Abergele rail disaster
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Abergele rail disaster, which took place near
Abergele Abergele (; ; ) is a market town and community, situated on the north coast of Wales between the holiday resorts of Colwyn Bay and Rhyl, in Conwy County Borough and in the historic county of Denbighshire. Its northern suburb of Pensarn lies on ...
, North
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
, in August 1868, was the worst
railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
disaster in
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
up till then. The Irish Mail train was on its way from London to Holyhead, when a complicated shunting operation caused the derailment of a goods train at Llanddulas, the nearest sidings to Abergele, blocking the main line. In the confusion, a brake-van and six wagons loaded with paraffin were left uncoupled on a gradient leading down to Abergele, and a collision with other carriages caused it to run downhill into the path of the Irish Mail, exploding on impact. Flames and smoke made rescue impossible, and 33 people died in the crash, some of them burned beyond recognition. The inquest blamed the two brakemen on the goods train, who had failed to secure the wagons individually, as well as the stationmaster at Llanddulas who was supervising the operation. The Board of Trade also strongly criticised the London and North Western Railway for poor practices.


Narrative


The Irish Mail

On 20 August 1868, at 7.30 a.m., the
London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...
's down day ''Irish Mail'' train left the LNWR's
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
terminus,
Euston Station 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 ...
, for
Holyhead Holyhead (,; cy, Caergybi , "Cybi's fort") is the largest town and a community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales, with a population of 13,659 at the 2011 census. Holyhead is on Holy Island, bounded by the Irish Sea to the north, and is ...
. One of the railway's most powerful engines, ''Prince of Wales'', hauled behind it a chief guard's van, a
travelling post office A Travelling Post Office (TPO) was a type of mail train used in Great Britain and Ireland where the post was sorted en route. The TPO can be traced back to the earlier days of the railway, the first ever postal movement by rail being performe ...
(mail van and tender), a luggage van, four passenger carriages, and a second guard's van at the rear of the train. At 11.30 a.m. in
Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
, four more passenger carriages were attached immediately behind the front guard's van; the train then set off for Holyhead, its next scheduled stop, via the
North Wales Coast Line The North Wales Coast Line ( cy, Llinell Arfordir Gogledd Cymru), also known as the North Wales Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell Gogledd Cymru or cy, label=none, Prif Linell y Gogledd), is a major railway line in the north of Wales and Cheshire, ...
(
Chester and Holyhead Railway The Chester and Holyhead Railway was an early railway company conceived to improve transmission of Government dispatches between London and Ireland, as well as ordinary railway objectives. Its construction was hugely expensive, chiefly due to ...
). At about 12.39 p.m. the train passed through
Abergele Abergele (; ; ) is a market town and community, situated on the north coast of Wales between the holiday resorts of Colwyn Bay and Rhyl, in Conwy County Borough and in the historic county of Denbighshire. Its northern suburb of Pensarn lies on ...
at about 40 miles per hour (~64 km/h). Following a late start from Euston, and a further slight delay in Chester, it was about 5 minutes late overall; by that time it should already have been 3 miles (5 km) further on and passing
Llanddulas Llanddulas is a village in Conwy county borough, Wales, midway between Old Colwyn and Abergele and next to the North Wales Expressway in the community of Llanddulas and Rhyd-y-Foel. The village lies beneath the limestone hill of Cefn-yr-Og ...
.


The goods train

Ahead of it, a 'pick-up' goods train 43 wagons long had left Abergele at 12.15 p.m. on the same line; to clear the down line for the express, the goods train was to be put into sidings at Llanddulas until the express had passed. At Llanddulas, there were two sidings (
Llysfaen Llysfaen is a village and community in Conwy County Borough overlooking the north coast of Wales, and situated on the hill Mynydd Marian. For local government purposes, it is also a ward. The community includes the Peulwys estate of Old Col ...
sidings), serving a lime quarry to the south of the line. When the goods train reached them (about 12.25 pm), both were partly occupied by goods wagons ('cargo trucks', or freight cars) and consequently neither siding could take the entire goods train. Under the direction of the Llanddulas stationmaster, therefore, the brake van and last six wagons of the goods train were uncoupled and left on the main down line (protected by the distant signal for Llanddulas). Rather than simply shunting the rest of the train into one of the sidings and returning for the odd six, a series of 'loose shunting' operations was embarked upon intended to put empty wagons (there were 26 in the train) into one of the sidings and accumulate a shorter train of loaded wagons on the main line ready to put into the other siding.


