The accident was a caused by a signalman's error: the signalman at Welwyn Garden City, who had been fairly recently appointed to the box, became confused and accepted a second train into a block section that was already occupied. The Newcastle train, arriving first, received a signal check and was slowed to 15‒20 mph; the Leeds train, consisting of 11 coaches hauled by Class K3 2-6-0 No 4009, ran into it at approximately 65 mph.
There were several significant features.[1] Firstly, the modern rolling stock with buckeye couplings withstood the violent collision well, apart from the last coach which was totally destroyed; older coaches would have been crushed, with much heavier loss of life. Secondly, the Inspecting Officer felt that the signalman had been promoted beyond his level of competence for such a busy box, and that the assessment and training procedures for signalmen should be improved. Different commentators have disagreed on this; Rolt[2][page needed] and Hamilton[3][page needed] supported the Inspector, Vaughan[4][page needed] felt the signalman had had insufficient time to become fully experienced in working the box. Thirdly, the Inspector recommended that the block instruments should be linked to the track circuits to prevent future occurrences in such a way that a "Line clear" indication could only be given on the block instrument if the track circuits had registered passage of a train; this was widely adopted and known as Welwyn Control.
There was another rear-end collision, about half a mile south of Welwyn Garden City station, at dawn on 7 January 1957, with a different cause. The accident was due to the driver of an Aberdeen to London express passing signals at danger with visibility reduced due to mist, and not hearing the explosion of emergency detonators as his locomotive ran over them.[5]
The express was travelling at around 60‒65 mph when it collided with the rear of a local train, which had just pulled away from the station and was travelling at around 30‒35 mph. The rear coach of the local train was wrecked in the collision and two more were overturned. One passenger in the local train was killed and 25 injured. The locomotive of the express overturned, and the driver suffered severe shock.
^Mount, Lt.Col. A. (1935). Accident Report (link below). Board of Trade.
^Rolt, L.T.C. (1956). Red for Danger. Bodley Head / David and Charles / Pan Books.
^Hamilton., J.A.B. (1967). British Railway Accidents of the 20th Century (reprinted 1987 as Disaster down the Line). George Allen and Unwin / Javelin Books. ISBN0-7137-1973-7.
^Vaughan, Adrian (1989). Obstruction Danger. Guild Publishing. ISBN1-85260-055-1.
^Wilson, Lt.Col. G. (1957). Accident Report (link below). Ministry of Transport.
External linksedit
Railways Archive summary and link to accident report for 1935 collision
Official Railways Inspectorate accident report for 1935 collision
Railways Archive summary and official accident report for 1957 collision
Official Railways Inspectorate accident report for 1957 collision
welwyn, garden, city, rail, crashes, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, schola. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Welwyn Garden City rail crashes news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2022 Learn how and when to remove this message For the 1866 rail crash near Welwyn see Welwyn Tunnel rail crash There was a rail crash near Welwyn Garden City railway station in Hertfordshire England in 1935 which killed fourteen people and another in 1957 with one fatality Contents 1 1935 crash 2 1957 crash 3 See also 4 References 5 External links1935 crash edit1935 Welwyn Garden City rail crashDetailsDate15 June 1935 23 27LocationWelwyn Garden City HertfordshireCountryEnglandLineEast Coast Main LineOperatorLondon and North Eastern RailwayCauseSignalling errorStatisticsTrains2Passengers337Deaths14Injured29List of UK rail accidents by year On 15 June 1935 a train from London King s Cross to Leeds collided with the rear of a train from Kings Cross to Newcastle at night Fourteen people were killed and 29 injured The accident was a caused by a signalman s error the signalman at Welwyn Garden City who had been fairly recently appointed to the box became confused and accepted a second train into a block section that was already occupied The Newcastle train arriving first received a signal check and was slowed to 15 20 mph the Leeds train consisting of 11 coaches hauled by Class K3 2 6 0 No 4009 ran into it at approximately 65 mph There were several significant features 1 Firstly the modern rolling stock with buckeye couplings withstood the violent collision well apart from the last coach which was totally destroyed older coaches would have been crushed with much heavier loss of life Secondly the Inspecting Officer felt that the signalman had been promoted beyond his level of competence for such a busy box and that the assessment and training procedures for signalmen should be improved Different commentators have disagreed on this Rolt 2 page needed and Hamilton 3 page needed supported the Inspector Vaughan 4 page needed felt the signalman had had insufficient time to become fully experienced in working the box Thirdly the Inspector recommended that the block instruments should be linked to the track circuits to prevent future occurrences in such a way that a Line clear indication could only be given on the block instrument if the track circuits had registered passage of a train this was widely adopted and known as Welwyn Control 1957 crash edit1957 Welwyn Garden City rail crash nbsp DetailsDate7 January 1957LocationWelwyn Garden City HertfordshireCountryEnglandLineEast Coast Main LineCauseSignals passed at dangerStatisticsTrains2Deaths1Injured25List of UK rail accidents by year There was another rear end collision about half a mile south of Welwyn Garden City station at dawn on 7 January 1957 with a different cause The accident was due to the driver of an Aberdeen to London express passing signals at danger with visibility reduced due to mist and not hearing the explosion of emergency detonators as his locomotive ran over them 5 The express was travelling at around 60 65 mph when it collided with the rear of a local train which had just pulled away from the station and was travelling at around 30 35 mph The rear coach of the local train was wrecked in the collision and two more were overturned One passenger in the local train was killed and 25 injured The locomotive of the express overturned and the driver suffered severe shock See also editLists of rail accidentsReferences edit Mount Lt Col A 1935 Accident Report link below Board of Trade Rolt L T C 1956 Red for Danger Bodley Head David and Charles Pan Books Hamilton J A B 1967 British Railway Accidents of the 20th Century reprinted 1987 as Disaster down the Line George Allen and Unwin Javelin Books ISBN 0 7137 1973 7 Vaughan Adrian 1989 Obstruction Danger Guild Publishing ISBN 1 85260 055 1 Wilson Lt Col G 1957 Accident Report link below Ministry of Transport External links editRailways Archive summary and link to accident report for 1935 collision Official Railways Inspectorate accident report for 1935 collision Railways Archive summary and official accident report for 1957 collision Official Railways Inspectorate accident report for 1957 collision 51 48 07 N 0 12 11 W 51 80194 N 0 20306 W 51 80194 0 20306 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Welwyn Garden City rail crashes amp oldid 1174316338, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
