Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
accidents include several notable incidents that influenced rail safety in the United Kingdom.
Notable accidents
Sonning
In common with other railway companies, the GWR experienced accidents throughout its history, one of the most serious being the
Sonning Cutting accident in December 1842. Nine workmen were killed when their train hit a
landslip
Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of environments, ...
. The accident occurred in the early hours of 24 December 1841 in the
Sonning Cutting
Sonning Cutting is on the original Great Western Railway built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It is to the east of Reading station and to the west of Twyford station near the village of Sonning in Berkshire, England. The railway's originally ...
, near
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
, in
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
, as a mixed passenger/goods train travelling from
London Paddington
Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a London station group, Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services pro ...
to
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
entered the cutting. The train comprised the
Leo class broad-gauge locomotive ''Hecla'' and its tender, three third-class passenger waggons and some heavily laden goods waggons. The passenger waggons were between the tender and the goods waggons. Recent heavy rain had saturated the soil in the cutting causing it to slip, covering the line on which the train was travelling. On running into the slipped soil the engine was derailed, and the passenger waggons were crushed between the goods waggons and the tender. Eight passengers died at the scene and seventeen were injured. In the ensuing investigation, the company was criticised not for the landslip (the civil engineering was deemed adequate) but for the inadequate state of the third class open wagon coaches, which failed to protect the passengers either from the weather or from being thrown out when the accident occurred.
The accident had important repercussions because it led to the
Railway Regulation Act 1844
The Railway Regulation Act 1844 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom providing a minimum standard for rail passenger travel. It provided compulsory services at a price affordable to poorer people to enable them to travel to find w ...
.
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
introduced his bill to regulate the way passengers were transported, such as protection of third-class passengers, and to introduce much greater government control of the growing network. The Act established the
Parliamentary train
A parliamentary train was a passenger service operated in the United Kingdom to comply with the Railway Regulation Act 1844 that required train companies to provide inexpensive and basic rail transport for less affluent passengers. The act requ ...
with fares limited by statute.
Shipton
The most serious accident however, occurred on 24 December 1874, when a
double-headed passenger train from Paddington to
Birkenhead
Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...
derailed near
Kidlington
Kidlington is a major village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Oxfordshire, England, between the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal, north of Oxford and 7 miles (12 km) south-west of Bicester. It remains officially a village ...
just north of
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
and 34 passengers were killed. The
Shipton-on-Cherwell train crash
The Shipton-on-Cherwell train crash was a major disaster which occurred on the Great Western Railway. It involved the derailment of a long passenger train at Shipton-on-Cherwell near Kidlington, Oxfordshire, England, on Christmas Eve, 24 Decemb ...
was caused by the fracture of a single wheel on an old carriage just behind the locomotive's tender. The carriage continued upright until the drivers saw what had happened and applied the brakes. The following carriages crushed the old waggon and it was thrown off the track, with the rest of the train behind. The locomotives travelled some distance before the drivers realised what had happened and returned to help rescue efforts.
The investigation which followed was led by
William Yolland
William Yolland CB, FRS FRSA (17 March 1810 – 4 September 1885) was an English military surveyor, astronomer and engineer, and was Britain's Chief Inspector of Railways from 1877 until his death. He was a redoubtable campaigner for railway s ...
and established the root causes very quickly. The tyre was on an old carriage, and was of an obsolete design. The fracture started at a rivet hole, possibly by
metal fatigue
In materials science, fatigue is the initiation and propagation of cracks in a material due to cyclic loading. Once a fatigue crack has initiated, it grows a small amount with each loading cycle, typically producing striations on some parts o ...
, although it was not recognised as such by the inquiry. The weather was very cold that day, with snow blanketing the fields and very low freezing temperatures, another factor which hastened the tyre failure. The disaster led to a re-appraisal of braking methods and systems, and the eventual adoption of continuous automatic brakes being fitted to trains, based either on the
Westinghouse air brake
The Westinghouse Air Brake Company (sometimes nicknamed or abbreviated WABCO although this was also confusingly used for spinoffs) was founded on September 28, 1869 by George Westinghouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Earlier in the year he had i ...
or a
vacuum brake
The vacuum brake is a braking system employed on trains and introduced in the mid-1860s. A variant, the automatic vacuum brake system, became almost universal in British train equipment and in countries influenced by British practice. Vacuum bra ...
