Collision between banking
engine and passenger train, just north of Tebay Board of Trade
Report LONDON AND NORTH WESTERN RAILWAY
I HAVE the honour to report, for the information of the Board of Trade, in compliance with the instructions contained in your order of the 31st ultimo, the result of my inquiry into the circumstances connected with the collision that occurred on the 28th ultimo, between a passenger train and a tank engine, about three-quarters of a mile north of Tebay station on the Lancaster and Carlisle section of the London and North-Western Railway, in consequence of the coupling rod of the engine of the passenger train having suddenly broken, and the train being forthwith brought to a standstill, when it was run into by a bank engine which was following for the purpose of assisting it up the incline to the summit of Shap Fells. The company return 11 passengers as having been injured on this occasion. One of the number with a fractured leg, and the others were either bruised, cut, or shaken: while the bank engine and two or three of the carriages were more or less damaged. Tebay station is situated on a gradient of 1 in 147, rising towards Carlisle, which commences a short distance south of the station, and is about 1� mile in length, and this gradient is succeeded by a steep incline of 1 in 75 for a length of 4� miles, to the summit of the Shap Fells. I understand that it has been the practise for the last 14 or 15 years for a bank engine to follow heavy passenger trains from Tebay station, and to assist them in their ascent of this incline, by pushing them from behind. I cannot learn that any specific orders or instructions have been given, that define when this bank engine is to assist a down passenger train up this incline, but that is left to the discretion of the drivers of the passengers trains, to determine whether they will have the assistance of a tank engine or not. The bank engine stands in a siding at the western side of Tebay station, and when the passenger train driver considers that he requires assistance he whistles as he passes through the station for the bank engine to follow and assist. The evidence of the company's servants who were mixed up with this collision is as follows:- Wm. Hardstaff, driver of the 9 p.m. passenger train from London to the North states, "That he took on the train from Crewe station, and it had 16 vehicles on it as it passed through Tebay station: that the train stopped at Oxenholme, where the engine took water, was oiled and examined, and, as far as he knows, was then all right : that he passed Tebay at the usual rate of about 35 to 36 miles an hour : that as he passed Tebay station he whistled for the bank engine to follow, and at rather more than half a mile north of Tebay station the left-hand coupling rod broke : (that he had a 6-wheeled, 4-wheels coupled, engine with 17-inch cylinders and 24 inches stroke : that the leading wheels are 3� feet, and the coupled wheels 5� feet in diameter) and the right-hand driving crank pin was broken on the other side, as the result of the fracture of the left-hand coupling rod : that he blew the whistle, a long whistle, for the purpose of warning the other (bank) engine-driver, and shut off the steam, applied the tender break, and the first guard put on his break, and that the train had just stopped when the collision took place, about 5 a.m.: that he was about 10 minutes late leaving Oxenholme station : that he has been in the habit of driving this train and with trains of the same weight, which are always assisted up the incline by a bank engine behind : that the rear van was damaged, but nothing was thrown off the rails." Frederick May, head guard of the 9 p.m. passenger train from London states, " That his train consisted when he left Wigan of seven composites, two saloon carriages, three third-class-carriages, and four break-vans, or 16 vehicles altogether : that he took one on at Preston, and dropped the same vehicle off (a horse-box) at Lancaster : that he left Wigan nine minutes late, got to Oxenholme at 4.21, and was due there at 4.12 and left at 4h. 25m. : that he rode in a break-van with three vehicles behind him, one composite and one third-class, and a break-van, with a guard in it, and as he passed Tebay station he thinks that he was travelling about 45 miles an hour : that he only became aware that something was wrong when the driver whistled for the breaks : that he was not travelling more than 35 miles an hour when the driver whistled for his breaks, and as he looked out he saw fire flying from the tender-break : that he applied his own break as soon as he possibly could, and that they might have run 300 yards before they came to a stop : and that the collision took place immediately afterwards, and he was in his van when it took place : that he just saw the bank engine before the collision occurred, but could not say at what rate it was running : that the collision occurred at 4.58 a.m. that he has never been in a collision of the same kind before : that he heard two or three people complain of being shaken, and the gentleman who had the small bone of his leg broken : that there were three guard to the train : one rode in the break-van next to the tender, and one at the tail of the train besides himself : that the buffers and headstock of the three last vehicles were shaken, and the buffers of the last van were broken, but it was not off the road." John Fawcett, rear guard of the 9 p.m. train from London states, " That he joined at Wigan, and first became aware that something was wrong by the engine-driver whistling, at which time he thinks they were running at from 30 to 40 miles an hour, that he is a regular guard, and the whistle he heard was for the breaks : and as soon as he heard the whistling he jumped off his seat, took hold of a hand-lamp for the purpose of getting out to protect his train : that he saw the