277:, so the signal arm was somewhere between "safe" and "caution". The signal lamp was out (as he was not given enough oil to light it), so Dando was waving a hand lantern. After a few minutes, Dando allowed the train to proceed. The clerk at Wellow had already sent the "down" stock train on, but without using his block instruments to alert Dando. The "down" train driver could not see the Foxcote distant signal, as it too was unlit. He saw the home signal against him, and also saw the other train, too late to avoid a collision.
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staff, in an environment of such corporate misconduct. Greater blame was attached to
Stationmaster Sleep, but was shared with senior management, including the Superintendent of the Line, Mr. Difford, for specific actions and also "for the general want of uniformity between the regulations and the practice, the laxity of discipline, and the inefficiency and long hours of servants, disclosed during the inquiry." The
160:
It was difficult to assign blame to any individual for the crash. The underlying cause was that the
Somerset and Dorset Railway was essentially bankrupt at the time of the crash. The infrastructure was inadequate to the demands of the traffic and the staff were inadequately trained for their duties.
307:
No. 89, plodded on and eventually breasted the summit of the gradient. Its downward course to Bath was accomplished more quickly, and the train ran away, crashing into the goods yard on the approach to Bath Green Park railway station, killing the driver, Henry
Jennings, and two railway employees in
272:
The
Radstock telegraph clerk sent on the "up" relief train without receiving any crossing order or ascertaining the location of the "down" train. Shortly before midnight, the driver of the "up" train pulled up at the Foxcote signal box. The signalman there, Alfred Dando, was barely literate and not
294:
The accident spurred the new management into urgent reforms. The track between
Radstock and Wellow was doubled, and the signalling and staff arrangements overhauled. There were to be no further major accidents on the line until it was closed in the 1960s, though there were some notable incidents:
285:
Subsequent enquiries were confused by inadequate or conflicting testimony. Although the clerk at Wellow, Arthur
Hillard, might normally have been expected to be blamed, it was obviously unjust to place the entire responsibility on a fifteen-year-old youth who was doing the job of several senior
311:
Almost exactly sixty years after the
Radstock accident, on 29 July 1936, the crew of an empty colliery wagon train at Foxcote mistakenly abandoned their engine, fearing an imminent collision with another train. The driverless train caused widespread damage at Wellow and Midford stations before
192:
to Bath was single-track. The dangers of working single track railways had long been recognised, and all sorts of safeguards (in addition to absolute block working) were supposed to be in place. However, on the single-line section between the crossing places at the stations at
261:, arranged hastily because the scheduled train was overcrowded. Percy and his staff could get very little information on the location of either train. The replies to their enquiries from the telegraph clerk at Wellow (who was only fifteen, and trying to do the work of the
290:
Inspecting
Officer, Captain H.W. Tyler, went so far as to say, having cited seven separate major failings in operational procedures, "Railway traffic worked under such conditions cannot, whatever the system employed, expected to be carried on without serious accidents."
249:, Caleb Percy, had to arrange crossings i.e. issue instructions as to which trains were to be delayed to allow the special trains to be passed over the single line sections. He was hampered in this task by poor telegraph communications all day.
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Both trains involved in the accident were unscheduled. The "down" (south-bound) train was supposedly an empty stock train returning from Bath, but large numbers of passengers were aboard, returning to
Radstock and nearby villages from a
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The existence of the
Foxcote signal box complicated normal telegraphic communications. The Radstock and Wellow signalmen could communicate with each other only through Foxcote. At the same time, the telegraph control office at
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rules laid down that only one train could occupy a single line section at any one time.) The S&D later claimed that they understood Foxcote to be a "crossing place between sections", which it clearly was not.
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485:
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245:, the S&D ran seventeen extra trains to cater for people enjoying the day off work. These trains did not appear in the normal timetables and the superintendent at
373:"Report of the Court of Inquiry into the circumstances attending the Collision on the Somerset and Dorset Railway which occurred near Radstock on the 7th August 1876"
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north of Midford. The train was moving very slowly due to a heavy load and having started from a standstill at Midford. The locomotive,
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This awkward arrangement was in the hands of entirely inexperienced staff. On the night of the crash, none of the
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had bought a 999-year lease on the railway and formed a new management, but had not had time to reform matters.
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On 20 November 1929, the driver and fireman of a northbound goods train were overcome by smoke in the
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had no direct link with Foxcote, and could only contact it via Radstock or Wellow.
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in 1874, and this had ruined the company's finances. To rescue the railway, the
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indicates railway accidents and incidents resulting in at least 20 fatalities
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becoming derailed only a few miles from Bath, but there were no deaths.
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Atthill, Robin (December 1962). "The Radstock Accident of 1876".
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or telegraph clerks involved was more than eighteen years old.
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in Bath. The "up" (north-bound) train was a relief train from
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section, resulting in fifteen passengers being killed.
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newspaper cutting in the National Library of Australia
398:"Accident between Radstock and Bath on 29th July 1936"
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Railway accidents and incidents in the United Kingdom
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449:. Vol. 108, no. 740. pp. 836–839.
