| Shrewsbury rail accident | |
|---|---|
| Details | |
| Date | 15 October 1907 |
| Location | Shrewsbury, Shropshire |
| Country | England |
| Rail line | Welsh Marches Line |
| Cause | Overspeed on curve |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 1 |
| Deaths | 18 |
| List of UK rail accidents by year | |
The Shrewsbury rail accident occurred on 15 October 1907. An overnight sleeping-car and mail train from Manchester to the West of England derailed on the sharply curved approach to Shrewsbury station, killing 18. Speed was estimated at 60 mph on a curve limited to 10. The train left Crewe at 01:20 having had extra carriages added (originating in Glasgow, York and Liverpool) to form a heavy 15 carriage train, hauled by LNWR Experiment class 4-6-0 No. 2052 Stephenson.[1]
This was the last of three high-speed night derailments inside a year, the others being at Salisbury and Grantham (both in 1906). Although the results were the same, the causes appear to be different. The most likely explanation of the Shrewsbury crash was that the driver had dozed off briefly and therefore had not braked in time on the downhill entry to Shrewsbury, while the fireman evidently had not realised this until too late. Drowsiness is now known to particularly affect shift workers doing intermittent night work.