On 6 January 1968, a
low-loader transporter carrying a 120-ton electrical
transformer
A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...
was struck by a
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
express train on a recently installed automatic
level crossing
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...
at
Hixon, Staffordshire
Hixon is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Staffordshire.OS Explorer Map 244: Cannock Chase & Chasewater: (1:25 000) :
Location
The village is east of the town of Stafford, southeast of the town of Stone, Staffordshire, ...
, England.
The collision resulted in eleven deaths and 45 people injured, and led to improvements in signage around automatic level crossings.
Background
In the 1950s,
British Railways
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
found that the cost of manning some 2,400 level crossings had risen past £1 million per annum, with some locations seeing a tenfold increase.
In the
postwar
In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...
labour market it was often difficult to recruit crossing keepers, the job itself being a responsible but rather dull occupation. In addition, manually operated crossings often caused long delays to road traffic because of the need to close the gates and clear the distant
signal
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'' ...
before the approaching train reached it.
In October 1956, senior members of
Her Majesty's 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 ...
(HMRI) embarked on a fact-finding trip to the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
and France, to investigate the practice of automating level crossings. Their subsequent report recommended the introduction of automatically operated crossings with half-barriers, known as AHBs. This was projected to give considerable cost savings through the withdrawal of crossing keepers and would also speed up the flow of road traffic; the crossing being closed for less than a minute as opposed to 3 or 4 minutes at manned crossings.
Safety requirements were drawn up in 1957, but it was not until 1961 that the first automatic crossing in Britain was installed at
Spath
Spath, is a small village north of Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England. For population details as taken at the 2011 census see Uttoxeter Rural.
Spath is on the River Tean and is divided from Uttoxeter by the A50 road.
In UK railway history, Spa ...
, near
Uttoxeter
Uttoxeter ( , ) is a market town in the East Staffordshire district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is near to the Derbyshire county border. It is situated from Burton upon Trent, from Stafford, from Stoke-on-Trent, from De ...
. The crossing was designed to give a minimum of 24 seconds warning for the fastest train on that line.
By January 1968 there were 207 automatic crossings in Britain including the one at Hixon, which had been converted to automatic half-barrier operation in July 1967.
Incidentally, Hixon was only eight miles (13 km) from the pioneering installation at Spath.
Low-loader movements
On 6 January 1968, a 120-ton electrical transformer was to be moved from the
English Electric
N.º UIC: 9094 110 1449-3 (Takargo Rail)
The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after the Armistice of 11 November 1918, armistice of World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during th ...
works at
Stafford
Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...
to a storage depot at the disused
RAF Hixon
Royal Air Force Hixon or more simply RAF Hixon was a Royal Air Force station located on the north western edge of the village of Hixon in Staffordshire, England. The airfield was east of Stafford and bounded at the west and north by railway ...
airfield. The airfield was on Station Road, adjacent to the
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
branch of the West Coast Main Line and approximately three miles (5 km) north of
Colwich Junction
Colwich Junction is a rail junction near the village of Little Haywood, in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is the junction between two routes of the West Coast Main Line: the Trent Valley line and the Stone to Colwich cutoff line. The ...
.
To carry out this move a huge transporter vehicle, long and with a 32-wheeled trailer, was chartered. It had a gross weight of 162 tons, was impelled by a
tractor unit
A tractor unit (also known as a truck unit, power unit, prime mover, ten-wheeler, semi-tractor, tractor truck, semi-truck, tractor cab, truck cab, tractor rig, truck rig or big rig or simply a tractor, truck, semi or rig) is a characteristical ...
at each end, and had a crew of five. In charge of the vehicle was B. H. Groves, who occupied the leading cab. The journey was not an unusual procedure as six other abnormal loads belonging to the English Electric Company had passed over the automatic crossing in the preceding months.
The transporter and its
police escort
A police escort, also known as a law enforcement escort, is a service offered by police and law enforcement to assist in transporting important individuals or resources.
This is done by means of assigning police vehicles, primarily cars or motor ...
left Stafford at approximately 09:30 on the morning of Saturday 6 January. Although Hixon was only six miles (10 km) from Stafford, the nature of the load meant that it needed to travel south out of the town and then along a somewhat laborious route north via the
M6 motorway
The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at t ...
, the
A34 to
Stone
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
and finally the
A51 to Hixon. This route had been approved by the
Ministry of Transport
A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government age ...