351:. Newbury: Countryside Books. pp. 16–21.
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153:, on 7 August 1876. Two trains collided on a
323:List of rail accidents in the United Kingdom
273:physically strong enough to work his signal
209:. Ostensibly, this was to control a spur to
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173:(S&D) had constructed an extension to
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107:Single-line telegraphic working error
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171:Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway
147:Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway
134:List of UK rail accidents by year
98:Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway
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183:London and South Western Railway
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1065:Train collisions in England
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241:On 7 August, the August
403:. The Railways Archive
378:. The Railways Archive
347:Norris, Sally (1989).
143:Radstock rail accident
21:Radstock rail accident
349:Tales of old Somerset
447:The Railway Magazine
1070:History of Somerset
846:Wennington Junction
781:Shipton-on-Cherwell
188:The extension from
66: /
840:Burscough Junction
305:S&DJR 7F 2-8-0
211:Braysdown Colliery
145:took place on the
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908:Norton Fitzwarren
301:Combe Down Tunnel
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405:. Retrieved
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380:. Retrieved
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243:Bank Holiday
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155:single track
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1004:Potters Bar
980:Potters Bar
962:Welshampton
932:Llantrisant
890:(Jun 1889)
875:(Sep 1887)
860:(Jul 1884)
822:(Dec 1879)
783:(Dec 1874)
774:(Sep 1874)
701:Maesycwmmer
694:(Aug 1868)
668:Staplehurst
643:(Aug 1861)
510:Before 1850
504:, 1815–1899
407:22 November
382:22 November
259:Bournemouth
247:Glastonbury
224:Glastonbury
73: /
49:Coordinates
1039:Categories
1006:(May 1899)
1000:(Oct 1898)
994:(Sep 1898)
988:(Mar 1898)
982:(Mar 1898)
976:(Nov 1897)
970:(Oct 1897)
964:(Jun 1897)
958:(Feb 1897)
952:(Apr 1896)
946:(Nov 1895)
940:(Dec 1894)
934:(Aug 1893)
928:(Nov 1892)
922:(Jun 1892)
916:(May 1891)
910:(Nov 1890)
884:(Mar 1889)
869:(Jan 1885)
854:(Nov 1882)
852:Inverythan
848:(Aug 1880)
842:(Jan 1880)
820:Tay Bridge
816:(Mar 1877)
810:(Nov 1876)
804:(Aug 1876)
798:(Jan 1876)
792:(Aug 1875)
768:(Jan 1874)
762:(Dec 1873)
756:(Aug 1873)
750:(Oct 1872)
744:(Dec 1870)
738:(Dec 1870)
732:(Sep 1870)
726:(Jun 1870)
709:(Dec 1869)
703:(Jun 1869)
688:(Jun 1867)
686:Warrington
682:(Feb 1867)
676:(Jun 1866)
670:(Jun 1865)
664:(Jun 1865)
658:(Oct 1862)
656:Winchburgh
652:(Sep 1861)
637:(Jun 1861)
631:(Nov 1860)
629:Atherstone
625:(Sep 1860)
608:(Aug 1858)
602:(Jun 1857)
596:(Sep 1855)
590:(Oct 1853)
584:(Jun 1852)
578:(Apr 1851)
561:(May 1847)
559:Dee Bridge
555:(Oct 1845)
549:(Dec 1841)
543:(Aug 1840)
537:(Aug 1838)
531:(Dec 1836)
525:(Sep 1830)
519:(Jul 1815)
358:185306064X
203:signal box
190:Evercreech
165:Background
112:Statistics
58:51°18′07″N
1026:1900–1999
974:Menheniot
968:Penistone
956:Menheniot
882:Penistone
873:Hexthorpe
867:Penistone
858:Penistone
760:Menheniot
736:Stairfoot
623:Helmshore
606:Round Oak
553:Penistone
308:the yard.
281:Aftermath
237:The crash
231:signalmen
61:2°24′36″W
1060:Radstock
986:St Johns
944:St Neots
938:Chelford
802:Radstock
742:Hatfield
730:Tamworth
692:Abergele
600:Lewisham
588:Straffan
529:Wetheral
523:Parkside
317:See also
195:Radstock
39:Location
950:Snowdon
814:Morpeth
680:Yanwath
635:Wootton
582:Burnley
430:. Pan.
420:Sources
267:Midford
255:regatta
207:Foxcote
151:England
89:England
86:Country
26:Details
926:Thirsk
888:Armagh
808:Heeley
772:Thorpe
724:Newark
662:Rednal
541:Howden
535:Harrow
434:
355:
275:levers
199:Wellow
125:Deaths
117:Trains
901:1890s
833:1880s
754:Wigan
717:1870s
616:1860s
569:1850s
401:(pdf)
376:(pdf)
329:Notes
104:Cause
432:ISBN
409:2023
384:2023
353:ISBN
197:and
181:and
175:Bath
169:The
141:The
94:Line
31:Date
205:at
1041::
337:^
128:15
1016:‡
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645:‡
494:e
487:t
480:v
440:.
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361:.
120:2
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