1870 Hatfield rail crash

This article is about the rail crash in 1870. For the accident in 2000, see Hatfield rail crash.

1870 Hatfield rail crash
Details
Date	26 December 1870
Location	Hatfield, Hertfordshire
Coordinates	51.7387°N 0.2130°W / 51.7387; -0.2130
Country	United Kingdom
Line	East Coast Main Line
Cause	Wheel failure
Statistics
Trains	1
Deaths	8 (including George Blake, aged 69, and Robert Reynolds, aged 12)
Injured	3
List of UK rail accidents by year

On a frosty Boxing day in 1870 the driver of the 16:25 from London King's Cross to Peterborough noticed an 'uneasy oscillation' as he passed over Marshmoor level crossing, 2 miles south of Hatfield station. He peered back and discovered he had lost his train and pulled up. He reversed back, preceded by his fireman on foot showing a red light. They were met by the white-faced guard who told them there had been a disaster. The driver reversed direction again and sped to Hatfield to warn oncoming traffic and summon help.

It transpired that as the train approached the crossing the left hand leading wheel of the van at the front of the train had disintegrated and the coupling between the van and the locomotive had parted and the van and two following coaches had run off the rails onto the roadway demolishing a wall, and the crossing gates and posts and killing the mother and sister of a signalman who were waiting at the crossing. In addition six passengers in the two coaches were killed.

The accident inspector criticized the method of tyre fixing and recommended, not for the first time, the use of Mansell composite wheels on passenger rolling stock.

Sources

• Rolt, L.T.C.; Kichenside, Geoffrey (1982) [1955]. Red for Danger (4th ed.). Newton Abbot: David & Charles. pp. 76–77. ISBN 0-7153-8362-0.

External links

• Board of Trade report