, but the map of the route made no mention of the level crossing at Hixon; the description of the route in the Order merely ended with "Weston to junc class III road approx past Hixon turn left class III road turn left access road to English Electric Works and destination".
J. H. Preston, Chief of Heavy Transport at English Electric, had mentioned the level crossing to Groves – but only as a landmark.
At around 12:20 the transporter turned off the A51 into Station Road and slowed to walking pace as it approached the crossing. It stopped for a moment while the police car went over the crossing to check where the entrance to the airfield was; on its return, one of the police officers told Groves that "this is the place" and proceeded back over the level crossing.
The trailer needed to be raised by the crew to negotiate the track, but, in addition, it needed to be low enough to clear the
overhead line
An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as:
* Overhead catenary
* Overhead contact system (OCS)
* Overhead equipmen ...
s. While this was taking place the transporter slowed to around . At this speed, it would take approximately one minute to traverse the crossing.
Accident
![81 022 at Kenton](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/81_022_at_Kenton.jpg)
At 12:26, the leading tractor had traversed the two railway tracks and the main bulk of the transporter was astride them when the 11:30 express train from
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
to
London Euston
Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city railw ...
activated the
crossing sequence by operating a
treadle
A treadle (from oe, tredan, "to tread") is a mechanism operated with a pedal for converting reciprocating motion into rotating motion. Along with cranks, treadmills, and treadwheels, treadles allow human and animal machine power in the absenc ...
away. The warning lights began to flash and the bells began to ring, with the barrier descending onto the forward part of the transformer. At about the same time Groves, who had not heard the bells and could not see the lights, saw the train approaching from his left and, realising that it would not stop, shouted a warning to his crew. He then accelerated and so did the driver of the tractor at the rear, A. L. Illsley, although this meant that Illsley was deliberately bringing himself into the direct path of the train.
As a result of these actions, the train hit only the rear seven or eight feet (2.1 to 2.4 m) of the transformer at approximately , sheared through the trailer and threw the transformer forward and to the left of the line. The train consisted of a
Class AL1 electric locomotive No. E3009 and twelve coaches. The locomotive and the first five coaches of the train were destroyed, and the following three coaches were derailed. Both railway lines were destroyed for a length of and the overhead lines were brought down.
Eleven people (eight passengers and three railwaymen) were killed, with 45 being injured, six of them seriously. The relatively small number of casualties was due to the sturdy steel construction of the coaches and the first class carriages at the front being only lightly occupied. The three railwaymen were all in the cab of the engine but the second class coaches were filled to capacity, with standing room only, after a large number of sixth form students boarded after a conference at
Keele University
Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...
.
Investigation
The circumstances of the accident, and the subsequent public reaction, led to an Order being made on 16 January for a judicial enquiry under Section 7 of the Railways Act 1871; required because HMRI which would normally hold an accident inquiry was involved in the programme of automating level crossings. The findings of this enquiry would be presented to Parliament by the
Minister for Transport
A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...
. This was the first Section 7 inquiry since the
Tay Bridge disaster
The Tay Bridge disaster occurred during a violent storm on Sunday 28 December 1879, when the first Tay Rail Bridge collapsed as a North British Railway (NBR) passenger train on the Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line from Burntisland bound for its fina ...
of 1879.
It was chaired by Mr F. B. Gibbens
QC.
The haulage company
The inquiry identified the directors of the haulage company, Robert Wynn and Sons Ltd, as being chiefly to blame. It transpired that, on 8 November 1966, one of their transporters had narrowly avoided disaster when it became grounded on an automatic crossing at
Leominster
Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England, at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of 11,700, Leominster is t ...
. A catastrophe was only avoided after its driver violently revved the engine and let the
clutch
A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...
in.
Wynn's had pointed out their concern at the short warning time given in a letter to British Railways, but received a terse reply from the assistant general manager of the Western Region, and therefore did not press the matter further. BR's reply to them said, "I must emphasise ... that the hazard was of your firm's making and it is fortunate that it was not more than a hazard". This was described as being "remarkable for its arrogance and lack of insight".
Despite this incident, no instructions regarding automatic crossings had ever been given to Wynn's drivers (or the police escort), and at Hixon the driver assumed that it was safe to cross because the police car had already done so.
The role of the police
Neither of the police officers who were escorting the load had been to Hixon before. They had both been posted to traffic duties in the Stone Division five days earlier and they were unaware of the presence of a main railway line. Although both officers knew about the existence of automatic crossings in Staffordshire, they were not aware of the comparatively short warning time that the crossing gave, one of them later telling the inquiry, "I was absolutely astounded by the speed of the whole process."