. The
Railway Inspectorate
Established in 1840, His Majesty's Railway Inspectorate (HMRI) is the organisation responsible for overseeing safety on Britain's railways and tramways. It was previously a separate non-departmental public body, but from 1990 to April 2006 it ...
recommended Mansell wheels, a type of wooden composite wheel, be adopted by the railway companies since the design had a better safety record than the alternatives. There had been a long history of failed wheels involved in serious accidents, especially in the previous decade. They were also critical of the communication method between the locomotive and the rest of the train using an external cord and gong, suggesting that a telegraphic method be adopted instead.
The Shipton disaster came in a period, the 1870s, when railway accidents were at their peak, never equalled before or since. The national network had grown enormously but basic equipment had been neglected, and old equipment kept in service when it should have been scrapped years before. The sequence of railway
tragedies
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...
ended with the
Tay rail bridge
The Tay Bridge ( gd, Drochaid-rèile na Tatha) carries the railway across the Firth of Tay in Scotland between Dundee and the suburb of Wormit in Fife. Its span is . It is the second bridge to occupy the site.
Plans for a bridge over the Tay to ...
disaster of 1879, but accidents continued, although at a lower level.
List of Great Western Railway accidents
This list includes notable accidents on railways that were later amalgamated with the Great Western Railway.
*
Sonning Cutting
Sonning Cutting is on the original Great Western Railway built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It is to the east of Reading station and to the west of Twyford station near the village of Sonning in Berkshire, England. The railway's originally ...
, 24 December 1841 – 10 killed, 17 injured: train ran into
landslide
Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...
caused by heavy rain.
*On 24 May 1847,
GWR Prince Class locomotive ''Queen'' was nearing with an up express from Exeter when one of the 7' driving wheel tyres broke. A fragment killed two drovers on a passing down train, which was derailed by another fragment. Remarkably, the express continued over
Wharncliffe Viaduct
The Wharncliffe Viaduct is a brick-built viaduct that carries the Great Western Main Line railway across the Brent Valley, between Hanwell and Southall, Ealing, UK, at an elevation of . The viaduct, built in 1836–7, was constructed for the op ...
to stop at , then continued to Paddington without the tyre.
*On 10 May 1848, at , the up express headed by
Iron Duke class ''Sultan'' collided with a horse box and cattle van that had been temporarily shunted onto the running line. Although the locomotive continued without derailment, the two wagons were thrown onto the platform, rebounded, and tore into the side of the leading coach of the express. Six passengers died, and thirteen were injured.
*On 27 June 1849, the boiler of
''Hercules'' class locomotive ''Goliah'' exploded whilst it was hauling a freight train at on the
South Devon Railway. One person was killed.
*In 1850, an excursion train collided with a horsebox at
Wootton Bassett
Royal Wootton Bassett , formerly Wootton Bassett, is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, with a population of 11,043 in 2001, increasing to 11,385 in 2011. Situated in the north of the county, it lies to the west of the major ...
,
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
. Following this accident, trap points and scotch blocks are provided at all sidings leading onto running lines.
*On 20 October 1850, the special train celebrating the opening of the GWR broad gauge route to Birmingham, drawn by
Iron Duke class ''Lord of the Isles'' and driven by
Daniel Gooch
Sir Daniel Gooch, 1st Baronet (24 August 1816 – 15 October 1889) was an English railway locomotive and transatlantic cable engineer. He was the first Superintendent of Locomotive Engines on the Great Western Railway from 1837 to 1864 and ...
, the GWR's locomotive engineer, crashed into a stationary mixed train at
Aynho
Aynho (, formerly spelt ''Aynhoe'') is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, on the edge of the Cherwell valley south-east of the north Oxfordshire town of Banbury and southwest of Brackley.
Along with its neighbour C ...
. Due to the stability of the broad gauge, neither train derailed, and only six injuries were reported (all in the stationary train). ''Lord of the Isles'' was unable to proceed, so the engine of the mixed train pulled the special to Banbury; it never reached Birmingham.