Runaway wagons

There were two brakesmen on the goods train; however, both men dismounted to take part in the shunting operations. The wagons did not have their own brakes applied, and so were held solely by the brake van – on a gradient of as much as 1 in 100, falling towards Abergele. The next set of loaded wagons were 'loose shunted' into the original wagons with such force as to jostle the brake van and release its own unsecured brake,{{efn, In fact, Colonel Rich suspected the collision was sharp enough to shear off several gear teeth from the brake handle mechanism, as per the state in which it was later discovered, so it would have made no difference even if the handle had been properly secured (e.g. by a chain).{{ and the wagons moved off in the direction of Abergele. The brake van was unoccupied, and no-one was able to catch up with it in order to board it and reapply the brake;{{efn, Again, even if they had it may not have made any difference, with a presumably broken brake linkage leaving any would-be saviour no more than a hapless passenger. the runaway wagons disappeared out of sight around a curve in the line. The next thought was to reverse the engine towards Abergele and retrieve the wagons, but this intention was quickly overtaken by the succeeding events.


Collision

About {{convert, 1+3/4, mi, km, abbr=on beyond Abergele, Arthur Thompson, the engine driver of the ''Irish Mail'', saw some wagons no more than 200 yards (~200 metres) in front, emerging from around a curve in the steep cutting at that point.{{efn, Not the same curve as that at Llanddulas, but the next one reversing its effect. A later photograph of another member of the same class of engine{{cite web , url=http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/lms/lnwrns1634.htm , title=Nuneaton Station: LNWR 2-2-2 Problem class No 1 'Saracen' , website=WarwickRailways.com suggests that on any curve to the right the body of his engine would have hidden the wagons from him. He initially thought the wagons were on the up line, "but immediately afterwards perceived that they were running towards him on the down line on which he was travelling". He promptly shut off steam, and the fireman, who had also seen the hazard, applied his brake. Thompson prepared to jump clear and called to his fireman "For God’s sake Joe, jump; we can do no more".{{efn, Strictly speaking, he should also have used the steam whistle to signal to the guards to apply their brakes, but clearly they could not have done so in time. Thompson then jumped; Joe, his fireman, did not. The Irish Mail is thought to have been doing 28–30 mph (45–50 km/h) when it hit the wagons, which were probably travelling at 12–15 mph (20–25 km/h) towards it at impact. The force of the collision derailed the engine, its tender and the leading guard's van. The engine ran on about 30 yards and overturned to the left; the tender overturned to the right and ended up fouling the up line, along which the up (London-bound) ''Irish Mail'' was soon due to pass.{{efn, Colonel Rich says it should have reached Llanddulas by 12.34 p.m.; clearly, it too was running late. However, the heavy loss of life resulting from the accident was caused less by the impact itself, and more by the load of the two runaway wagons next to the brake van, which carried 50 wooden barrels, holding about 1,700 gallons (~7,750 litres) of paraffin oil between them. This oil would have been of a slightly different kind from modern
kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...
but with similar flammability (its 'igniting point'{{efn, The flammability parameter normally quoted these days is
flash point The flash point of a material is the "lowest liquid temperature at which, under certain standardized conditions, a liquid gives off vapours in a quantity such as to be capable of forming an ignitable vapour/air mixture". (EN 60079-10-1) The fl ...
(the temperature at which vapour above the liquid is flammable) but the less frequently quoted
fire point The fire point of a fuel is the lowest temperature at which the vapour of that fuel will continue to burn for at least five seconds after ignition by an open flame of standard dimension. At the flash point, a lower temperature, a substance will ig ...
is sometimes referred to as the 'ignition point' since it is the temperature at which surface burning can be sustained. Both parameters depend on the apparatus in which they are measured. It is not clear what criterion was used in determination of the 'igniting point' quoted by Colonel Rich, and it is unlikely to have been measured in apparatus closely matching that used in modern determinations. is noted as {{cvt, 137, °F, °C in the report) and uses (oil lamps etc.).{{efn, This was produced at Saltney outside Chester (which is why such a large (for the period) quantity was on the goods train) by refining liquids produced by the dry distillation of
cannel coal Cannel coal or candle coal is a type of bituminous coal, also classified as terrestrial type oil shale. Hutton(1987) Dyni (2006), pp. 3–4 Speight (2012), pp. 6–7 Due to its physical morphology and low mineral content cannel coal is considered ...
from the
Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...
coalfield, as opposed to latterday paraffin (kerosene) produced by refining crude oil, but it was for most intents interchangeable with such.)


