Norton Fitzwarren rail crash (1940)
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The Norton Fitzwarren rail crash occurred on November 4, 1940 between Taunton and Norton Fitzwarren in England, when the driver of a train misunderstood the signalling and track layout, causing him to drive the train through a set of points and off the rails. 27 people were killed. The locomotive involved was GWR King Class King George VI which was subsequently repaired and returned to service. A previous significant accident occurred here on 10 November 1890 (see below) and the Taunton train fire of 1978 was also within 2 miles.
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[edit] Overview
The crash occurred at a point on the railway where four lines were reduced to two.
Instead of the usual practice of locating signals on the left-hand side of their respective tracks, the signals were located to the left of one track, but to the right of the other.
The driver of the doomed train left Taunton station observing the indications of the right-hand signals (all green, indicating "proceed"), not realizing his train was travelling on the left-hand track. Wartime blackout conditions at night contributed to this misapprehension. The train driver only realised his mistake when another train overtook him, by which time it was too late to stop before the track ended.
[edit] Automatic Warning System (AWS)
The signals at Norton Fitzwarren railway station were fitted with the GWR Automatic Warning System (AWS) which alerts the driver in his cab, both audibly and visually that he is approaching a distant signal at caution. A yellow warning signal has to be acknowledged or the brakes are applied.
Unfortunately, the driver can be so used to cancelling the warning, that he may do this subconsciously. This would especially happen if the driver is reading the wrong green signal.
There is no reason to believe that the AWS equipment was not working properly.
[edit] Stop and Examine
The guard of the overtaking train was alarmed by strange noises, which later turned out to be ballast thrown up by the now-wrecked train.
He applied his own brakes under the "Stop and Examine" rule to check what might be the problem. Finding nothing, the overtaking train proceeded on its way with a small delay, the guard only later learning of the accident.
[edit] Cause
The pairs of signals were badly placed as an economy measure. If at least one pair of signals had been correctly placed - requiring a gantry or a bracket - then the driver of the doomed train would have been more likely to recognise which track he was on and which signals related to it.
It would not have helped that Great Western locomotives had the driver on the right hand side, when his signals were generally on the left hand side.
[edit] 1890 rail accident
The accident occurred when the Cape Mail express came into collision with a shunted freight train. Ten people lost their lives.
