Charfield railway disaster
Encyclopedia
The Charfield railway disaster was a fatal train
crash which occurred on 13 October 1928 in the village of Charfield
in the English
county of Gloucestershire
.
The Leeds
to Bristol
LMS
night mail train failed to stop at the signals protecting the sidings at Charfield railway station
. The weather was misty, but there was not a sufficiently thick fog for the signalman
at Charfield to employ fog signallers. A freight train was in the process of being shunted from the main line to the sidings, and another train of empty goods waggons was passing through the station from the Bristol direction. The mail train collided with the freight train and was derailed, coming into collision with the up train underneath the road bridge to the north of the station. Gas used to light the carriages ignited, and four carriages were burnt out. Intense fire made identification of the dead, and even a complete body count, difficult, but it is believed that 15 people died and a further 23 were injured. (The official report lists 16 deaths and 41 injuries). The driver of the mail train claimed that he had seen a clear distant signal on approach to the station, and therefore had assumed that the home signals protecting the station were also clear; however, testing of the signals after the accident confirmed that the distant had been correctly in the "danger" position. The driver was charged with manslaughter
, but was subsequently acquitted.
Among the dead were the remains of two small children, who have never been identified. According to local accounts, from 1929 and up until the late 1950s, an unknown woman dressed in black used to regularly visit the memorial to the crash. But she has not been seen for several decades. There is a memorial to remember those who lost their lives at St James Church
in Charfield, where the two unknown children are buried.
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
crash which occurred on 13 October 1928 in the village of Charfield
Charfield
Charfield is a village and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England lying near the Little Avon River and south-west of the town of Wotton-under-Edge....
in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county of Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
.
The Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
to Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
LMS
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...
night mail train failed to stop at the signals protecting the sidings at Charfield railway station
Charfield railway station
Charfield railway station served the village of Charfield in South Gloucestershire, England. The station was on the Bristol and Gloucester Railway, originally a broad gauge line overseen by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, but later taken over by the Midland Railway and converted to standard...
. The weather was misty, but there was not a sufficiently thick fog for the signalman
Signalman (rail)
A signalman or signaller is an employee of a railway transport network who operates the points and signals from a signal box in order to control the movement of trains.- History :...
at Charfield to employ fog signallers. A freight train was in the process of being shunted from the main line to the sidings, and another train of empty goods waggons was passing through the station from the Bristol direction. The mail train collided with the freight train and was derailed, coming into collision with the up train underneath the road bridge to the north of the station. Gas used to light the carriages ignited, and four carriages were burnt out. Intense fire made identification of the dead, and even a complete body count, difficult, but it is believed that 15 people died and a further 23 were injured. (The official report lists 16 deaths and 41 injuries). The driver of the mail train claimed that he had seen a clear distant signal on approach to the station, and therefore had assumed that the home signals protecting the station were also clear; however, testing of the signals after the accident confirmed that the distant had been correctly in the "danger" position. The driver was charged with manslaughter
Manslaughter
Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
, but was subsequently acquitted.
Among the dead were the remains of two small children, who have never been identified. According to local accounts, from 1929 and up until the late 1950s, an unknown woman dressed in black used to regularly visit the memorial to the crash. But she has not been seen for several decades. There is a memorial to remember those who lost their lives at St James Church
St James' Church, Charfield
St James' Church, Charfield, is a redundant Anglican church in the village of Charfield, Gloucestershire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It stands on a steep hillside overlooking a...
in Charfield, where the two unknown children are buried.
External links
- Charfield Railway Disaster
- Account of 1928 disaster
- Railway Guard, victim of 1928 crash
- The Railways Archive summary of this accident
- See Backtrack 1990 Volume 4 Number 1 Letter.46 two views-on the 2 unknowns-one is that they were two survivors and another October 10, 1999 Volume 13 Number 10 is that the two unknowns were identifiable remains in two small boxes at http://www.steamindex.com/backtrak/bt13.htm#569-nb
- Two survivors of the 1928 Railroad crash