Shrewsbury rail accident
| 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 |
| Injuries | 33 |
| 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 people.
Casualties
Those killed were the engine driver and fireman, two guards, eleven passengers, and three Post Office sorters working in the mail train. Thirty-three other people were reported injured.[1]
The train
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.[2]
Other derailments
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.
Possible explanation
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.
Literary reference
An anonymous poem about the disaster was printed in the Shrewsbury Chronicle newspaper. It had been written, after reading earlier news, by a young Meole Brace woman, Mary Meredith, (better known after her marriage as novelist Mary Webb) whose brother submitted it to the newspaper without her knowledge. It drew appreciative letters to the paper and it is now believed to be her first published writing.[1]
See also
- Lists of rail accidents
- List of British rail accidents
References
- Rolt, L.T.C. (1956 (and later editions)). Red for Danger. Bodley Head / David and Charles / Pan Books. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - Hamilton, J.A.B. (1967). British Railway Accidents of the 20th Century (reprinted as Disaster down the Line). George Allen and Unwin / Javelin Books.
- Nock, O.S. (1980). Historic Railway Disasters (2nd ed. ed.). Ian Allan.
- Railways Archive account