*On 28 November 1852, a passenger train was derailed at
Gatcombe
Gatcombe is a village in the civil parish of Chillerton and Gatcombe, on the Isle of Wight, England. It is located about two and a half miles south of Newport, in the centre of the island. The parish, which includes Chillerton, had a population ...
,
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
.
*
Grove viaduct, 6 May 1859 – just two days after the opening of the
Cornwall Railway
The Cornwall Railway was a broad gauge railway from Plymouth in Devon to Falmouth in Cornwall, England, built in the second half of the nineteenth century. It was constantly beset with shortage of capital for the construction, and was eventu ...
a train was derailed near
St Germans and fell off a viaduct killing three of the train crew.
*On 28 June 1865, a ballast train derailed at
Bruton
Bruton ( ) is a market town, electoral ward, and civil parish in Somerset, England, on the River Brue and the A359 between Frome and Yeovil. It is 7 miles (11 km) south-east of Shepton Mallet, just south of Snakelake Hill and Coombe Hill, 10 ...
,
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
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. The driver and fireman were killed.
*On 5 November 1868,
4-4-0
4-4-0 is a locomotive type with a classification that uses the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement and represents the arrangement: four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four po ...
locomotive ''Rob Roy'' was in a rear-end collision with a cattle train at Awse Junction, near
Newnham, Gloucestershire
Newnham or Newnham on Severn is a village in west Gloucestershire, England. It lies in the Royal Forest of Dean, on the west bank of the River Severn, approximately 10 miles south-west of Gloucester and three miles southeast of Cinderford. It is ...
.
*
Menheniot
Menheniot (pronounced Men-en-yut; kw, Mahynyet) is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is southeast of Liskeard. The meaning of the name is "sanctuary of Neot" (from ''minihi'' and ''Neot'').
Menheniot ...
, 2 December 1873 (
Cornwall Railway
The Cornwall Railway was a broad gauge railway from Plymouth in Devon to Falmouth in Cornwall, England, built in the second half of the nineteenth century. It was constantly beset with shortage of capital for the construction, and was eventu ...
) – head-on collision on single line; no casualties: misunderstood signalman's verbal order.
[
*]Shipton-on-Cherwell
Shipton-on-Cherwell is a village on the River Cherwell about north of Kidlington in Oxfordshire, England. The village is part of the civil parish of Shipton-on-Cherwell and Thrupp.
Manor
The earliest known record of Shipton-on-Cherwell is fr ...
, 24 December 1874; 34 killed, 69 injured: carriage tyre broke, derailed train on bridge over canal.
*On 16 February 1880, a freight train was derailed when it ran into a large rock that had fallen onto the line south of , Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...
.
*On 12 November 1890, A boat train was in collision with a freight train at , Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
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, lord_ ...
due to errors by the guard of the freight train and the signalman. Ten people were killed and nine were injured.[
*On 8 March 1891, the locomotive of a relief passenger train was derailed near , ]Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
in blizzard conditions.[
*On 12 November 1894, a passenger train was derailed at ]Yetminster
Yetminster is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. It lies south-west of Sherborne. It is sited on the River Wriggle, a tributary of the River Yeo, and is built almost entirely of honey-coloured limestone, which gives ...
, Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
when the track was damaged by flooding.[
*On 13 April 1895, A double-headed passenger train derailed between and , Cornwall due to damaged track.][
*]Menheniot
Menheniot (pronounced Men-en-yut; kw, Mahynyet) is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is southeast of Liskeard. The meaning of the name is "sanctuary of Neot" (from ''minihi'' and ''Neot'').
Menheniot ...
, 9 February 1897 – reconstruction of Coldrennick Viaduct: workman's platform fell: 12 killed.
*Menheniot
Menheniot (pronounced Men-en-yut; kw, Mahynyet) is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is southeast of Liskeard. The meaning of the name is "sanctuary of Neot" (from ''minihi'' and ''Neot'').
Menheniot ...
