1892 Thirsk rail crash
Thirsk rail crash (1892) | |
---|---|
Details | |
Date | 2 November 1892 04:02 |
Location | Thirsk, Yorkshire |
Country | England |
Line | East Coast Main Line |
Cause | Signalling error (due to ill-health) |
Statistics | |
Trains | 2 |
Deaths | 10 |
Injured | 43 |
List of UK rail accidents by year |
The 1892 Thirsk rail crash happened at Manor House
Events
James Holmes was the
Forced to complete his shift, Holmes called at the Otterington signal box before walking to Manor House and asked the signalman there, Henry Eden, to notify him when the passenger train from York arrived at 8:58 pm; Holmes was expecting his mother to arrive by that service, having telegraphed asking for her to come and tend to his wife as he worked. He had expected his mother to arrive on either the 6:00 pm or 7:37 pm trains, and had walked to the station on both occasions hoping to meet her.[5] He also told the Otterington signalman that he was already exhausted.
It was night with a thick mist which later thickened to fog.[6] About three hours into Holmes' shift, by which time he had received a telegraph stating that his mother had arrived on the 8:58 pm train and gone straight to his house, two express passenger trains were due from the north.[7] These constituted the up night Scotch Express, which was divided into two separate trains. The first had left Edinburgh on time at 10:30 pm, but the second had been delayed by the late arrival of connecting trains and did not leave until 11:02 pm. After the first portion of the express had passed Northallerton North the signalman there allowed a goods train from Middlesbrough to Starbeck up the main line after it.[8] Holmes let the goods train into his section but then was "overmastered by sleep".[9] The goods train came to a halt just outside his signal box. Thirteen minutes later, Holmes awoke, rather confused. The Otterington signalman warned him to be ready for the second part of the express, and Holmes saw that his instruments still indicated that there was a train on the line. He had forgotten about the goods train, and thought he had fallen asleep before clearing the instruments after the first express. He cleared the instruments and accepted the second express. He then had second thoughts and telegraphed the Otterington signal box (using the "speaking instrument", an old term for the single needle telegraph, not to be confused with a telephone), but too late for the Otterington signalman to halt the express.[8]
The express crashed at sixty miles per hour into the goods train, which had only just started to move off at walking pace. Nine passengers and the guard of the goods train were killed. 39 other passengers and 4 train crew were injured.
Aftermath
Holmes was charged with
The railway company was strongly criticised for its cavalier treatment of Holmes, and there had been
Prevention
The accident would have been prevented if the line had been fitted with
Board of Trade Inspecting Officer Francis Marindin also noted that the many casualties were as a result of the lighter carriages being marshalled between the engine and the heavier Pullman coach behind them. When the crash occurred, the Pullman carriage tore into the lighter carriages at the front of the train.[12]
Similar accidents
- Clayton Tunnel rail crash – signalman gets confused about which train is which – 1861
- Hawes Junction train disaster– signalman forgets about light engines on line – 1910
- Quintinshill rail crash– signalman forgets about train on line – 1915
- Winwick rail crash – signalman and booking boy forget about train on main line. (1934)
See also
- List of British rail accidents
References
- ISBN 978-1-78159-379-0.
- ^ ISBN 0-9540535-0-8.
- ^ Gray 2013, p. 35.
- ^ Marindin 1892, p. 202.
- ^ Marindin 1892, p. 200.
- ^ OCLC 271575829.
- ^ a b Gray 2013, p. 34.
- ^ a b Rolt 1978, p. 198.
- OCLC 642446431.
- ^ "The Railway Catastrophe near Thirsk". The York Herald. No. 12,923. 4 November 1892. p. 5. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
- ISBN 9781848681811.
- ^ a b c Gray 2013, p. 36.
Sources
- Gray, Adrian (2013). East Coast Main Line disasters. York: Pendragon. ISBN 9781899816194.
- Rolt, L.T.C. (1978). Red for danger. Pan. ISBN 0-330-25555-X.
- RailwaysArchive.co.uk summary
- Marindin, F A (9 December 1892). Accident Returns: Extract for Accident at Manor House, Thirsk on 2nd November 1892 (PDF). railwaysarchive.co.uk (Report). Retrieved 9 July 2018.
Further reading
- Vaughan, Adrian (1989). "Chapter 1: Manor House 1892". Obstruction Danger: Significant British railway accidents 1890–1986. London: Guild Publishing/Book Club Associates. pp. 13–17. ISBN 1-85260-055-1. CN 9460.