Fire, casualties, and Lord Hamilton's testimony

Some of the barrels broke up in the collision, and their contents caught fire. The engine, tender, guard's van and the first three-passenger carriages were instantly enveloped in dense smoke and flames, which soon spread to the fourth carriage and the front of the leading post office van. This prevented any immediate attempt to rescue the occupants of the first four carriages, who all died, together with the guard in the front guard's van and the locomotive's fireman. {{quote, ''"We were startled by a collision and a shock. ..I immediately jumped out of the carriage, when a fearful sight met my view. Already the three passenger carriages in front of ours, the vans and the engine were enveloped in dense sheets of flame and smoke, rising fully 20 feet. .. was the work of an instant. No words can convey the instantaneous nature of the explosion and conflagration. I had actually got out almost before the shock of the collision was over, and this was the spectacle which already presented itself. Not a sound, not a scream, not a struggle to escape, or a movement of any sort was apparent in the doomed carriages.''{{Efn, A platelayer's wife from a nearby cottage asserted to the contrary, that she had spoken to women in the forward carriages, urging them to get out, and been told to mind her own business. The driver thought that while attempting to uncouple the other carriages, he had heard such a conversation but gave a markedly different account of it. Other (lower-class) witnesses were reported to give similarly vaguely supportive accounts, but were not called upon by the inquiry. "Several gentlemen who were passengers by the train" and, the Colonel says "appeared much more competent to give a clear account of the events" gave accounts similar to the marquess, and these were preferred by the Colonel. His report suggests that the witness was mistaken as to which carriage she had spoken to the occupants of, which seems a plausible explanation. It also allows him to conclude that a well-connected nobleman was not mistaken, and that the dead cannot have suffered; both more desirable findings than the alternative... ''It was as though an electric flash had at once paralysed and stricken every one of their occupants. So complete was the absence of any presence of living or struggling life in them that ..it was imagined that the burning carriages were destitute of passengers."'' Local farm labourers and quarry workers eventually formed a bucket chain to fetch water from the sea 200 yards (~200 metres) away to put out the fire in these carriages; when they did the victims were found to be burnt beyond recognition, reduced to mere ''"charred pieces of flesh and bone"''. Three of them were later identified by their personal effects.{{efn, The victims included Lord Farnham (a statue to his memory now stands outside the new Johnston Central Library on Farnham Street in
Cavan Town Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Ballys ...
), whose watch was found near a body. The coroner was criticised for refusing to accept this as adequate evidence that the body was that of Lord Farnham, but was vindicated by advice from a surgeon that the body was that of a woman. The victims were buried in a mass grave in St Michael's churchyard in Abergele, with the London & North Western Railway Company paying all funeral expenses. The engine driver, Arthur Thompson, survived the collision, but was wounded by flying splinters; he died in October the same year from a pre-existing condition (ulcerated bowels), the inquest upon him concluding that his death had been hastened by his injuries in the accident. The post office workers in the travelling post office escaped, with some of the mail, but the leading post office van was destroyed by fire. There were no deaths or even serious injuries in the carriages behind the post van, and the carriages themselves were successfully detached and saved from the fire. A first-class passenger,{{efn, The Marquess of Hamilton, son of The 1st Duke of Abercorn, the then
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingdo ...
. During the
inquest An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a coro ...
, the coroner received an anonymous letter claiming that the 'accident' was in fact a
Fenian The word ''Fenian'' () served as an umbrella term for the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and their affiliate in the United States, the Fenian Brotherhood, secret political organisations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries dedicated ...
outrage intended to assassinate the wife and family of the Lord Lieutenant. The inquest did not find any evidence to support this, nor has any emerged since. possibly the Marquess of Hamilton, CB, MP, a
Lord of the Bedchamber Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the royal household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A Lord of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Household; the term being fir ...
to
Albert Edward, Prince of Wales Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...
, and/or labourers sent by the surviving guard, ran to Llanddulas to warn of the accident, and the up 'Irish Mail' was successfully held there. Lord Hamilton, the
Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
MP for
Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...
in
Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...
, was the eldest son of
His Excellency Excellency is an honorific style (manner of address), style given to certain high-level officers of a sovereign state, officials of an international organization, or members of an aristocracy. Once entitled to the title "Excellency", the holder ...
The 1st Duke of Abercorn, the then
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingdo ...
; Abercorn had only been raised to a
duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
dom some ten days beforehand. The surviving passengers resumed their journey at 6pm the same day (as did the up 'Irish Mail'). There were more than one dozen casualties part identified, including both The 7th Baron Farnham, KP, an
Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...
peer, and his wife, the Baroness Farnham. Her jewels were found and valued at £6,000. Much coinage gold and silver were melted together from the heat. The deceased were recognised by the artifacts which included two locks from guns, scissors, one Bible and the metalwork from suitcases. The ''Railway News'' said of the incident:{{cite web , title=Railway News August 22, 1868 , url=http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/irs/irshome/features/readings/archive/accidents.htm , access-date=10 October 2010 {{quote, ''"No other collision has ever yet, in this country at least, been attended with such a loss of life, nor presented such horrifying features. The crashing of the engine and carriages into a heap of splinters, each of which wounds unfortunate passengers like a sword, is horrible enough to contemplate; but when fire in its fiercest form is added to the scene, no more frightful occurrence could be imagined."''


