Bourne End Railway Accident

In the Bourne End railway accident on September 30, 1945, a train derailed on the West Coast Main Line at Bourne End in Hertfordshire , UK . 43 people died.

Starting position

The night express train was on the evening of September 29th ( scheduled departure: 20:20) from Perth in Scotland to London - Euston at 60 mph (almost 100 km / h). He led 15 cars and was pulled by a steam locomotive of the type LMS 6100 Royal Scot with the no. 6157 and the name The Royal Artilleryman . 398 passengers used the train , 42 of them the sleeping cars . The engine driver was experienced and reliable, but had been on duty for 26 days in a row due to a war-related staff shortage. The visibility was good on this sunny morning.

In the area of Bourne End the line had four tracks : for each direction of travel there was one track for faster and slower trains. Due to construction work on the Watford tunnel, it was planned to divert the express train from the track for fast moving trains to the track for slow moving trains. At Bourne End there was the necessary switch connection between the two tracks. This crossing point was secured by two signals , a pre- signal and a main signal , which indicated to the engine driver that the speed had to be reduced to 15 mph (25 km / h) for the track change. In addition, the train drivers concerned had been notified in writing of the journey on the deviating track. The driver of the night train had also read the announcement.

the accident

The engine driver was probably inattentive due to fatigue and ignored the speed limit. He drove on at 60 mph. The train derailed when driving on the switch connection at 9:03 am. The locomotive and the first six cars overturned, fell down an embankment, and ended up in a field. The six following cars derailed. Only the last three cars were not affected.

consequences

43 people died - including the engine driver and the stoker -, 124 others were injured, 64 of them seriously.

The accident was of a pilot of the Royal Air Force during its launch from the adjacent airfield Bovingdon observed. He notified the railway of the accident via the control tower . The airfield staff helped significantly with the rescue and recovery work.

Similar accidents

swell

literature

JAB Hamilton: British Railway Accidents of the 20th Century 1967. Reprint: Disaster down the Line. 1987. ISBN 978-0-7137-1973-4
Lionel Thomas Caswell Rolt : Red for Danger . Edition: London 1978. ISBN 0-330-25555-X , pp. 279f.

Movie

Bourne End Crash . 16mm news film, 3 minutes.

Web links

Accident report . In: Railways Archive.

Individual evidence

↑ Numbers according to the official accident report - the numbers in the English-language Wikipedia differ in part.
^ After John Huntley: Railways in the Cinema . London 1969, p. 116, available at the British Film Institute .

51.751691 -0.530321Coordinates: 51 ° 45 ′ 6.1 " N , 0 ° 31 ′ 49.2" W.

[1] Numbers according to the official accident report - the numbers in the English-language Wikipedia differ in part.

[2] After John Huntley: Railways in the Cinema . London 1969, p. 116, available at the British Film Institute .