Hawes Junction rail crash
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The Hawes Junction rail crash occurred on December 24, 1910, on the Midland Railway's Settle and Carlisle mainline at the junction with the Wensleydale Railway in Westmorland (now Cumbria), England. It was caused when a busy signalman forgot about a pair of light engines waiting at his down (northbound) starting signal to return to their base at Carlisle. They were still waiting there when the signalman set the road for the down Scotch express: when the signal cleared, the light engines set off in front of the express into the same block section. Since the light engines were travelling at low speed from a stand at Hawes Junction, and the following express was travelling at high speed, a collision was inevitable. The express caught the light engines just after Moorcock Tunnel near Ais Gill summit and was almost wholly derailed.
Casualties were made worse by the fire which broke out in the coaches, fed by the gas for the coaches' lights leaking from ruptured pipes and ignited by the coals from the locomotives' fireboxes. Twelve people lost their lives as a result of this accident; some were trapped in the wreckage and were burned to death.
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[edit] Rule 55
Factors contributing to the accident included the failure of the crews of the light engines to obey Rule 55 by reminding the signalman that they were waiting on the main line. Since the signalman was exceptionally busy with several more light engines, a moment of forgetfulness is understandable, and Rule 55 was written with this in mind.
The accident would have been prevented if track circuits had been installed to detect the presence of a train on the main lines, and interlocking with the signals would have prevented them being cleared by the signalman. Track circuits had been invented in the 1870s and had proved to be very successful; unfortunately most British railway companies were slow to install them. The high level of traffic movements made Hawes Junction a prime location for their installation; the Board of Trade accident report unequivocally recommended this, and the Midland Railway rapidly complied both here and at 900 other locations on their network.
[edit] Small engine policy
The signalman would also not have had to deal with so many engine movements in the first place, but for the Midland's policy of using small engines. This meant that many trains had to be assisted to Ais Gill summit, and the assisting engines then had to return light to their respective bases. Ais Gill was the scene of another serious accident less than three years later, in which the small-engine policy was again a contributing factor.
[edit] Similar accidents
- The Quintinshill rail crash also involved a signalman forgetting about a train on the main line.
- Thirsk rail crash - an overtired and ill signalman dozes off and forgets about a train waiting at his signals.
- Winwick rail crash - signalman and booking boy forgot about train on main line.
- There are a few accidents involving tunnels.
[edit] External links
- A Christmas Tragedy - description of the crash on the Danger Ahead historic railway disasters website.
