Welwyn Tunnel rail crash

Welwyn Tunnel rail crash
Details
Date	9 June 1866 23:36
Location	Welwyn, Hertfordshire
Coordinates	51°50′10″N 0°11′10″W / 51.836°N 0.186°W / 51.836; -0.186
Country	England
Line	East Coast Main Line
Incident type	Collision
Cause	Guard failed to protect the train
Statistics
Trains	3
Deaths	2
Injured	2
List of UK rail accidents by year

The Welwyn Tunnel rail crash took place in Welwyn North Tunnel, north of Welwyn (now

Background

There are two tunnels between

telegraph

system, and were not permitted to signal a train into the tunnels until they had received confirmation that the previous train had cleared the section. The instrument was a "speaking" telegraph, which was used for general communication between the signal boxes.

Trains involved

The first train involved in the accident consisted of 38 empty coal wagons, hauled by a tender locomotive.

Sequence of events

The train of coal empties was signalled away from Welwyn at 23:20. When passing through the North tunnel, the engine failed and the train came to a stand. At first, guard Wray recommended that the train be allowed to roll back on the falling gradient to Welwyn, but the driver refused, as such a move would be dangerous and contrary to the rules. According to regulations, Wray should have placed detonators on the line to protect the rear of his train, but he did not, and he also failed to communicate with either signal box.

At 23:36, the Midland Railway goods train stopped at Welwyn signal box. The signalman at Welwyn, who had not received the "out of section" signal for the train of coal empties, sent a telegraph message to Knebworth asking if it had cleared the tunnel. The Knebworth signalman stated to the official enquiry that he had replied with the code for "No", but the Welwyn signalman claimed that he had received a "Yes". The code for "No" differed from the code for "Out" only by the number of beats on the telegraph needle,^[1] and the enquiry ruled that the Welwyn signalman had misinterpreted the signal as being "Out", which would have the same meaning as "Yes" in answer to his question. He therefore cleared his signals and allowed the Midland train into the tunnel.

The Midland train ran into the stationary first train at a speed estimated between 20 and 25 miles per hour (32 and 40 km/h). The driver had no warning of its presence, and the collision killed Wray whilst severely injuring Rawlins, an employee of the Metropolitan Railway, who was travelling in the guard's van contrary to the regulations of the Great Northern Railway. Rawlins succumbed to his injuries and died on the morning of 12 June. The driver and fireman of the Midland train were not seriously injured, but it took them some time to extricate themselves from the debris of the accident.

Before any of the railwaymen could communicate with either signal box, the up meat train was allowed into the tunnel, where it struck the wreckage from the first collision and caught fire. Due to the difficulty of accessing the tunnel after the accident, and because it was directly beneath one of the tunnel's ventilation shafts, the fire was not extinguished until 11 June. According to Rolt, "all that night and all through the next day the ventilation shaft belched flames, smoke and the smell of roasting meat over the surrounding countryside."^[2]

Investigation and consequences

The official report, by Captain

that permanently displays the state of the section should be used, in addition to the general-purpose "speaking" telegraph.

Similar accidents

• Clayton Tunnel rail crash (1861)
• Norton Fitzwarren rail crash (1890)
• Winwick rail crash (1934)

See also

• List of rail accidents in the United Kingdom

References