Eltham Well Hall rail crash
Encyclopedia
The Eltham Well Hall rail crash was an accident on the British railway system that occurred on 11 June 1972 at approximately 21:35.
An excursion train from Margate
to Kentish Town
derailed on a sharp curve at Eltham Well Hall station
, Eltham
, London
. The driver and five passengers were killed, and 126 people were injured. At the subsequent public inquiry
it was revealed that the driver had been intoxicated
by alcohol.
-based employees of the London Midland Region and their families. After arrival at Margate, the train was stabled at Ramsgate
. The driver of the return working was not due to be on duty until the afternoon and had gone to a pub at lunchtime with his brothers; he spent the afternoon at home.
At about 15:20 he booked on duty by telephone
with Hither Green
depot and travelled by train to Ramsgate. He met with his secondman
, a youth of 18 years, there. They prepared the train which consisted of a Class 47
diesel locomotive
and 10 coaches. While they chatted the secondman noticed a strong smell on the driver's breath and when questioned about it, he replied that he had "had some beer at dinner time" and had "ended up going somewhere and drinking some sherry
".
Nevertheless, on the driver's suggestion, they both went to the nearby Railway Staff Association Club at about 19:00 and drank three pints of light and bitter
beer each. At 19:45 they met with the guard and drove the train to Margate to receive the passengers.
As a side note, the actor Phil Daniels
star of Quadrophenia
, Scum
, and more recently Eastenders
was aboard one of the derailed coaches with his parents after a day trip.
for a few minutes and as a result the train departed from Margate eight minutes late. The journey was normal until the train stopped for signals at Rainham
, whereafter the driver made an unscheduled stop in the station to telephone the signalman
and ask about another excursion train that they were due to pass some distance ahead. This was a very unusual action, particularly as he had made up almost seven minutes of the lost time.
The guard told the inquiry that after leaving Rainham he had noticed that the train's speed has been "a little bit excessive" and that the driver braked intensely between Gillingham and Chatham
. Approaching Eltham Park he became so concerned at the speed that he made two quick applications of the vacuum brake
to try and draw the driver's attention, but before he could get a reaction it was too late.
of 20 mph, but according to eyewitness accounts, the train entered it whilst travelling at about 65 mph. Computations later proved that the driver had apparently shut off power where required, but had not made brake application.
The locomotive
and first four coaches came to rest at an angle to the track, the second and third coaches on their sides. The next five coaches were derailed but the 10th, in which the guard was riding, was not.
was normal. Those who knew the driver said that he was quite a frequent drinker of alcohol and could "carry" much beer.
A post-mortem examination of the driver showed that he had a blood alcohol level of 0.278% (the legal limit for driving a road vehicle is 0.08%). There was an imbalance with the urine
alcohol level which made it very likely that the driver had also been drinking alcohol at the controls. Two bottles of beer given to the crew by the excursion's organisers were found in the cab, but they were unopened. A medical expert stated that during the time given, 5½ pints of bitter, a third of a bottle of sherry and a quarter bottle of spirits would "just about achieve" the levels found, providing that "the bulk of the spirits was drunk between 20:15 and 21:30". The inquiry hypothesized that the driver had taken spirits
into the cab with him, having collected them during his unexplained absence before leaving Margate.
The secondman may not have been attentive because he had also been drinking, but he did not know the route and would not have realised that the driver was not braking for the curve when he should have been.
J.R.H. Robertson, concluded that the driver had "grossly impaired his ability to drive safely by drinking a considerable quantity of alcohol both before and after booking on duty, including some shortly before leaving Margate and some more in his cab during the journey."
He made recommendations that booking-on of drivers by telephone should be controlled carefully, but did not recommend any changes to warnings of permanent speed restrictions. However, changes were made to the signalling at Eltham so that through trains would receive a yellow signal
on approach.
The recommendation that booking-on by telephone be carefully controlled was reiterated in the Inspectorate report of the Cannon Street Station rail crash
in 1991.
- US - 1918 Rosedale train crash - AU - injuries only
An excursion train from Margate
Margate
-Demography:As of the 2001 UK census, Margate had a population of 40,386.The ethnicity of the town was 97.1% white, 1.0% mixed race, 0.5% black, 0.8% Asian, 0.6% Chinese or other ethnicity....
to Kentish Town
Kentish Town
Kentish Town is an area of north west London, England in the London Borough of Camden.-History:The most widely accepted explanation of the name of Kentish Town is that it derived from 'Ken-ditch' meaning the 'bed of a waterway'...
derailed on a sharp curve at Eltham Well Hall station
Eltham railway station
Eltham railway station is a railway station in Eltham, in the London Borough of Greenwich and on the Bexleyheath Line. The station and all trains serving it, are operated by Southeastern...
