Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash
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| Details | |
|---|---|
| Date and time: | 8 October 1952 08:19 |
| Location: | Harrow and Wealdstone |
| Rail line: | West Coast Main Line (BR London Midland) |
| Cause | SPAD |
| Statistics | |
| Trains: | 3 |
| Deaths: | 112 |
| Injuries: | 340 |
| List of UK rail accidents by year | |
The Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash was a major railway collision on the British railway system on 8 October 1952.
The accident took place 11.5 miles (18.5 km) from central London. The crash was the worst peacetime railway crash in Great Britain, surpassed only by the 1915 accident at Quintinshill, Scotland, in which a troop train collided with a stationary passenger train and another express train ran into the wreckage.
[edit] The accident
The crash, which took place at 8.19 am, was a double collision involving three trains. The 7.31 local passenger train from Tring to Euston station, London was standing at the up main platform of Harrow & Wealdstone station when it was hit in the rear at 50–60 mph by the 8.15 pm express sleeper train from Perth, Scotland.
Seconds after the first collision, the double-headed 8.00 am express from London Euston to Liverpool and Manchester, which was traveling at about 50 mph, ran into the wreckage strewn across the up main line. Its locomotives were deflected to the left, ploughed across the down fast platform and came to rest across the electrified local lines opposite. Its carriages, which overran the wreckage from the first collision, brought down part of the station footbridge. All six lines through the station were blocked by the collision.
Rescue work took several hours, as survivors had to be extricated from the piled-up wreckage of three trains. 112 people died and 340 were injured in the accident. The dead included 108 passengers (including 39 railway employees en route to their jobs) and four on-duty railwaymen.
The first collision was attributed to the Perth express passing a colour light distant signal at "caution" and the outer and inner semaphore home signals at "danger". The reason for this error is unknown, as the driver and fireman of the Perth express were killed. The crewmen on the down express were unable to avoid the second collision.
[edit] Details
Composition of trains:
- The 7.31 am up local passenger train from Tring to Euston was made up of nine non-corridor coaches hauled by a 2-6-4 tank engine.
- The 8.15 pm up express passenger train from Perth to Euston consisted of 11 vehicles (which included four sleepers and 3 vans) hauled by a 4-6-2 tender engine.
- The 8.00 am down express passenger train from Euston to Liverpool and Manchester consisted of 15 vehicles (including four vans) and was double-headed by a 4-6-0 tender engine and a 4-6-2 tender engine.
The official report on the accident noted that 16 railway vehicles (coaches, vans, and kitchen cars) were essentially destroyed, and 13 of these vehicles were compressed into a space 45 yards (41 m) long, 18 yards (16 m) wide and 30 feet (9.1 m) high.
It was believed that 64 fatalities occurred in the local train, 23 in the Perth express and 7 in the Liverpool train. Another 14 could not be ascertained, but probably occurred among passengers on the station platforms or footbridge at the time of the collisions. The fireman of the lead engine of the Euston to Liverpool express had a miraculous escape, being thrown clear and coming to a few minutes after the accident lying on wreckage from the engine behind, the crew of which also survived.
Patchy fog had been noted in the vicinity prior to the accident, particularly near the vital distant signal, but the sun was breaking through the fog with improved visibility. No exceptions were taken to the proper functioning of the signals, nor to the signalmen's observance of the absolute block rules. The engine leading the Perth express, Class 8P 4-6-2 No. 46242 "City of Glasgow", was examined after the collision and no defect was found that might have distracted the driver and fireman from seeing the signals as they approached Harrow.
Nor was there any evidence that Driver Jones might have been incapacitated before the collision. He had clearly been alert only minutes before, when he braked the train to a standstill for signals at Watford, and a post mortem revealed no traces of sudden illness or anything else that could have affected his judgement. The report could only conclude that for reasons unexplained he had relaxed his vigilance during the crucial minutes as the train approached Harrow, missed the signals, and then made a sudden emergency brake application when he realised his mistake. By then it was too late.
The locomotives hauling the combined Euston to Liverpool and Manchester train were so badly damaged that they were scrapped. They were Class 5XP ("Jubilee") 4-6-0 No. 45637 "Windward Islands" and Class 8P 4-6-2 No. 46202 "Princess Anne". The latter was a rebuild in conventional form from an experimental steam turbine locomotive "turbomotive" and had been in service as "Princess Anne" for only a few months. Remarkably, the battered engine of the Perth train, 46242 "City of Glasgow", was repairable despite having taken the force of both collisions.
The accident would almost certainly have been prevented if Automatic Warning System (AWS) had been installed on the engine of the Perth express. This crash, together with the Lewisham accident five years later, accelerated the introduction of AWS throughout Britain's railways.
A memorial plaque concerning the disaster was placed above the main entrance on the northern side of the station to mark the 50th anniversary in 2002.
[edit] References
- Coombs, I.F.E. (1977). The Harrow Railway Disaster: 25 Years On. David and Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7409-5.
- Hamilton, J.A.B. (1967). British Railway Accidents of the 20th Century (reprinted as Disaster down the Line).. George Allen and Unwin / Javelin Books. ISBN 0-7137-1973-7.
- 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.
- Tatlow, Peter (2002). Harrow and Wealdstone 50 Years On: Clearing up the Aftermath. The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-593-4.
- University of York, Institute of Railway Studies and Transport History (February 10, 2003), Railway Readings: Harrow and Wealdstone. Retrieved September 30, 2005.
- Images of the wreck from britishrailways.tripod.com
- Ministry of Transport accident report from www.railwaysarchive.co.uk
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