Esholt Junction rail crash
Esholt Junction rail crash | |
---|---|
Details | |
Date | 9 June 1892 15:34 |
Location | Esholt Junction, Yorkshire |
Country | England, UK |
Line | Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway |
Cause | Signals obscured Defective signalling procedure |
Statistics | |
Trains | 2 |
Deaths | 5 |
Injured | 30 |
List of UK rail accidents by year |
The Esholt Junction rail crash occurred on Thursday 9 June 1892, at the point at which the Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway from Ilkley divides, one branch in the direction of Leeds and the other Bradford, a short distance after Guiseley railway station. Two trains collided at around three thirty in the afternoon, resulting in the deaths of five passengers, and injuries to twenty-six more. The driver, fireman and guard of one of the trains were injured, as was a guard on the other train. Although vegetation obscuring a signal was accepted as the primary cause of the crash, a recommendation was made to alter certain signalling procedures at the junction to prevent a recurrence.[1][2]
The crash arose as three trains neared the junction at much the same time — a common enough occurrence. From the direction of Bradford, a Bradford-Harrogate train was following a route taking it in the direction of Guiseley; from the Leeds branch, a Leeds-Ilkley train was also heading towards Guiseley; whilst in the other direction an Ilkley-Bradford train approached the junction from Guiseley.
Signalman Harry I'Anson, in the Esholt signal box, gave the Bradford-Harrogate train permission to pass the junction; meanwhile in the Apperley signal box, signalman Thomas Aubrey, knowing the Ilkley-Bradford train was approaching, gave the Leeds-Ilkley train permission to proceed towards the junction under a procedure called clause 16, which allowed trains to near the junction under the proviso that they were likely to encounter a danger signal before the junction proper.
At the junction, the Leeds-Ilkley driver, Archibald McLay, despite acknowledging that he had been given a clause 16 permission, and in spite of his four and a half year's service on the line, mistook the proceed signal given to the Bradford-Harrogate train as relating to his line. In fact, his signal was at danger, but obscured by vegetation at the time he looked at it. By the time his train arrived at the junction, it was being crossed by the Ilkley-Bradford train. The Ilkley-bound train ploughed through the last six carriages of the Bradford bound train, overturning the last of these; the engine and tender of the Ilkley bound train also turned over. Five passengers, all on the Ilkley-Bradford train died, one instantly, one on route to and three in hospital. Twenty-six passengers were injured and McLay and his fireman, Walter Bolton, received serious injuries, as did the guard on his train and one of the guards on the Bradford-bound train.
An investigation by Major General C. S. Hutchinson concluded that whereas the immediate cause was the obscured signal, signalling practice at Esholt Junction — specifically clause 16, which allowed trains to approach the junction simultaneously — should be abolished and considered to be a breach of the Regulation of Railways Act 1889. The Bradford junction signal was also repositioned so that it could not be seen from the Leeds line.
References
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- Philadelphia (Jul 1815)
- Parkside (Sep 1830)
- Wetheral (Dec 1836)
- Harrow (Aug 1838)
- Howden (Aug 1840)
- Sonning Cutting (Dec 1841)
- Penistone (Oct 1845)
- Dee Bridge (May 1847)
- Sutton Tunnel (Apr 1851)
- Burnley (Jun 1852)
- Straffan (Oct 1853)
- Reading Southern (Sep 1855)
- Lewisham (Jun 1857)
- Round Oak (Aug 1858)
- Helmshore (Sep 1860)
- Atherstone (Nov 1860)
- Wootton (Jun 1861)
- Clayton Tunnel (Aug 1861) ‡
- Kentish Town (Sep 1861)
- Winchburgh (Oct 1862)
- Rednal (Jun 1865)
- Staplehurst (Jun 1865)
- Welwyn Tunnel (Jun 1866)
- Yanwath (Feb 1867)
- Warrington (Jun 1867)
- Abergele (Aug 1868) ‡
- Maesycwmmer (Jun 1869)
- Dalton Junction (Dec 1869)
- Newark (Jun 1870)
- Tamworth (Sep 1870)
- Stairfoot (Dec 1870)
- Hatfield (Dec 1870)
- Kirtlebridge (Oct 1872)
- Wigan (Aug 1873)
- Menheniot (Dec 1873)
- Bo'ness Junction (Jan 1874)
- Thorpe (Sep 1874) ‡
- Shipton-on-Cherwell (Dec 1874) ‡
- Kildwick & Crosshills (Aug 1875)
- Abbots Ripton (Jan 1876)
- Radstock (Aug 1876)
- Heeley (Nov 1876)
- Morpeth (Mar 1877)
- Tay Bridge (Dec 1879) ‡
- Burscough Junction (Jan 1880)
- Wennington Junction (Aug 1880)
- Inverythan (Nov 1882)
- Penistone (Jul 1884) ‡
- Penistone (Jan 1885)
- Hexthorpe (Sep 1887) ‡
- Penistone (Mar 1889)
- Armagh (Jun 1889) ‡
- Norton Fitzwarren (Nov 1890)
- Norwood Junction (May 1891)
- Esholt Junction (Jun 1892)
- Thirsk (Nov 1892)
- Llantrisant (Aug 1893)
- Chelford (Dec 1894)
- St Neots (Nov 1895)
- Snowdon (Apr 1896)
- Menheniot (Feb 1897)
- Welshampton (Jun 1897)
- Penistone (Oct 1897)
- Menheniot (Nov 1897)
- Potters Bar (Mar 1898)
- St Johns (Mar 1898)
- Wellingborough (Sep 1898)
- Wrawby Junction (Oct 1898)
- Potters Bar (May 1899)
1900–1999
53°51′56″N 1°42′30″W / 53.8655°N 1.7082°W / 53.8655; -1.7082