Lewisham 1957

[Jimbob52]

A reminder that Monday, 4 December sees the anniversary of the tragic accident at St John’s, Lewisham in 1957. There were 90 fatalities and 173 were injured. It is the third most serious railway accident in the UK.

An detailed account of the disaster was written by Peter Tatlow to mark the 50th anniversary (‘St John’s, Lewisham, 50 Years On’, Oakwood Press). I am not aware of anything more recent.

 

[Rescars]

This tragic accident took place during one of the last of the London "smogs". Thankfully things have improved significantly since then, even though COP28 shows we have a long way to go.

 

[Harvester]

A reminder that Monday, 4 December sees the anniversary of the tragic accident at St John’s, Lewisham in 1957. There were 90 fatalities and 173 were injured. It is the third most serious railway accident in the UK.

It could have been a lot worse with a third train just avoiding the carnage. An alert emu driver peering through the mist, noticed tilting girders as he approached the bridge (damaged underneath by the collision) and slammed on the brakes. His train stopped on the overbridge, only yards short of the tilting track that would have flung the emu down onto the wreckage below.

 

[Taunton]

One is struck how many of the most significant rail accidents have happened in the London suburban boroughs, and the trend seems to continue in this narrow band with Clapham, Southall and Ladbroke Grove.

 

[satisnek]

I believe that my late mother - a young adult living with her parents in Sidcup at the time - was caught up in the logjam behind this.

One is struck how many of the most significant rail accidents have happened in the London suburban boroughs, and the trend seems to continue in this narrow band with Clapham, Southall and Ladbroke Grove.

It stands to reason as these have always been the busiest routes in the country, so bumping up the probability of something going calamitously wrong.

 

[Falcon1200]

Something I find astonishing is the way this dreadful accident was reported in the main railway publication of the time; In the February 1958 Railway Magazine there is a single paragraph on its editorial page, and a shorter paragraph in the Notes and News section; The March 1958 edition has another single editorial paragraph, about the re-opening of the Nunhead/Lewisham line (over the 'temporary' bridge, of which there is a photo). And that's it. The comparison with today, for example after Carmont, is stark, the rarity of such accidents being a major reason of course, however as stated in the OP Lewisham was, and still is, the third worst accident in British railway history.

(There is another single paragraph report, in the Notes and News section of the March 1958 Railway Magazine, about the rear end collision near Dagenham on January 30th; In which 10 people were killed).

 

[43066]

One is struck how many of the most significant rail accidents have happened in the London suburban boroughs, and the trend seems to continue in this narrow band with Clapham, Southall and Ladbroke Grove.

Indeed. It’s notable that the accident mentioned here occurred a short distance further into London and on the same line as the 1967 Hither Green rail crash.

over the 'temporary' bridge, of which there is a photo

Which of course is still in situ, known as the “military bridge”. That’s testament to the quality of the workmanship of (presumably) the Royal Engineers.

 

[Trackman]

Which of course is still in situ, known as the “military bridge”. That’s testament to the quality of the workmanship of (presumably) the Royal Engineers.

I think it took a month to build, which is amazing.

 

[Peter Sarf]

One is struck how many of the most significant rail accidents have happened in the London suburban boroughs, and the trend seems to continue in this narrow band with Clapham, Southall and Ladbroke Grove.

I suppose there will always be more accidents on the busier parts of the network. Not just because of the risk of two trains colliding is greater due to traffic density. But also the more lines and trains the more often these will happen. Worse still the length of the trains in busier areas will lead to potentially more injuries and fatalities in each individual accident.

I think it took a month to build, which is amazing.

I always think it is amazing what can be achieved when something is urgent. Less time planning something to the nth degree, no time for efficiency in the use of materials, no need for aesthetics.

 

[Rescars]

One is struck how many of the most significant rail accidents have happened in the London suburban boroughs, and the trend seems to continue in this narrow band with Clapham, Southall and Ladbroke Grove.

Preceded of course by South Croydon and then, worst of all, by Harrow and Wealdstone.

 

[Trackman]

I always think it is amazing what can be achieved when something is urgent. Less time planning something to the nth degree, no time for efficiency in the use of materials, no need for aesthetics.

I was thinking too about planning and sourcing the relevant materials etc.. I think a lot of the materials came by the railway. It's mind blowing. I wonder if it was something set in place during WWII to deal with this kind of thing?

 

[John Webb]

Something I find astonishing is the way this dreadful accident was reported in the main railway publication of the time; In the February 1958 Railway Magazine there is a single paragraph on its editorial page, and a shorter paragraph in the Notes and News section; The March 1958 edition has another single editorial paragraph, about the re-opening of the Nunhead/Lewisham line (over the 'temporary' bridge, of which there is a photo). And that's it. The comparison with today, for example after Carmont, is stark, the rarity of such accidents being a major reason of course, however as stated in the OP Lewisham was, and still is, the third worst accident in British railway history.

(There is another single paragraph report, in the Notes and News section of the March 1958 Railway Magazine, about the rear end collision near Dagenham on January 30th; In which 10 people were killed).

