Shipton-on-Cherwell train crash

In the railway accident at Shipton -on- Cherwell on December 24, 1874 derailed an express train after breaking a wheel tire on the Cherwell Valley Line of the Great Western Railway at Shipton -on- Cherwell, Oxfordshire, England. 34 deaths and 65 serious injuries were the result. Cause of the accident were a number of technical defects and operational shortcomings.

Requirements

The express was from London Paddington to Birkenhead road. The fully staffed train with 14 cars was in Oxford a biasing locomotive and an older biaxial reinforcement car, which was built in 1855. He was ranked behind the locomotives. Thus, the train, however, was so long that the communication line, the train crew was able to ring the bell at a Tender in order to draw the attention of the driver training on itself, it was no longer sufficient. Continuous brakes were still unknown. Rather, the train was slowed only by the steam engine and the ride- on some cars brakemen who attended their brakes because of a Pfeifsignals the locomotive.

The accident

Due to the low temperatures of the accident and the high speed of almost 70 km / h was the breakage of a wheel rim to the reinforcement car. The cars derailed. As a result of the short communication line to the train crew the locomotive crews could not alert, this was just before the bridge over the Oxford Canal attention to the danger. It slowed instantly with full force without the brakeman of the train could still react to it. So the brakes of locomotives worked faster than the rest of the cars of the train, the aufliefen on the locomotives and the reinforcement car crushed. Nine of the following cars rushed with their passengers down the embankment, some in the Oxford Canal, three derailed without crashing, only the last two were in the track. Most of the dead and injured were traveling in the car that had plunged into the canal. Thanks to the discretion of the train crew, a collision with the next train could be prevented.

Investigation

The causes of the accident were noted: the obsolete and dangerous construction of the wheels of the car built in 1855 gain, maybe fatigue was present, the failure of the communication line, the braking of trains by a brakeman on individual cars and the emergency braking of the locomotives.

Follow

The accident clearly showed the inadequacy of the brake system used on long and heavy trains. The accident accelerated the conversion to continuous pressure air or vacuum brakes. Next recommended the commission of inquiry improved wheels, but the core is still made ​​of wood. This problem should be solved with the introduction of wrought-iron monoblock wheels. With regard to the communication of train and locomotive staff, the Commission instead of the communication line recommended a telegraphic methods introduce. This proposal, however, was not pursued.