bank-engine when it was about eight or ten yards from him, at which time they had not quite stopped, but were just on the move : that he had not time to get out of his van before the collision occurred : that he was not hurt at the time, the body of his van was not broken, but the buffers ends were knocked off." Daniel Walsh, front guard of the 9 p.m. train from London to Carlisle, who rode in the front van next the tender states, " That they were running about 45 miles an hour as they passed through Tebay station, and he became aware that something was wrong by some stones being thrown up against the bottom of his van before he heard any whistle from the engine, and when the driver whistled, it was for the breaks, and he applied his own and also the patent break on the two next Glasgow carriages : that they were just about stopping when the collision occurred : that he was not aware of any damage to his part of the train : that they were not travelling more than 35 miles an hour when he heard the stones against the bottom of his van." Henry Jennings, driver of the bank engine, states, "That he had been a regular engine-driver 12 years, and in the habit of assisting trains up the incline over two years : that the bank engine stands in a siding on the west side of the line, ready to follow, if the driver of the train whistles to indicate that he wants to be assisted up the incline : that on the 28th ultimo, as the 9 p.m. train passed through Tebay, the driver whistled for the bank engine, and it passed through the station at 35 miles an hour : that the bank engine on this occasion was a 6-wheeled tender engine, with four wheels coupled, and outside cylinders : that he followed the train, and did not see the tail lights of the train until they had begun to pull up ; and he was not running more than 12 or 14 miles an hour when the collision took place : that he first saw the tail lights, and made out that the other train was stopping, as they do not generally overtake it until they are about 1� miles north of !Tebay station : that he shut off the steam and reversed his engine as soon as he saw the tail lights, and turned on the steam the reverse way, and the fireman put on the tender break : that the buffer-plank of his engine was broken, buffers broken off, left cylinder cover broken, and the smoke box door was slightly knocked in : that neither he nor his fireman were hurt, and both were still on the engine when the collision occurred." From the preceding statements it will be seen that the 9 p.m. down passenger train from London to the north, over the London and North-Western Railway consisted at the time when the collision occurred of an engine and tender, 12 carriages, and four break-vans : that it left Wigan nine minutes late, and was keeping good time, so that it reached Oxenholme junction south of Tebay also nine minutes late, and as it passed Tebay station, travelling at rates variously estimated from 30 to 45 miles an hour, the driver whistled for the bank engine to follow, for the purpose of assisting it up the long incline of 1 in 75, to the summit of Shap Fells. It is also stated that the bank engine usually overtakes and begins to assist the train engine when about 1� mile north of Tebay station; but that on this occasion, when the passenger train was a little more than half a mile north of the station the left coupling rod of the engine broke, and the driver at once made use of all the means at his disposal for pulling up his train. It also appears that the train was well provided with break power, there being, in addition to the tender break, no less than five other breaks ; viz., three on break-vans, and continuous breaks on two carriages adjacent to the leading break-van, with three guards to attend to them : and that four out of these five vehicles had the breaks on them applied, in addition to the break on the tender, and the result as pointed out to me on the ground was, that the train which was said to be travelling at about 35 miles an hour, was pulled up in 340 yards from the spot, where the left coupling rod broke. I should also state, that owing to the nature of the line, which is on a curve to the left and passes through a cutting, the driver of the bank engine, which was following the passenger train for the purpose of assisting it, was precluded from seeing the tail lights on the last vehicle, until, as he pointed out on the ground, he was about 135 yards from the spot at which he overtook and ran into the tail of the train which had just been brought to a stand-still. I do not see any blame attached to any of the company's servants, although it is probable that if the driver of the passenger train had simply shut off the steam, and refrained from whistling, either for the breaks as it was understood by the guards, or to warn the driver of the bank engine, as the driver of the passenger train engine intended, that something was wrong, no collision at all would have taken place. The collision was the result of following a bad and a dangerous practise, and it is fortunate that no more serious results have been produced. If assistance is required to take a heavy passenger train up a steep incline, the assisting engine should, in my opinion, be placed in front of the train, and not behind it. I understand that only one case of the kind has occurred before on this incline, and then it was from a similar cause, the failure of the train engine ; but the warning then given did not induce the company to alter its practise, and I do not suppose that this collision will be considered sufficiently serious to cause them now to do so.
P.S.- Since writing
the preceding report, it has been stated, in the public papers, that one of the
passengers, Wm. Routledge, who had his leg fractured, has since died. Collision between banking engine and
passenger train, just north of Tebay
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