Salisbury rail crash

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In the Salisbury rail crash of 30 June 1906, a London and South Western Railway express train from Plymouth to London Waterloo failed to take a very sharp curve at the eastern end of Salisbury station. The curve had a speed limit of 30 mph, but the express had been travelling at over 70 mph. The train was completely derailed, and smashed into a milk train, killing 28 people.

The accident occurred at the same time as a short cut of the rival Great Western Railway was opening, and it is thought that the driver of the crashed train was trying to show that his railway was capable of competitive speeds. It was also rumoured that passengers - mostly rich New Yorkers travelling to London from the transatlantic port at Plymouth - had bribed the driver to run the train as fast as possible, but there was no evidence of this, and if anything the train had lost time earlier. Conversely, it was stated that drivers often ran through Salisbury very fast on these trains to "get a run" at the following hill. The engine was a new "L12" 4-4-0 with a higher centre of gravity than the earlier "T9" class.

As a result of the crash, all trains were required to stop at Salisbury station from that point onwards, and the speed limit on the curve east of Salisbury was reduced to 15 mph. This limit is still in force today.

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[edit] References

Hamilton., J.A.B.. British Railway Accidents of the 20th Century (reprinted as Tracks to Disaster)..
Nock, O.S. (1980). Historic Railway Disasters, 2nd ed., Ian Allan.
Rolt, L.T.C. (1956 (and later editions)). Red for Danger. Bodley Head / David and Charles / Pan Books.