Inquest and prosecutions

At the subsequent
inquest An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a coro ...
, the two brakesmen of the goods train did not give evidence (on legal advice), and the coroner's jury returned a verdict of
manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...
against them. The jury also strongly censured the station-master at Llanddulas for allowing shunting when the express was expected imminently, contrary to the LNWR's rules. The brakesmen were tried for manslaughter at
Ruthin Ruthin ( ; cy, Rhuthun) is a market town and community in Denbighshire, Wales, in the south of the Vale of Clwyd. It is Denbighshire's county town. The town, castle and St Peter's Square lie on a hill, skirted by villages such as Pwllglas and ...
assizes The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...
the following spring, but acquitted. From contemporary press accounts, at the assizes the judge's charge to the grand jury gave a strong indication that the brakesmen were – or should have been – under the control of a superior officer: the Llanddulas stationmaster. He then instructed the jury that they should consider if the brakesmen were under the control of the stationmaster, and if there was culpable negligence, whose was the negligence? Despite this the jury returned a true bill, and the brakesmen were tried the next day, the trial jury retiring for less than 10 minutes before returning a verdict of 'Not Guilty'.{{cite news, title=The Abergele Catastrophe, newspaper=Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, date=27 March 1869


Lessons


Railway inspector's report

The
Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...
inspector, Colonel
Frederick Henry Rich Col. Frederick Henry Rich (8 March 1824 – 22 August 1904) was a British soldier, who served with the Royal Engineers and was the Chief Inspecting Officer of the Railway Inspectorate between 1885 and 1889. He investigated many of the maj ...
, issued his report within a month of the accident. He found that: * The immediate cause of the accident was the failure of the senior brakesman to apply the individual wagon brakes on the six detached wagons; * The brake van's brake had been broken by loose shunting of loaded wagons into the six wagons at too high a speed; the secondary cause was the failure of the senior brakesman to moderate their speed by applying wagon brakes, and; * The station master at Llanddulas ''was very culpable'' in not having directed the goods train into the sidings as soon as it arrived at Llanddulas. However, his analysis went beyond that of the inquest jury;{{efn, This was far from uncommon; in his official report on the
Brockley Whins Brockley Whins is an area in South Tyneside, part of South Shields, with a postcode of NE3 /nowiki> It is served by Brockley Whins Metro station. The name originates from a farm which was located about 400 metres East, in what is now the Bidd ...
accident in 1870, another inspector said of the inquest verdict that it supplied "further confirmation, if any were needed, of the fact that coroner's inquests, as generally conducted, are singularly ill calculated to ascertain the real causes of railway accidents; but they are supposed to be sometimes serviceable... to the railway companies, in concealing the mismanagement of the company from the public"{{sfnp, Rolt, Kichenside, 1982, page=62 he considered that these failings did not excuse the LNWR, and to some extent were its responsibility. {{quote, ''"So far, the three men are seriously to blame, and their neglect has been the immediate cause of the accident, but men of that class cannot be expected to do their duties well if the railway companies do not give them the most convenient and best appliances, and do not look after them strictly and enforce their own regulations."'' He then criticised the LNWR on a number of points: * The section of line was being run on the interval system{{efn, Similar to scheduling/timetabling - essentially, if a train has left a station, it is given a certain amount of head-start time before another train of similar speed is allowed to follow it on the same line (similar to a signal that automatically changes to red as a train passes, and will not show green again for at least, say, the next ten minutes). There are some obvious flaws in this system, most of which were explored on British railways (see for example {{harvp, Rolt, Kichenside, 1982 on the subject) in a way which was "much to be condemned". The intervals allowed appeared wholly inadequate, particularly for a powerful passenger/mail express being expected to follow a mixed goods working, along a section containing a 1 in 100 gradient – not to mention the need for shunting of goods wagons at Llanddulas to allow the express past.