I was just wondering which UK train crash people thought was worst. If there is another crash you would like to add send a post to tell me.
How far back are you looking for? - What about Harrow , Lewisham or even Quintinshill ?
Thanks, I have added those crashes to the poll.
Quintinshill
The Firth of fourth bridge collapse.
I think you’ll find it was the original Tay Bridge that collapsed. The Forth Bridge still stands today.
Regards,
Must have been the Third bridge then [:D]
Quintinshill is generally said to have the most casualties.
For sheer destructiveness, Harrow is most impressive.
Well all train crashes are bad, but in terms of life lost, then Quintinshill takes it. 227 people killed when a troop train crashed into a local passenger train and an express train collides with the wreckage. More info here: http://members.lycos.co.uk/hinckley8/train.html
One of the most bizarre accidents has to be Great Heck in casts his mind back Feb 2002? A driver on the M62 motorway fell asleep at the wheel and managed to find the gap between the barrier and the wall of the bridge over the East Coast Main Line. A northbound Freightliner coal train hit his Land Rover, derailing the train, and a southbound GNER express ploughed into the coal train. The odds of him falling asleep at the precise moment to miss the barrier must have been huge.
An interesting (yet destructive) crash happened on the West Highland Line in Scotland (I forget exactly when, certainly in the late 1800s - i just remember it from a video i have about the line). Climbing up a grade, a coupling broke and the wagons disappeared off down the hill. The crew didn’t see the wagons go, and on realising they were missing half their train, they backed down the hill into the nearest station (Garve, if my memory is correct) to alert the signalman. Meanwhile, the wagons had picked up enough speed to climb the opposite hill (the station was in a valley) but they lost momentum halfway up and rolled back down THAT grade…straight into the loco in the station…
This site might also be of interest: http://danger-ahead.railfan.net/gallery/index.html