The Stechford rail crash occurred on 28 February 1967 at
Stechford railway station
Stechford railway station serves the Stechford area of Birmingham, England on Victoria Road, just off Station Road, which is part of the A4040 Birmingham outer ring road. The station and all trains serving it are operated by West Midlands Train ...
in the area of
Stechford
Stechford is an area of East Birmingham, England, situated about five miles east of the city centre, bordering Ward End, Yardley, Hodge Hill and Kitts Green. Historically it lay within Worcestershire.
History
Stechford's history is unclear. It ...
in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
A
Class 24 diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...
had arrived at Stechford sidings with a
ballast
Ballast is material that is used to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within a boat, ship, ...
train. This was due to return to
Nuneaton
Nuneaton ( ) is a market town in the borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth in northern Warwickshire, England, close to the county border with Leicestershire and West Midlands County.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : Nuneaton's ...
and so the locomotive needed to be run round the train. There were too many wagons for the runaround loop to be used, so the Head Shunter decided to run the locomotive around via the main line. This was a movement that was only to be made in an emergency, and even then only with permission from the signalman at
Birmingham New Street
Birmingham New Street is the largest and busiest of the Birmingham station group, three main railway stations in Birmingham city centre, England, and a central hub of the Rail transport in the United Kingdom, British railway system. It is a ma ...
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'' ...
.
The Head Shunter did not seek such permission and when his hand signal for the guard was misunderstood by the
secondman {{unreferenced, date=August 2017
A secondman or second man is a railway employee who assists the driver of a train. For this reason the term driver's assistant is also used. In this role, the second man could learn the duties of the driver and on p ...
, the locomotive moved on to the main line just as a
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 ...
-
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
four-carriage
Class 304 electric unit no.026 was approaching. It collided with the locomotive at about 60 mph, killing the driver and eight passengers. In addition, 16 people were injured.
References
Sources
*
*
External links
Official accident report at the Railways Archive
{{coord, 52, 29, 07, N, 1, 48, 51, W, type:event_region:GB, display=title
Railway accidents and incidents in Warwickshire
Rail transport in Birmingham, West Midlands
History of Birmingham, West Midlands
Railway accidents in 1967
1967 disasters in the United Kingdom
1967 in England
20th century in Warwickshire
Disasters in the West Midlands (county)
Accidents and incidents involving British Rail
February 1967 events in the United Kingdom