, Eltham
Eltham, London
-Parks and open spaces:There is a large variety of open green space in Eltham, in the form of parkland, fields and woodland.*Avery Hill Park is large, open parkland, situated to the east of Eltham. It is most notable for its Winter Garden, a hothouse containing tropical trees and plants from around...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The driver and five passengers were killed, and 126 people were injured. At the subsequent public inquiry
Public inquiry
A Tribunal of Inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body in Common Law countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland or Canada. Such a public inquiry differs from a Royal Commission in that a public inquiry accepts evidence and conducts its hearings in a more...
it was revealed that the driver had been intoxicated
Drunkenness
Alcohol intoxication is a physiological state that occurs when a person has a high level of ethanol in his or her blood....
by alcohol.
Background
The train was an excursion for CricklewoodCricklewood
Cricklewood is a district of North London, England whose northeastern part is in the London Borough of Barnet, western part is the London Borough of Brent and southeastern part is in London Borough of Camden.-History:...
-based employees of the London Midland Region and their families. After arrival at Margate, the train was stabled at Ramsgate
Ramsgate
Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century and is a member of the ancient confederation of Cinque Ports. It has a population of around 40,000. Ramsgate's main attraction is its coastline and its main...
. The driver of the return working was not due to be on duty until the afternoon and had gone to a pub at lunchtime with his brothers; he spent the afternoon at home.
At about 15:20 he booked on duty by telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
with Hither Green
Hither Green
Hither Green is a district in south east London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated 6.6 miles south east of Charing Cross, and on the Prime Meridian....
depot and travelled by train to Ramsgate. He met with his secondman
Secondman
A Secondman or Second man is a railway employee who assists the driver of a train with his duties. For this reason the term driver's assistant is also used...
, a youth of 18 years, there. They prepared the train which consisted of a Class 47
British Rail Class 47
The British Rail Class 47, is a class of British railway diesel-electric locomotive that was developed in the 1960s by Brush Traction. A total of 512 Class 47s were built at Crewe Works and Brush's Falcon Works, Loughborough between 1962 and 1968, which made them the most numerous class of British...
diesel locomotive
Diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...
and 10 coaches. While they chatted the secondman noticed a strong smell on the driver's breath and when questioned about it, he replied that he had "had some beer at dinner time" and had "ended up going somewhere and drinking some sherry
Sherry
Sherry is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the town of Jerez , Spain. In Spanish, it is called vino de Jerez....
".
Nevertheless, on the driver's suggestion, they both went to the nearby Railway Staff Association Club at about 19:00 and drank three pints of light and bitter
Bitter (beer)
Bitter is an English term for pale ale. Bitters vary in colour from gold to dark amber and in strength from 3% to 7% alcohol by volume.-Brief history:...
beer each. At 19:45 they met with the guard and drove the train to Margate to receive the passengers.
As a side note, the actor Phil Daniels
Phil Daniels
Philip W. "Phil" Daniels is an English actor, most noted for film and television roles as "cockneys" such as Jimmy in Quadrophenia, Richards in Scum, Stewart in The Class of Miss MacMichael, Mark in Meantime, Kevin Wicks in EastEnders, DCS Frank Patterson in New Tricks and Edward Kitchener "Ted"...
star of Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by English rock band The Who. Released on 19 October 1973 by Track and Polydor in the UK, and Track and MCA in the US, it is a double album, and the group's second rock opera...
, Scum
Scum
Scum may refer to:* A layer of impurities that accumulates at the surface of a liquid * A greenish water vegetation , usually found floating on the surface of ponds...
, and more recently Eastenders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
was aboard one of the derailed coaches with his parents after a day trip.
The journey
The crew left the cabCab
The word cab has a number of meanings, most of which are abbreviations:In transport:* Cabriolet, a horse-drawn carriage* Taxicab* Cabin * Cab , the driving compartment of a locomotive...
for a few minutes and as a result the train departed from Margate eight minutes late. The journey was normal until the train stopped for signals at Rainham
Rainham (Kent) railway station
Rainham railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in north Kent, between Gillingham and Newington. Train services are provided by Southeastern.Rainham station is 38 miles and 1694 yards from London Victoria, according to the mileage sign on the footbridge....
, whereafter the driver made an unscheduled stop in the station to telephone the signalman
Signalman (rail)
A signalman or signaller is an employee of a railway transport network who operates the points and signals from a signal box in order to control the movement of trains.- History :...
and ask about another excursion train that they were due to pass some distance ahead. This was a very unusual action, particularly as he had made up almost seven minutes of the lost time.