, 15 November 1897 – reconstruction of Trevido Viaduct: accident raising a heavy timber: 2 killed.[
*In 1898, a mail train was derailed near ]Penryn, Cornwall
Penryn (; kw, Pennrynn, meaning 'promontory') is a civil parish and town in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is on the Penryn River about northwest of Falmouth. The population was 7,166 in the 2001 census and had been reduced to 6 ...
due to defective track and the oscillation of the locomotive hauling it. Following this accident, the 3521 Class locomotives were rebuilt as tender locomotives.[
* In 1898 Walter Peart and Henry Dean were the driver and fireman of the Great Western train known as the Windsor Express. On 18 July 1898, they were driving the 4:15 train from Windsor to Paddington when, just outside Acton, the connecting rod broke. Part of it was driven through the boiler casing and caused damage to the firebox which overwhelmed the men with cinders, steam and fire. They succeeded in applying the brake and bringing the train to a safe standstill before leaving the engine at Acton station.]
*On 16 June 1900, an express passenger train overran signals and crashed into the rear of a passenger train at Slough
Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...
, Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
. Five people were killed and 35 were injured.
*In 1904, an express passenger train was derailed at Loughor
Loughor () ( cy, Casllwchwr) is a Welsh town in the City and County of Swansea, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales. It lies on the estuary of the River Loughor. The town has a community (Wales), ...
, Glamorgan
, HQ = Cardiff
, Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974)
, Origin=
, Code = GLA
, CodeName = Chapman code
, Replace =
* West Glamorgan
* Mid Glamorgan
* South Glamorgan
, Motto ...
due to excessive speed. Five people were killed and eighteen were injured.[
* Thingley Junction, 16 January 1907 – ]Signal passed at danger
A signal passed at danger (SPAD), known in the United States as a stop signal overrun and in Canada as passing a stop signal, is an event on a railway where a train passes a stop railway signal, signal without authority. In the United States a ...
: 0 killed, 12 injured.
*On 8 August 1913, a train overran signals and was in a rear-end collision with a passenger train at station, Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
. Two people were killed.[
*On 17 June 1914, an excursion train departed from station, ]Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
against signals. An express passenger train was in a sidelong collision with it, killing one person.
*On 3 January 1925, a freight train was derailed at Tir Phil, Glamorgan
, HQ = Cardiff
, Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974)
, Origin=
, Code = GLA
, CodeName = Chapman code
, Replace =
* West Glamorgan
* Mid Glamorgan
* South Glamorgan
, Motto ...
when the trackbed was washed away.
*On 4 March 1933, a passenger train was struck by falling rocks at Vriog, Merionethshire
, HQ= Dolgellau
, Government= Merionethshire County Council (1889-1974)
, Origin=
, Status=
, Start= 1284
, End=
, Code= MER
, CodeName= ...
. The locomotive and its tender were pushed into the Irish Sea
The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...
, killing both crew.[
*On 15 January 1936, a freight train became divided near , ]Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
. Due to errors by its guard and a signalman, an express passenger train crashed into the six wagons that had neen left behind. Two people were killed.[
*On 1 March 1937, a passenger train was in collision with a freight train at , ]Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
. One person was killed and six people were injured.[
*On 16 November 1937, a ]steam railcar
A steam railcar, steam motor car (US), or Railmotor (UK) is a railcar that is self powered by a steam engine. The first steam railcar was an experimental unit designed and built in 1847 by James Samuel and William Bridges Adams in Britain. In 1 ...
overran signals and crashed into the signal box
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
at , Middlesex.[
*On 19 August 1938, a passenger train was sent into a siding at station, ]Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...
due to a signalman's error. Three people were injured.
*Norton Fitzwarren
Norton Fitzwarren is a village, electoral ward, and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated north west of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The village has a population of 3,046.
History
The village is on the southern slope ...
, 4 November 1940 – 27 killed: driver misunderstood signal layout, drove off track.
*On 2 July 1941, an express passenger train and a freight train were in a head-on collision at Slough
Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...
, Berkshire. Five people were killed and 21 were injured.
References
{{reflist
See also
* List of British rail accidents by death toll
This lists significant accidents involving railway rolling stock, including crashes, fires and incidents of crew being overcome by locomotive emissions. Other railway-related incidents such as the King's Cross fire of 1987 or the 7 July 2005 Lond ...
Accidents
Lists of railway accidents and incidents in England
Lists of railway accidents and incidents in Wales