of historical newspapers is https://newspapers.library.wales/ , a digitisation of the newspapers held at the National Library of Wales. Because the project was done with public money, there's no paywall between you and the content.

Admittedly, Ledbury's not in Wales, but I see that two papers carried a brief mention of the August accident: the South Wales Daily News and the Cardiff Times. (Regional papers often shared news reports, a bit like today's Associated Press.)

 

[4069]

Looking at railwaysarchive, two accidents are listed on 18 July and 15 August 1872; it is possible that this is two entries for the same accident (one the accident, the other a report, for example) or there may genuinely have been two accidents a month apart. The site’s operator mentions that it has a document for each accident, but when it will appear depends on when he finds the time. I note that some recently posted documents are from 1873, so if he is working chronologically backwards (and I have no way of knowing if this is the case) then it shouldn’t be too long.

The "I have a document for this accident" button is for potential contributors who might have something on the event- it doesn't mean that the site has any documents. All the official reports for 1872 (for which there are over 250, more than any other year in history!) have been uploaded to the site already. The others, like this one which the OP asked about, are events which we only know about from newspaper reports.

Stuart J

 

[samzeman]

One free source of historical newspapers is https://newspapers.library.wales/ , a digitisation of the newspapers held at the National Library of Wales. Because the project was done with public money, there's no paywall between you and the content.

Admittedly, Ledbury's not in Wales, but I see that two papers carried a brief mention of the August accident: the South Wales Daily News and the Cardiff Times. (Regional papers often shared news reports, a bit like today's Associated Press.)

Ah, this is helpful. Ledbury is close enough to wales that I honestly sometimes tell people I come from Wales, because for some reason that's easier than describing where Ledbury actually is LOL. I never would've thought of that, so thank you

The "I have a document for this accident" button is for potential contributors who might have something on the event- it doesn't mean that the site has any documents. All the official reports for 1872 (for which there are over 250, more than any other year in history!) have been uploaded to the site already. The others, like this one which the OP asked about, are events which we only know about from newspaper reports.

Stuart J

Why so many reports in 1872? Just random chance?

 

[Gloster]

The "I have a document for this accident" button is for potential contributors who might have something on the event- it doesn't mean that the site has any documents. All the official reports for 1872 (for which there are over 250, more than any other year in history!) have been uploaded to the site already. The others, like this one which the OP asked about, are events which we only know about from newspaper reports.

Stuart

I see and apologise. I misinterpreted it as a statement from yourself to the effect that you had a document, but had not yet had time to download it to the site. You will not be surprised to learn that I am not at home with computers, tablets, iPads and all the wonders of modern technology. Give me a book.

 

[4069]

Why so many reports in 1872? Just random chance?

Hardly. More the peak of a wave which had been building since accident investigation began in 1840. By 1872 the railway was a mature industry in commercial terms, carrying 375 million passengers and 169 million tons of freight in 1871. However, engineering and operational management had not kept up: continuous brakes, interlocking of points and signals and absolute block working had all been invented but were only applied on a small scale. The rising tide of accidents prompted the government to set up a Select Committee in 1870 and subsequently to pass the Regulation of Railways Act 1871, which for the first time gave the Board of Trade the legal power to inquire into the causes of accidents- for the preceding 31 years the inspecting officers had relied on force of personality alone as they had no statutory authority to investigate.

The number of reports in 1872 reflects the new powers, and the beginning of the transformation of railway operation which was only completed following the 1889 Regulation of Railways Act, when the three engineering safeguards listed above finally became compulsory for passenger trains and the lines they ran on.

I see and apologise. I misinterpreted it as a statement from yourself to the effect that you had a document, but had not yet had time to download it to the site. You will not be surprised to learn that I am not at home with computers, tablets, iPads and all the wonders of modern technology. Give me a book.

I sympathise- I am just a contributor to the Railways Archive site, not the owner, who is far more savvy about such things than I will ever be.

 

[elim]

One free source of historical newspapers is https://newspapers.library.wales/ , a digitisation of the newspapers held at the National Library of Wales. Because the project was done with public money, there's no paywall between you and the content.

Admittedly, Ledbury's not in Wales, but I see that two papers carried a brief mention of the August accident: the South Wales Daily News and the Cardiff Times. (Regional papers often shared news reports, a bit like today's Associated Press.)

Krus aragon - Regarding accidents - you wrote sometime ago about an accident at Chester when g,g,g, grandfather died - I'm also a descendent - can you contact me with more info