The guard told the inquiry that after leaving Rainham he had noticed that the train's speed has been "a little bit excessive" and that the driver braked intensely between Gillingham and Chatham
Chatham, Medway
Chatham is one of the Medway towns located within the Medway unitary authority, in North Kent, in South East England.Although the dockyard has long been closed and is now being redeveloped into a business and residential community as well as a museum featuring the famous submarine, HMS Ocelot,...
. Approaching Eltham Park he became so concerned at the speed that he made two quick applications of the vacuum brake
Vacuum brake
The vacuum brake is a braking system employed on trains and introduced in the mid-1860s. A variant, the automatic vacuum brake system, became almost universal in British train equipment and in those countries influenced by British practice. Vacuum brakes also enjoyed a brief period of adoption in...
to try and draw the driver's attention, but before he could get a reaction it was too late.
The accident
The curve at Eltham has a speed limitSpeed limit
Road speed limits are used in most countries to regulate the speed of road vehicles. Speed limits may define maximum , minimum or no speed limit and are normally indicated using a traffic sign...
of 20 mph, but according to eyewitness accounts, the train entered it whilst travelling at about 65 mph. Computations later proved that the driver had apparently shut off power where required, but had not made brake application.
The locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
and first four coaches came to rest at an angle to the track, the second and third coaches on their sides. The next five coaches were derailed but the 10th, in which the guard was riding, was not.
Investigation
All witnesses who saw the driver including the guard, the station staff at both Rainham and Margate, and the depot staff at Ramsgate, observed no signs of intoxication. His speech was clear and his gaitGait (human)
Human gait is the way locomotion is achieved using human limbs. Different gaits are characterized by differences in limb movement patterns, overall velocity, forces, kinetic and potential energy cycles, and changes in the contact with the surface .- Foot strike :One variable in different gaits is...
was normal. Those who knew the driver said that he was quite a frequent drinker of alcohol and could "carry" much beer.
A post-mortem examination of the driver showed that he had a blood alcohol level of 0.278% (the legal limit for driving a road vehicle is 0.08%). There was an imbalance with the urine
Urine
Urine is a typically sterile liquid by-product of the body that is secreted by the kidneys through a process called urination and excreted through the urethra. Cellular metabolism generates numerous by-products, many rich in nitrogen, that require elimination from the bloodstream...
alcohol level which made it very likely that the driver had also been drinking alcohol at the controls. Two bottles of beer given to the crew by the excursion's organisers were found in the cab, but they were unopened. A medical expert stated that during the time given, 5½ pints of bitter, a third of a bottle of sherry and a quarter bottle of spirits would "just about achieve" the levels found, providing that "the bulk of the spirits was drunk between 20:15 and 21:30". The inquiry hypothesized that the driver had taken spirits
Distilled beverage
A distilled beverage, liquor, or spirit is an alcoholic beverage containing ethanol that is produced by distilling ethanol produced by means of fermenting grain, fruit, or vegetables...
into the cab with him, having collected them during his unexplained absence before leaving Margate.
The secondman may not have been attentive because he had also been drinking, but he did not know the route and would not have realised that the driver was not braking for the curve when he should have been.
Recommendations
The Inspecting Officer, ColonelColonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
J.R.H. Robertson, concluded that the driver had "grossly impaired his ability to drive safely by drinking a considerable quantity of alcohol both before and after booking on duty, including some shortly before leaving Margate and some more in his cab during the journey."
He made recommendations that booking-on of drivers by telephone should be controlled carefully, but did not recommend any changes to warnings of permanent speed restrictions. However, changes were made to the signalling at Eltham so that through trains would receive a yellow signal
Railway signal
A signal is a mechanical or electrical device erected beside a railway line to pass information relating to the state of the line ahead to train/engine drivers. The driver interprets the signal's indication and acts accordingly...
on approach.
The recommendation that booking-on by telephone be carefully controlled was reiterated in the Inspectorate report of the Cannon Street Station rail crash
Cannon Street station rail crash
The Cannon Street station rail crash was an accident on the British railway system which occurred on 8 January 1991 at Cannon Street station. The accident killed two people and injured 524 others...
in 1991.
See also
Morpeth rail crash - UK Malbone Street WreckMalbone Street Wreck
The Malbone Street Wreck, also known as the Brighton Beach Line Accident of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company , was a rapid transit railroad accident that occurred November 1, 1918, beneath the intersection of Flatbush Avenue, Ocean Avenue, and Malbone Street, in the community of Flatbush, Brooklyn...
- US - 1918 Rosedale train crash - AU - injuries only