Winchburgh railway accident
In the railway accident Winchburgh on 13 October 1862, two passenger trains met 2 km northwest of Winchburgh , Linlithgowshire , in Scotland on the railway line of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway (EGR) head-on. 17 people died.
Starting position
The double-track railway line Edinburgh – Glasgow of the EGR connected the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow via Falkirk and Linlithgow since 1842 . At the scene of the accident, the route runs in an approximately 10 meter deep cut in the terrain, which runs in a long curve. The route was not secured by signals , but was still driven here at a time interval. This meant that after a train left the route, the next one was allowed to follow it after a set time. If a train got stuck, someone had to be sent towards the next train to signal that the line was still occupied. It worked, of course, only if the operation a separate track for each direction of travel was available.
On October 13, 1862, however, one of the two tracks was closed because repairs were being carried out there. Therefore, trains had to use the same track in both directions. In order to establish safety, the following procedure was ordered: A “pilot locomotive” was to run on the now single-track section. It was a small steam locomotive that was otherwise only used for shunting and which differed significantly from the larger mainline locomotives . As a single vehicle, it was supposed to accompany the train that was allowed to drive on the single-track section. A train was only allowed to use the single-track section if it was accompanied by this "pilot locomotive". The idea behind this corresponded to the one in which a section of the route may only be driven on if the locomotive driver holds an object in his hand that is only issued once and represents the drive command (e.g. when securing with the electric tablet system ).
On that evening, a passenger train ran in opposite directions from Glasgow to Edinburgh and vice versa. Both trains were pulled by a steam locomotive with a tender . One of the locomotives involved was No. 57, built in 1856, with a 1A1 wheel arrangement. It was raining and getting dark early. The train going from Edinburgh to Glasgow was accompanied by the "pilot locomotive", so it was legally on the route.
the accident
The ordered security was violated:
- The originally planned “pilot locomotive” was needed for another use, withdrawn and replaced by a mainline locomotive.
- The “pilot locomotive” did not drive alone, but was also used to transport freight wagons because of the high volume of traffic - it was no longer different from other locomotives that hauled trains over the route.
The switch attendant who supervised the entrance to the single-track section on the Glasgow side was inexperienced. As the train from Glasgow approached the entrance to the single-track section, he saw the second train following, which he thought was the "pilot locomotive" with attached freight cars, and therefore gave the two trains permission to enter the single-track section. In fact, the second train was a construction train that brought gravel to the construction site. Why the engine driver of the train coming from Glasgow did not make sure that he was with the "pilot locomotive" is not mentioned in the sources.
The locomotive drivers of the two passenger trains only saw the headlights of the other locomotive when they were only 300 meters away from each other due to the route in a slight curve . Both locomotive drivers initiated braking and switched to "reversing". When the two trains collided at around 6:30 p.m., they were already moving relatively slowly. The train going to Edinburgh was still traveling about 30 km / h, the counter train only about 10 km / h when the trains collided. Upon impact, the tender of the train coming from Glasgow pushed onto the locomotive. The flap to the fire box broke and the coal carried on the tender caught fire. The brake car following the tender was pushed onto the next passenger car , a 3rd class vehicle , and crushed it under itself. Most of the people died here. The superstructure , on the other hand, was hardly damaged. After the wreckage had been cleared away the next day, rail traffic could be resumed immediately.
consequences
17 people died and 150 were injured. The engine driver of the train coming from Glasgow had managed to jump off before the collision. He survived seriously injured. The other driver and both stokers died.
The rescue work was made more difficult, on the one hand, by the fact that it was not possible to ignite lights in the wet. The scene of the accident was initially only illuminated by the burning coals from the tender. The scene of the accident was also far away from the railway operating points . One of the travelers came from nearby Linlithgow and was familiar with the local area. He went to a nearby manor house, got a horse and a carriage there and took it to Linlithgow station, 6 km away. From there an emergency train could be telegraphed to Edinburgh . Until it arrived, the injured lay in the rain for hours. All those affected could then be evacuated from the accident site to Linlithgow and Edinburgh by midnight.
First of all, the switchman who let the train from Glasgow onto the track was arrested. However, no charges were brought against him. Rather, there were legal proceedings against the director of the railway company and its operations manager, since the investigation report came to the conclusion that the safety regulations for operation at the accident site were inadequate. However, the jury in the criminal case found it “not guilty”.
See also
literature
- NN: Winchburgh Railway Disaster 1862 . Blackburn 2006.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ NN: Winchburgh Railway Disaster. S. [9].
- ^ NN: Winchburgh Railway Disaster. S. [4].
- ^ NN: Winchburgh Railway Disaster. S. [10].
- ^ NN: Winchburgh Railway Disaster. S. [8].
- ^ NN: Winchburgh Railway Disaster. S. [7].
- ^ NN: Winchburgh Railway Disaster. S. [10].
- ^ NN: Winchburgh Railway Disaster. S. [4].
- ^ NN: Winchburgh Railway Disaster. S. [5].
- ^ NN: Winchburgh Railway Disaster. S. [4f].
- ^ NN: Winchburgh Railway Disaster. S. [7].
- ^ NN: Winchburgh Railway Disaster. S. [3].
- ^ NN: Winchburgh Railway Disaster. S. [4].
- ^ NN: Winchburgh Railway Disaster. S. [10].
- ^ NN: Winchburgh Railway Disaster. S. [7].
- ^ NN: Winchburgh Railway Disaster. S. [8].
- ^ NN: Winchburgh Railway Disaster. S. [8].
- ^ NN: Winchburgh Railway Disaster. S. [10].
Coordinates: 55 ° 58 ′ 26 " N , 3 ° 29 ′ 32" W.