{{efn, Although the two trains would have been at least notionally protected from each other by the Llanddulas signal being set to "danger", the mail train might be routinely expected to halt at this signal whilst the goods wagons were manoeuvred into the sidings instead of being able to pass by at full speed. This suggests such tight timings were at least, even if not dangerous, rather counterproductive in terms of overall journey time and fuel use. He recommended{{efn, The Railway Inspectorate had been set up to inspect the civil engineering works of railways, and had clear powers in regard to this; on other matters – except where subsequently given additional powers by Parliament – they could only recommend, exhort, encourage and publicise. They felt this to be appropriate, as it kept all responsibility for safety clearly with the railway companies that on the section in question, and any others like it, "the block telegraph system should be put strictly in force";{{efn, The LNWR already had the telegraph and block working on the London –
Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...
main line, but it was "permissive"; where a block was not known to have been cleared by the previous train but there was as yet no reason to believe it wouldn't be, the block could be entered at reduced speed – a system that itself has obvious flaws.{{sfnp, Rolt, Kichenside, 1982Rolt * Llanddulas station and Llysfaen sidings had never been inspected by a Government official or been approved by the Board of Trade. They were "quite unfit" to be used at the same time to support both the quarry operations and accommodation of slower trains to allow expresses to pass them. He recommended that an additional siding large enough to accommodate any train being passed should be provided, and kept free from quarry traffic; * The LNWR "appeared to have a very slack system of supervision", with nobody to look after guards, train them, or monitor their performance; * Dangerous materials were included in normal goods trains with no greater care taken of them than of other cargoes. He recommended that they should be sent by separate "special" trains, with additional precautions observed; * The practice of locking the doors of passenger carriages from the outside. He recommended that all doors be left unlocked. He then returned to his previous point about what in modern parlance would be "safety culture" and "compliance" issues,{{original research inline, date=September 2018 but he saw as a simple question of discipline: {{quote, ''"Lastly, I fear that it is only too true that the rules printed and issued by railway companies to their servants, and which are generally very good, are made principally with the object of being produced when accidents happen from the breach of them, and that the companies systematically allow many of them to be broken daily, without taking the slightest notice of the disobedience..."'' He then gave a number of examples, beginning with one which was undeniably relevant:{{original research inline, date=September 2018 {{quote, ''"The breach of the regulation which led to this sad accident (viz. shunting within 10 minutes of the arrival of a passenger train) may be observed constantly at stations..."'' ...before ending: {{quote, ''"I must disavow any intention of taking advantage of this sad calamity to be severe on the London and North-Western Railway Company. I believe that their line is one of the best in the country, and that its general management and arrangements are as good, on the whole, as those of any of the other lines. But I desire to take advantage of the attention which this deplorable event will attract to bring before railway companies what I conceive to be the great defect in their systems, and which has led to most of the accidents I have inquired into, viz a want of discipline and the enforcing of obedience to their own rules."''


Catchpoints

Although this was not one of the recommendations of the Board of Trade report, it became the practice for steep inclines to be fitted with runaway catchpoints so that runaway vehicles would be derailed and stopped before they had a chance to collide with following trains. These catchpoints became widespread, and only diminished in numbers when all rolling stock was fitted with continuous automatic brakes in the 1980s.


Petroleum Act 1879

{{main, Petroleum Act 1879 Not until 1879 was any legislation passed to regulate the carriage of flammable liquids by rail.


