The Hull Paragon Rail accident was a rail crash that took place at

Hull Paragon railway station Hull Paragon Interchange is a transport interchange providing rail, bus and coach services located in the city centre of Kingston upon Hull, England. The G. T. Andrews-designed station was originally named ''Paragon Station'', and together ...

. On 14 February 1927, on the approaches to Hull Paragon station, the incoming 08:22 from

Withernsea Withernsea is a seaside resort and civil parish in Holderness, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Its white inland lighthouse, rising around above Hull Road, now houses a museum to 1950s actress Kay Kendall, who was born in the town. The Pr ...

to Hull collided head-on with the 09:05 from Hull to

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

. Twelve passengers were killed and 24 were seriously injured. This happened despite the tracks having the latest safety features available at the time: a system of

interlocking In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junction (rail), junctions or crossings. The signalling appliances and Track (rail transpor ...

should have made it impossible to give ''clear'' signals to trains unless the route to be used is proved to be safe. In his book LTC Rolt comments that "Scarcely any safety device existing at the time was lacking on the network of lines outside Paragon station..." - however, one safety device did exist and was lacking - a

track circuit A track circuit is an electrical device used to prove the absence of a train on rail tracks to signallers and control relevant signals. An alternative to track circuits are axle counters. Principles and operation The basic principle behind t ...

which had been invented in the USA in the 1870s and began to be used in the UK from the beginning of the 20th century. There were no track circuits protecting the layout at Hull in February 1927. In his report on the accident, Col. JW Pringle recommended installation of a track circuit, which the LNER then carried out. Three signalmen were present in the signalbox, the enquiry found that one of them had pulled the wrong lever; he had intended to set the points for the incoming train but instead set the points ahead of the Scarborough. The points were locked and could not be moved as long as the signal ahead of the Scarborough train was at clear, and also by the presence of locomotive or vehicle wheels on the locking bar immediately in rear of the points. One of the other signalmen was setting the signals behind the Scarborough train to danger and, in contravention of the rules, this was done whilst the train was still passing the signal and before it had reached the locking bar. This released the locking on the points for some 1.9 seconds before the Scarborough train reached the locking bar, allowing the points to be changed by the application of the wrong lever. A combination of these two failings led to the disaster.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hull Paragon Rail Accident Railway accidents and incidents in Yorkshire Railway accidents in 1927 Transport disasters in Yorkshire 1927 in England Rail transport in Kingston upon Hull History of Kingston upon Hull 1920s in the East Riding of Yorkshire 1927 disasters in the United Kingdom February 1927 events Train collisions in England Railway accidents caused by signaller's error 20th century in Kingston upon Hull