Railway accident at Warrington
The railway accident at Warrington was a rear-end collision that occurred on June 29, 1867 at Walton Junction south of Warrington , Cheshire , because the safety device used there against such railway accidents no longer corresponded to the state of the art . Contrary to recommendations that resulted from previous accidents, there was still no signal dependency of the turnouts on the signals . 8 people died.
Starting position
Walton Junction was a place of business south of the train station Warrington Bank Quay , the main station of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) in Warrington. At operating location Walton Junction the branched path of Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Railway (BLC) to Birkenhead and Chester from. 150 meters away, the Warrington and Stockton Railway branched off from the Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Railway . In order to safeguard this complex operational situation, the three railways installed form signals here in 1856 , which were operated jointly by a neighboring signal box . However, points and signals were set independently of each other and were not interdependent.
A freight train to London was to be overtaken by a passenger train that had the same destination in Warrington . The freight train consisted of a steam locomotive followed by a tender , 36 loaded coal cars and a final brake car . The passenger of LNWR consisted of a locomotive , which a Tender, a sled, a combined luggage and third class -vans, a passenger car third class, a freight wagon , the fish was loaded, a baggage car, two other cars the third class, two covered Freight cars that had loaded horses, a first class car, a second class car and finally another brake car followed. This train came from Liverpool Lime Street , was supposed to go to London Euston , was traveling with about 300 passengers and was a little delayed. The dispatcher in Warrington therefore decided to let the coal train go ahead. At 11:25 a.m. he gave him the order to leave Walton Junction and leave the route to London and let the passenger train pass. According to the timetable , the passenger train should have arrived in Warrington at 11:21 a.m. and left again at 11:30 a.m. However, he didn't arrive until 11:32 a.m. The signal box in Walton Junction was informed of the procedure and directed the freight train to the branching Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Railway , where the freight train stopped to wait for the passenger trains to pass. It left Warrington Bank Quay station at 11:35 am .
the accident
As the passenger train drove towards Walton Junction , the distant signal showed "Waiting for a stop". By whistling, the engine driver drew the signal box's attention to himself and the intended onward journey towards London. The signal box then immediately signaled to him "Drive free". Therefore, the passenger train drove on without braking at a speed of around 30 km / h. The signal box had released the route in the direction of London, but forgot to reset the connecting switch to the BLC track behind the freight train. The passenger train was also directed onto the BLC track. The driver of the passenger train only noticed him about 15 meters from the stopping coal train. He only had time to take the steam off the machine when the collision occurred. The approaching locomotive and its tender derailed, as did the four following cars, some of which were badly damaged. The brake car at the end of the freight train was completely smashed - the brakeman working in it survived the accident completely unharmed. Five of the coal wagons at the end of the train were damaged - some seriously.
consequences
8 people died, five of them immediately in the accident, three succumbed to their injuries later. 70 people were also injured, including the engine driver, the stoker and a conductor of the approaching passenger train.
The employee in the signal box was found guilty of causing the accident, both by the coroner and in the later criminal proceedings . He was convicted of negligent homicide in July 1867 .
The unequivocal recommendation of the accident report was to introduce signal dependency across the UK's rail network for such operational danger spots. It was emphasized that on January 1, 1862, a similar accident between two freight trains had occurred in the same place, in which one person died and two others were injured. In the accident report for this first accident, it had already been recommended that this junction be secured with signal-dependent switches, a recommendation that was ignored.
See also
literature
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The Times 1867:
- NN: "Dreadful Railway Accident", July 1, 1867 edition, p. 10.
- NN: "The Accident near Warrington", July 2, 1867 edition, p. 12.
- NN: "The Fatal Railway Collision at Warrington", July 6, 1867 edition, p. 14.
- NN: "The Fatal Railway Collision near Warrington", July 10, 1867 edition, p. 5.
- W. Yolland: Accident report to the Board of Trade .
Individual evidence
- ^ Yolland: Accident report, p. 46.
- ^ Yolland: Accident report, p. 47.
- ^ Yolland: Accident report, p. 47.
- ^ Yolland: Accident report, p. 46.
- ^ Yolland: Accident report, p. 49.
- ^ Railways Archive - Accidents Archive ; Extract from the accident report .
- ↑ See letter from W. Yolland to the Board of Trade : Vor Yolland: Unfallbericht, p. 46 u. P. 48.
Coordinates: 53 ° 21 ′ 41.4 " N , 2 ° 37 ′ 31.1" W.