Goswick rail crash

Last updated

Goswick rail crash
Details
Date26 October 1947
12:47
Location Goswick, Northumberland
Coordinates 55°42′18″N1°55′37″W / 55.705°N 1.927°W / 55.705; -1.927
CountryEngland
Line East Coast Main Line
Operator London and North Eastern Railway
Incident typeDerailment caused by excessive speed
CauseDriver's error
Statistics
Trains1
Passengers420
Deaths28
Injured65
List of UK rail accidents by year

The Goswick rail crash occurred on 26 October 1947 near the village of Goswick, Northumberland, England. The Flying Scotsman express from Edinburgh Waverley to London King's Cross failed to slow down for a diversion and derailed. Twenty-eight people were killed, including the talented Scottish biochemist, John Masson Gulland. [1] It was the last major accident to occur on British railways before their nationalisation on 1 January 1948.

Contents

Overview

The train was scheduled to divert from the fast line to a goods loop at Goswick, Northumberland, between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Morpeth, because of engineering work. This required a significant reduction in speed, but the driver failed to react to a cautionary signal approaching the diversion and the train entered a 15 miles per hour (24 km/h) turnout at approximately 60 miles per hour (97 km/h). [2] The engine, A3 Class No. 66 "Merry Hampton", and most of the train derailed and overturned, though the dining car kept going down the line for 200 yards (180 m). [3]

The driver, fireman and guard had all failed to read the notice of the diversion posted at Haymarket depot. [4] The driver, who was held principally at fault, had also allowed an unauthorised passenger on to the footplate who may have distracted his attention. [4] He claimed to have missed the distant signal due to smoke from the engine obscuring his view. The home signal had been cleared to allow the train to draw up slowly to the points, but the signalman was exonerated because he could not judge the speed of the train until it was too late.

A similar accident occurred two years earlier at Bourne End, Hertfordshire.

Similar accidents

See also

Related Research Articles

The Norton Fitzwarren rail crash occurred on 4 November 1940 between Taunton and Norton Fitzwarren in the English county of Somerset, when the driver of a train misunderstood the signalling and track layout, causing him to drive the train through a set of points and off the rails at approximately 40 miles per hour (64 km/h). 27 people were killed. The locomotive involved was GWR King Class GWR 6028 King Class King George VI which was subsequently repaired and returned to service. A previous significant accident occurred here on 10 November 1890 and the Taunton train fire of 1978 was also within 2 metres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1906 Salisbury rail crash</span> 1906 train derailment in England

The Salisbury rail crash occurred in England on 1 July 1906, when a boat train from Plymouth to London failed to negotiate a sharp bend at more than twice the speed limit and crashed into another train, killing 28 people. It is believed that the driver was trying to demonstrate the speed of the service, in competition with a rival railway company.

Two rail accidents have occurred near Castlecary, Scotland. One of these was in 1937 and one in 1968. Both events involved rear-end collisions, and caused the deaths of 35 and 2 people respectively.

The Bourne End rail crash occurred on 30 September 1945 when a sleeper train from Perth to London Euston derailed, killing 43. The cause was driver error, possibly compounded by ambiguous signalling regulations.

There have been a number of train accidents on the railway network of Victoria, Australia. Some of these are listed below.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shrewsbury rail accident</span> Train derailment in Shropshire, UK on 15 October 1907

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 and injuring 33. The accident was concluded to be due to excessive speed on a dangerous curve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jokela rail accident</span> Train accident in Tuusula, Finland, on 21 April 1996

The Jokela rail accident occurred on 21 April 1996, at 07:08 local time in Tuusula, Finland, approximately 50 kilometres (30 mi) north of Helsinki. Four people were killed and 75 were injured when express train P82 from Oulu, bound for Helsinki, derailed in heavy fog. The overnight sleeper train was carrying 139 passengers and five crew members. The official investigation into the accident revealed that it was caused by overspeeding through a slow-speed turnout.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brühl train derailment</span>

On 6 February 2000, a train at the Brühl railway station on the West Rhine Railway negotiated a low speed turnout at three times the correct speed and derailed, killing 9 people.

The Milton rail crash was a crash in 1955, at Milton, Berkshire. A passenger train took a crossover too fast and derailed. Eleven were killed, and 157 were injured.

Goswick is a hamlet in Northumberland, England, situated approximately south-east of Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, between the A1 and the North Sea coast.

This article lists significant fatal, injury-only, and other accidents involving railway rolling stock, including crashes, fires and other incidents in the Australian state of South Australia. The first known incident in this list occurred in 1873 in Smithfield, South Australia.

This is a list of significant railway accidents in Queensland, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goswick railway station</span> Disused railway station in Northumberland, England

Goswick railway station served the hamlet of Goswick, Northumberland, England from 1870 to 1964 on the East Coast Main Line.

References

  1. ↑ Cook, J. W. (1 January 1948). "Obituary Notice (John Masson Gulland, 1898–1947)". Biochemical Journal. 43 (2): 161–162. doi:10.1042/bj0430161. ISSN   0264-6021. PMC   1274658 . PMID   16748379.
  2. ↑ Gray 2013, p. 27.
  3. ↑ Barrington-Ward, Robert, ed. (27 October 1947). "Engine and eleven coaches derailed near Berwick". The Times. No. 50902. p. 4. ISSN   0140-0460.
  4. 1 2 Gray 2013, p. 28.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.