I was in the first year of a secondary school half a mile from the crash site - our playground backed onto the Mid-Kent line just west of St John's Station. We were sent home early that day because of the fog - the normally 30minute bus journey took nearly two hours.
Regarding the lack of comment and pictures in the Railway Magazine (RM), that was not uncommon then - few people with cameras, dark and foggy and a police cordon around the site. There followed the Coroner's Court, the charging of the driver Trew for manslaughter and the official inquiry delayed by these proceedings. The final report wasn't published until 16th June 1958, so it would be interesting to look at the issues of RM after this date to see what they say.

I was thinking too about planning and sourcing the relevant materials etc.. I think a lot of the materials came by the railway. It's mind blowing. I wonder if it was something set in place during WWII to deal with this kind of thing?

The book by Peter Tatlow mentioned in post #1 (Oakwood Press, 2007, ISBN 978 0 85361 669 6) goes into considerable detail about how the rebuild was achieved, where the equipment came from and other details.

 

[Dr_Paul]

My late dad told me how a work colleague of his was involved in the accident. He was thrown from his seat by the impact, and ended up hanging head-down out of a carriage window with his knees bent over the frame, presumably his feet were jammed inside the carriage, and was stuck there for some time before he was rescued.

By coincidence, another of my dad's work colleagues was involved in the Harrow and Wealdstone accident; he was on the up slow that was hit by the up express. He was uninjured and walked away from the scene, and managed to get into work by some other route.

 

[Falcon1200]

The final report wasn't published until 16th June 1958, so it would be interesting to look at the issues of RM after this date to see what they say.

The September 1958 edition of RM has, again, a single paragraph on the accident in the editorial section (and also a paragraph on Dagenham) but, as far as I can see, that was all. IIRC British Railways Illustrated Magazine had, fairly recently, a feature on Lewisham, bus so far I have not been able to locate it.

 

[frodshamfella]

My grandad was in this accident , he survived it.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Was it the actual collision into the stationary train, or the related bridge collapse that crushed one or more carriages of the following train, that caused such a significant loss of life in this sad incident?

 

[Harvester]

Was it the actual collision into the stationary train, or the related bridge collapse that crushed one or more carriages of the following train, that caused such a significant loss of life in this sad incident?

There were more fatalities in the Ramsgate train which hit the back of the stationary EMU. 34066’s tender was flung against a stanchion, collapsing part of the bridge onto the front two coaches of it’s train.

 

[norbitonflyer]

There were more fatalities in the Ramsgate train which hit the back of the stationary EMU. 34066’s tender was flung against a stanchion, collapsing part of the bridge onto the front two coaches of it’s train.

The official report has 38 fatalities in the electric train (including its guard) and 49 passengers in the steam train. As this is less than the total of 90, I assume that it couldn't be determined which train the other three had been in.

Three coaches of each train were written off. The steam-hauled train did sustain more damage than the electric because of the collapsing bridge, but the electric had more people in it (1,500 as opposed to 700 in the steam train) and in the evening peak the rear carriages, which took the initial impact from the locomotive, would have been the most crowded. (note that 1,500 is 150 in each carriage, which would have only seats for between 80 and 120 depending whether they were motors or trailers, and compartment or open. (the train was a 10EPB formation, with a BR-type 2EPB at the rear)

 

[Rescars]

I was thinking too about planning and sourcing the relevant materials etc.. I think a lot of the materials came by the railway. It's mind blowing. I wonder if it was something set in place during WWII to deal with this kind of thing?

The ability to respond rapidly and instigate significant emergency repairs seems to pre-date WWII. Nock tells of work starting on the reconstruction of the bridge at Dulais on the GWR's Cambrian line within 48 hours of the bridge's collapse, which was caused by floodwater during a storm in 1936.

 

[D Williams]

Until privatisation really kicked in the railway kept available a large stock of materials , plant and machinery and staff that/who could cope with out of course events. Read any of the HRI accident reports and a common theme is the speed at which services were restored. Also you have to bear in mind that until the late 1960's world war two with its heavy loss of life was fresh in many peoples minds therefore a rail accident, although tragic for those involved or affected, was viewed in a different light to the histrionics that go on today. Rail is no longer an essential service hence the practice of shutting down services completely when things go wrong. There is no spare capacity, no spare staff , no stock of spares etc etc. Luckily the road transport industry is there to take up the slack. American railroads still have the ability to restore services with amazing speed. They are very good at it due to the high number of serious derailments. How long the court cases go on for is probably another matter!

 

[Falcon1200]

Until privatisation really kicked in the railway kept available a large stock of materials , plant and machinery and staff that/who could cope with out of course events.

There is no spare capacity, no spare staff , no stock of spares etc etc.

Earlier this week a colleague was reminiscing about an (under) bridge strike which closed the Lanark branch; Material in stock was used to support the damaged bridge and the line was re-opened in a couple of days. This was well after privatisation, so swift response can still occur!