Memorial to honour hero signalman at Carlisle station

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

A signalman whose quick thinking prevented a train crash 25 years ago is being honoured with a plaque.

Bill Taylor was on duty at the Carlisle signalling centre on 1 May 1984 when a freight train broke in two. The out-of-control rear section headed towards the station, where passengers were boarding an early London train. He quickly diverted it onto a bridge, where it crashed but caused no other damage. A plaque in his honour is being unveiled at Carlisle station later.

The ceremony is being carried out by his friend and rail historian, Peter Robinson.

Mr Taylor, who has since died, was hailed as a hero at the time. He had seen from an illuminated electronic display that the train had broken into two sections, both of which were rolling downhill from towards Carlisle. With the driver unaware of what had happened, and only moments to act, he allowed the locomotive and front part - which was under the control of the driver - to pass over the points. He then switched the points to divert the runaway carriages onto a freight-only line bypassing the station.

Following an investigation, safety procedures were put in place to avoid a similar situation.

The plaque in the station's Victorian waiting room is alongside an illustrated display of Cumbrian railway history.

[inspector_blakey]

Were there really unfitted goods trains running as late as 1984, or was the train in question suffering from a brake fault?

[John R]

Didn't that accident cause the closure of the avoiding lines at Carlisle, now sorely missed with the increase in traffic. Or am I thinking of some other incident?

[inspector_blakey]

Pass. I did have a very quick look for DoT accident report on the web but couldn't find one in the Railways Archive.

[super tm]

Were there really unfitted goods trains running as late as 1984, or was the train in question suffering from a brake fault?

No.  I believe from memory that some of the vehicles brakes were not working and errors has been made when the formation was put together at the start of the journey

[inspector_blakey]

Tsk...so somebody probably didn't do their brake continuity test correctly then...

[super tm]

Correct.  If it had been done then the problem would have shown itself.

[Richard ex-BR]

Interesting.  I came across your discussion and the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) article when trying to find the date of this incident, which was back in 1984.  I have many photos of the rail crash on the goods line as I was one of the local civil engineers responsible for getting the mess cleared up, which took several months.  Although the signalman succeeded in diverting the container wagons onto the goods line, they were doing about 60mph as they hit the first curve with its 20mph speed restriction and underbridge.  The wagons and parts of the track were thrown into the air when the engine-less train derailed and hit the parapet walls pushing the bridge off its bearings and into the river. Various 60 foot pieces of rail were hurled javelin style into the air and pierced local warehouse buildings and many of the containers. One container was full of unbonded Guinness and another wagon contained Octel (an anti-knocking and highly explosive additive for gasoline). The clearing up works included diverting the river and evacuating local residents while the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)'s largest crane lifted the debris and containers out of the river and over the roofs of the local buildings.  I^m pleased to see that the local signalman was recognized for his quick thinking.  The ^word on the track^ at the time was that he was disciplined for not following procedures, which would have been to let the train continue into and then out of the station and come to a stop gently at the north side of the station! 

[JayMac]

Thank-you for that first post, Richard ex-BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)), and welcome to the forum! 

You peaked my curiosity, so I went looking at the Railways Archive for an accident report, but alas nothing there except one small picture and very basic details.

Edit note: Self moderation for poor grammar: piqued, not peaked.  D'oh