Крушение поездов в Уилдстоуне: крупнейшая катастрофа на железной дороге Великобритании.

1952 train wreck in Wealdstone, England

The Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash was a three train collision at Harrow and Wealdstone station in Wealdstone, Middlesex (now Greater London) during the morning rush hour of 8 October 1952. The crash resulted in 112 deaths and 340 injuries, 88 of these being detained in hospital. It remains the worst peacetime rail crash in British history and the second deadliest overall after the Quintinshill rail disaster of 1915. An overnight express train from Perth crashed into the rear of a local passenger train standing at a platform at the station. The wreckage blocked adjacent lines and was struck within seconds by a "double headed" express train travelling north at The Ministry of Transport report on the crash found that the driver of the Perth train had passed a caution signal and two danger signals before colliding with the local train. The reason for this was never established, as both the driver and the fireman of the Perth train were killed in the accident. The accident accelerated the introduction of the Automatic Warning System, and British Railways agreed to a five year plan to install the system to give drivers an in cab audible and visual warning when nearing a signal at caution, actuated by magnets between the rails.

On 8 October 1952, at around 8:17 a. m., the local train stopped at platform 4 at Harrow and Wealdstone station, approximately seven minutes late because of fog. Carrying about 800 passengers, it was busier than usual because the next Tring Euston service had been cancelled. As scheduled, it had travelled from Tring on the slow line, switching to the up fast line just before Harrow and Wealdstone to keep the slow lines to the south of the station clear for empty stock movements. At 8:19 a. m, just as the guard was walking back to his brake van after checking doors on the last two carriages, the Perth express crashed into the rear of the local at a speed of It had passed a colour light signal at caution and two semaphore signals at danger, and had burst through the trailing points of the crossover from the slow lines, which were still set for the local train. The collision drove the entire local train forward , and completely destroyed the rear three coaches, shattering the wooden bodies of the last two and crushing the steel body of the next to a third of its length; the three were telescoped into the length of little more than one coach. The leading two vans and three coaches of the Perth train piled up behind and above the locomotive. The wreckage from the first collision was spread across the adjacent down fast line. A few seconds after the first collision, the northbound express to Liverpool Lime Street passed through the station on this line in the opposite direction at approximately The leading locomotive of this train struck the derailed locomotive of the Perth train, which may still have been moving, and was itself derailed. The two locomotives from the Liverpool train were deflected left, mounting the platform, which they ploughed across diagonally before landing on their sides on the adjacent DC electric line, one line of which was short circuited by the wreckage; the other line had its electric current quickly switched off by the signalman, thus preventing any further collisions. The leading seven coaches, plus a kitchen car from the Liverpool train, were carried forward by momentum, overriding the existing wreckage and piling up above and around it. Several of these coaches struck the underside of the station footbridge, tearing away a steel girder. Sixteen vehicles, including thirteen coaches, two bogie vans and a kitchen car were destroyed or severely damaged in the collisions. Thirteen of these were compressed into a compact heap of wreckage long, wide and high. The Perth locomotive was completely buried under the pile of wreckage.

The first emergency response arrived at 8:22 a. m. with the fire brigade, ambulance and police services being assisted by doctors and a medical unit of the United States Air Force, based 5 mile (8 km) away at RAF South Ruislip. This included Abbie Sweetwine, an African American nurse who became known as "The Angel of Platform Six". Help was accepted from the Salvation Army, the Women's Voluntary Service and local residents. The first loaded ambulance left at 8:27 a. m. and by 12:15 p. m. most of the injured had been taken to hospital. The search for survivors continued until 1:30 the following morning. All six lines running through the station were closed including the undamaged slow lines to allow the injured access to ambulances that left from the goods yard. The slow lines reopened at 5:32 a. m. the following day. The electric lines were used by cranes to remove the Liverpool locomotives and carriages and reopened 4:30 a. m. on 11 October. The fast lines were reopened, with a speed restriction, at 8:00 p. m. on 12 October and a temporary footbridge was opened the same evening.

There were 112 fatalities, including the driver and fireman of the Perth express and the driver of the lead engine of the Liverpool express (the fireman was thrown from the cab by the collision without serious injury). Of the fatalities, 102 perished at the scene, and the remaining 10 died later in hospital from their injuries. Of the 109 passenger fatalities, at least 64 occurred in the local train, 23 in the Perth train, and 7 in the Liverpool train, but where the remaining 14 were from was not clear; some of them may have been standing on the platform and hit by the derailed locomotives of the Liverpool train. A total of 340 people were reported injured: 183 people were given treatment for shock and minor injury at the station and 157 were taken to hospital, of whom 88 were hospitalized.

The accident accelerated the introduction of British Railways' Automatic Warning System (AWS), which had received scepticism by some industry expenditure prioritising experts who theorised more lives would be saved by installing more track circuits and colour light signals. By 1977, one third of British Rail tracks had been fitted with AWS. After the accident, experts criticised the local layout of the track: the Tring train had to stop at the platform on the fast line, and to minimise the length of the operating rods between the points and the signal box, the junction between slow and fast lines lay beyond the station. The junction was changed in 1962. A memorial plaque for the disaster was unveiled in 2002 to mark the 50th anniversary. A mural along the bordering road, featuring scenes from Wealdstone's history, was painted by children from local schools and dedicated in memory of the victims. The Dutch pop group The Nits wrote a song titled "Harrow Accident".

The leading locomotive hauling the Liverpool train was No. 45637 Jubilee Class 4 6 0 Windward Islands. This locomotive was severely damaged in the accident, having borne the brunt of the impact, and its remains were scrapped. The second locomotive of the Liverpool train was No. 46202 Princess Royal Class 4 6 2 Princess Anne, which was a rebuild in conventional form from the experimental steam turbine Turbomotive and had been in service as Princess Anne for only a few months. It took serious damage in the crash, having its leading bogie torn off and main frames buckled, and was scrapped after being deemed beyond economic repair. The loss of this locomotive led to the introduction of the BR Standard Class 8P Pacific, an experimental three cylinder 4 6 2 No. 71000 Duke of Gloucester, which is today preserved. The Perth train had been hauled by No. 46242 Coronation Class 4 6 2 City of Glasgow. This was badly damaged, but went on to be rebuilt, and remained in service until 1963. The Tring train had been hauled by an LMS Fowler 2 6 4T No. 42389 running bunker first. This locomotive was undamaged and also remained in service until 1963. Nameplates from Windward Islands and Princess Anne were acquired by the Doncaster Grammar School Railway Society, and remain at the school.