Similar accidents

*
Versailles rail accident On 8 May 1842, a train crashed in the cutting between Gare de Meudon, Meudon and Bellevue Station (France), Bellevue stations on the railway between Versailles (city), Versailles and Paris, France. The train was travelling to Paris when it der ...
(1842); wooden carriages which caught fire and cars locked from outside * Stairfoot rail accident (1870
(see also BoT accident report)
*
Chelford rail accident The Chelford rail accident occurred on 22 December 1894 at Chelford railway station.Marindin 1895, p. 83 The stationmaster was supervising shunting operations, during which a high-sided wagon was fly-shunted (i.e. run-off) into a siding in str ...
(1894
(see also BoT accident report)
only vaguely similar but the accident report quotes LNWR rules on shunting brought in as a result of Abergele


Previous similar but minor accidents on North Wales Coast Line

* Penmaenmawr (1854)
(BoT accident report)
goods train still shunting when express arrived - express overran 'distant' signal. * Bangor (1856)
(BoT accident report)
- defective interval working - passenger train predictably caught up with goods train - block working recommended. * Penmaenrhos Tunnel (1859)
(BoT accident report)
defective interval working- light engine predictably caught up with goods train - block working recommended more strongly: covering letter concludes
My Lords direct me to call the attention of the directors to the concluding recommendation of the inspecting officer as to the desirableness of working the line by means of the electric telegraph.


See also

*
List of British rail accidents 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 ...
*
Lists of rail accidents This is the list of rail accident lists. Lists By year By type *By country * By death toll *Terrorist incidents See also * Classification of railway accidents * Derailment *Rail Transport * Train wreck A train wreck, train collision, tr ...


Notes and references


Notes

{{notelist


References

{{Reflist


Further reading

* {{cite book, first=Robert, last=Hume, title=Death by Chance: The Abergele Train Disaster, 1868, year=2004, publisher=Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, location=Llanrwst, isbn=0-86381-900-1 * {{cite book , last=Kichenside , first=Geoffrey , title=Great Train Disasters , year=1997 , publisher=
Parragon Parragon Books Ltd, a United Kingdom publishing company, was formed in 1988 by friends Guy Parr and Paul Anderson. In 2001, it became part of D. C. Thomson & Co. History Parragon began its early years by developing business through overstocks ...
, location=Avonmouth , isbn=0-7525-2229-9 , pages=21–22 , chapter=Chapter 2 Disasters of Victorian Years * {{cite book , last1=Nock , first1=O. S. , author-link1=O. S. Nock , last2=Cooper , first2=B.K. , title=Historic Railway Disasters , edition=4th , year=1987 , orig-year=1966 , publisher= Ian Allan , location=Shepperton , isbn=0-7110-1752-2 , pages=21–24 , chapter=Chapter 2 Four mid-Victorian tragedies * {{cite book , last1=Rolt , first1=L. T. C. , author-link1=L. T. C. Rolt , last2=Kichenside , first2=Geoffrey , title=Red for Danger , edition=4th , year=1982 , orig-year=1955 , publisher=
David & Charles David & Charles Ltd is an English publishing company. It is the owner of the David & Charles imprint, which specialises in craft and lifestyle publishing. David and Charles Ltd acts as distributor for all David and Charles Ltd books and cont ...
, location=Newton Abbot , isbn=0-7153-8362-0 , pages=181–184 , chapter=Chapter 8 Stray Wagons and Breakaways * {{cite book , last=Vaughan , first=Adrian , title=Railwaymen Politics & Money , year=1997 , publisher= John Murray , location=London , isbn=0-7195-5150-1 , page
153–154
, chapter=Chapter 16 Debt, Overwork and Democracy , chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/railwaymenpoliti0000vaug/page/153 * {{cite book , last=Vaughan , first=Adrian , title=Railway Blunders , url=https://archive.org/details/railwayblunders00vaug , url-access=limited , year=2003 , publisher= Ian Allan , location=Hersham , isbn=0-7110-2836-2 , pag
25
, chapter=Brakes


External links


BBC site
{{Railway accidents in the United Kingdom, 1815–1899, state=collapsed {{coord, 53.29108, N, 3.6294, W, type:event_region:GB, display=title {{DEFAULTSORT:Abergele Rail Disaster Abergele Llanddulas and Rhyd-y-Foel Train collisions in Wales 1868 in Wales Railway accidents in 1868 Runaway train disasters Transport in Conwy County Borough History of Conwy County Borough Accidents and incidents involving London and North Western Railway August 1868 events Train and subway fires 1868 disasters in the United Kingdom