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| Ratho rail crash | |
|---|---|
| Details | |
| Date | 3 January 1917 |
| Time | 16:35 |
| Location | Ratho Station |
| Coordinates | 55°56′06″N3°22′44″W / 55.935°N 3.379°W Coordinates: 55°56′06″N3°22′44″W / 55.935°N 3.379°W |
| Country | Scotland |
| Line | Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway |
| Cause | signalling failure |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 2 |
| Deaths | 12 |
| Injuries | 46 |
| List of UK rail accidents by year | |
The Ratho Rail crash occurred on 3 January 1917 and killed 12 people. [1] [2] It occurred near Ratho Station in Scotland when an express collided with a light engine in stormy weather.
Ratho Station is a commuter village of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, located in Edinburgh council area. It is located south of Edinburgh Airport; the community has a population of approximately 600. About 300 houses are within the village limit. The name derives from the closed railway station of the same name, which in 1917 was the site of a rail crash which killed 12 people. The local primary school is Hillwood Primary School, which replaced the now closed Newbridge Primary School in 1972. Catchment areas include Ratho Station, Lochend, Newbridge, Gogar and Ingliston. The village is served by one primary shop, Scotmid or Co-op Foodhall as it was called when first opened. When first created Ratho Station also had its own post office and police station. Both have now closed, with Newbridge being the location for the nearest post office. A large amount of warehousing and industry is located along the Queen Anne Drive, with notable businesses such as the BenRiach Distillery Company's Newbridge Bond. The village lies under the flight path of planes very close to Edinburgh Airport and there is a strict height restriction on building. Two modern office buildings on the main road to the south-west do, however, stretch this height restriction to its limit.
Just west of the station lay Queensferry Junction where the line from Dalmeny via Kirkliston (now lifted) joined from the north. A train from Dalmeny came to a stand opposite the junction signalbox. The signalman had intended to keep it there until the 16:18 express from Edinburgh to Glasgow had passed. However he did not inform the driver and there was no fixed signal to hold him, instead a system of hand-signals was in use. The engine uncoupled and began to move towards the main line without his instructions. He put the main line signals to danger and blew his whistle but was unable to attract the driver's attention in the stormy conditions. The express, headed by NBR H class locomotive 874 Dunedin, was heavily laden with people returning from their New Year's holiday including many soldiers. It collided with the light engine at a speed of 30 mph (48 km/h), telescoping the first coach and derailing the second, killing 12 people and seriously injuring 46 more.
Dalmeny is a village and parish in Scotland. It is located on the south side of the Firth of Forth, 1 mile (1.6 km) southeast of South Queensferry and 8 miles (13 km) west of Edinburgh city centre. It lies within the traditional boundaries of West Lothian, and falls under the local governance of the City of Edinburgh Council.
Kirkliston is a small town and parish to the west of Edinburgh, Scotland, historically within the county of West Lothian. It lies on high ground immediately north of a northward loop of the Almond, on the old road between Edinburgh and Linlithgow, having a crossroads with the road from Newbridge to Queensferry and beyond to Fife. The B800 is variously named Path Brae, High Street, Station Road, and Queensferry Road as it passes through the town. The B9080 is named Main Street and Stirling Road as it passes through.
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian, it is located in Lothian on the Firth of Forth's southern shore.
The Board of Trade enquiry led by Colonel J. W. Pringle found that the unsafe use of hand-signals to control access to passenger lines was the cause of the disaster.
The Board of Trade is a British government department concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of all matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantations, but is commonly known as the Board of Trade, and formerly known as the Lords of Trade and Plantations or Lords of Trade, and it has been a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. The Board has gone through several evolutions, beginning with extensive involvement in colonial matters in the 17th Century, to powerful regulatory functions in the Victorian Era, to virtually being dormant in the last third of 20th century. In 2017, it was revitalized as an advisory board headed by the International Trade Secretary who has nominally held the title of President of the Board of Trade, and who at present is the only privy counsellor of the Board, the other members of the present Board filling roles as advisers.
Colonel Sir John Wallace Pringle, CB, FRGS was a British engineer who was Chief Inspecting Officer of the Railways Inspectorate of the Ministry of Transport from 1916 to 1929. As such he was in charge of investigations into a number of serious railway accidents in the UK.