Leaflets had been distributed to local police stations when the crossing was automated the previous July, although they were only on display for the public to pick up. The inquiry described them as "mere
flotsam
In maritime law, flotsam'','' jetsam'','' lagan'','' and derelict are specific kinds of shipwreck. The words have specific nautical meanings, with legal consequences in the law of admiralty and marine salvage. A shipwreck is defined as the rema ...
".
British Rail
Both British Rail and the Ministry of Transport also received criticism for their lack of foresight and failure to adequately point out that drivers of slow or heavy loads were required to use the telephone provided before crossing the line. There was a warning notice at Hixon crossing to this effect, but it was almost impossible to read from a passing vehicle. The telephones at some crossings were installed by BR despite the HMRI being opposed to their provision.
Aftermath
![Signs at the level crossing - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Signs_at_the_level_crossing_-_geograph.org.uk_-_443093.jpg)
From 1969, improved warning signs were introduced, informing drivers of large or slow vehicles that they should telephone the signalman for permission to cross the line, and telephones were provided at most crossings. The crossing equipment was also modified so that an amber light was exhibited before the red flashing lights operated.
Even so, the automation of level crossings ground almost to a halt; from 207 in 1968, to 234 in 1978.
In 1977, the Railway Inspectorate again examined the question of automating level crossings and once again a working party visited mainland Europe. This time, as well as relaxing the requirements, they recommended the introduction of an automatic crossing with only the warning lights, known as an Automatic Open Crossing (AOCR).
However, history repeated itself in the
Lockington rail crash
In Lockington, England on 26 July 1986, the 09:33 passenger train from to Kingston upon Hull on the Hull to Scarborough Line struck a passenger van on a level crossing.
Eight passengers on the train and a passenger in the van died.
Descrip ...
of 1986, which involved a newly installed AOCR.
The level crossing at Hixon was replaced in 2002 by a bridge costing £2 million.
In 2017, a book ''The Hixon Railway Disaster'' was published by Richard Westwood, whose father Jack Westwood was a BR signal technician at Leominster who phoned the signalman to set the distant and home signals to danger thus avoiding an earlier (1966) accident with a slow Wynns transporter. He highlighted friction between railway managers and HMRI on fears expressed by the former regarding potential safety hazards, and lack of anticipation of the potential hazard from slow-moving heavy vehicles even after the Leominster near-miss. Likewise, Fraser Pithie has criticised the role of the HMRI which was 'in the driving seat' with the installation of AHB (automatic half barriers), not BR. Colonel McMullen had stated in 1957 that if they were adopted "the principle must be recognised that it is the responsibility of the individual to protect himself from the hazards of the railway in the same way as from the hazards of the road". Colonel Reed of the HMRI was put in charge of AHB introduction in 1961, and he opposed the provision of telephones or signal protection. But some BR managers still ensured that a telephone was provided at AHB crossings, and Hixon had a telephone.
, the former airfield continues to be the site of various industrial units, known as the Hixon Airfield Industrial Estate. On 6 January 2018, on the fiftieth anniversary of the disaster, a memorial in Hixon village churchyard was dedicated to those who died.
[
]
On August 19 2021 CrossCountry train 220009 was named 'Hixon' to commemorate incident in 1968.
See also
*
Level crossings in the United Kingdom
There are around 6,000 level crossings in the United Kingdom, of which about 1,500 are public highway crossings. This number is gradually being reduced as the risk of accidents at level crossings is considered high. The director of the UK Rail ...
*
2015 Halifax train crash
*
Dalfsen train crash
The Dalfsen train crash occurred on 23 February 2016 when a passenger train collided with a tracked elevated work platform on a level crossing at Dalfsen, Overijssel, Netherlands. One person was killed and six were injured, one seriously.
Accide ...
References
Further reading
*
External links
Staffordshire Past Track– an illustrated page about the crash
– an illustrated page by a
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
engineer involved in the development of these telephones
Accident at Hixon on 6 January 1968 on Railways Archive
{{Railway accidents in the United Kingdom, 1900–1999, state=collapsed
Hixon
Hixon
Level crossing incidents in the United Kingdom
Transport in Staffordshire
Railway accidents in 1968
1968 disasters in the United Kingdom
1968 in England
20th century in Staffordshire
1968 road incidents
Accidents and incidents involving British Rail
January 1968 events in the United Kingdom