The Lichfield rail crash was a

rail crash A train wreck, train collision, train accident or train crash is a type of disaster involving one or more trains. Train wrecks often occur as a result of miscommunication, as when a moving train meets another train on the same track; or an acc ...

which occurred on New Year's Day

1946 Events January * January 6 - The first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into four occupation zones. * January 10 ** The ...

at Lichfield Trent Valley station in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands C ...

, England. 20 people were killed in the accident, caused when a

points Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Points ...

failure routed a goods train into the back of a stationary passenger train waiting at the station. This event, alongside the Abbots Ripton rail accident, is the basis for the story ''The Flying Kipper'' in

the Railway Series ''The Railway Series'' is a series of British books about a railway known as the North Western Railway, located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first published in May 1945 by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry. T ...

Rev. W. Awdry Wilbert Vere Awdry (15 June 1911 – 21 March 1997) was an English Anglican minister, railway enthusiast, and children's author. He was best known for creating Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas and several other characters he created appeared in ...

The crash

At Lichfield Trent Valley station there were four tracks running through the station: two fast through lines in each direction with loops on each side for trains stopping at the station. The crash occurred at 18:58, and involved the 14:50 fish train from

Fleetwood Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the 2011 census. Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830s, when the principal lando ...

to London Broad Street. This train consisted of seven four-wheel fish vans and a

brake van Brake van and guard's van are terms used mainly in the UK, Ireland, Australia and India for a railway vehicle equipped with a hand brake which can be applied by the guard. The equivalent North American term is caboose, but a British brake van ...

hauled by a Stanier Class 5 4-6-0. It was travelling at around 35 mph when it passed into the station, and was scheduled to run through on the fast up line. However at the north end of the station, the points had become stuck in the position used by the preceding train – a to local passenger train, which had left the main line for the platform loop in order to stop at the station and was still waiting there for the goods train to pass. The goods train was diverted onto the platform loop where it collided with the rear end of the local passenger train. The passenger train consisted of four old wooden-bodied coaches; the force of the impact demolished the rear three coaches, and hurled the engine (a

LNWR Prince of Wales Class The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Prince of Wales Class was a class of express passenger locomotive. It was in effect, a superheated version of the Experiment Class 4-6-0. History They were introduced in 1911 by Charles Bowen-Cooke. ...

4-6-0) forwards 100 yards.

Casualties

20 passengers on the passenger train lost their lives – 13 in the collision and the remainder either in hospital or on the way there. Another 21 were injured, some seriously, including a porter on the platform who was injured by flying debris. The crew of the passenger train were unhurt, however the crew of the goods train suffered bruises and minor injuries, and the driver had to be treated for severe

shock Shock may refer to: Common uses Collective noun *Shock, a historic commercial term for a group of 60, see English numerals#Special names * Stook, or shock of grain, stacked sheaves Healthcare * Shock (circulatory), circulatory medical emerge ...

Cause

The points failure was caused by the extremely cold weather that day freezing the point mechanisms. When the signalman had accepted the fish train from the previous signalbox to the North, he needed to swing the facing points (that allowed entry into the Up Platform Loop from the Up line) from reverse to normal. Unbeknown to him, the points had frozen in reverse position. However, he was able to push the lever back into the frame and engage the point lock and thus clear the signal. He was able to do this because the point rods had become bent, allowing sufficient play for the lever to be pushed fully into the normal position, but actually leaving the points in reverse. This accident is one of the very rare occasions where mechanical

interlocking In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junctions or crossings. The signalling appliances and tracks are sometimes collectively re ...

has failed to work correctly.

Sources

Ministry of Transport official report

External links

Pathe Newsreel report of the accident
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lichfield Rail Crash Railway accidents and incidents in Staffordshire Railway accidents in 1946 1946 in England Accidents and incidents involving London, Midland and Scottish Railway History of Lichfield 20th century in Staffordshire 1946 disasters in the United Kingdom January 1946 events in the United Kingdom Train collisions in England