The
Quintinshill rail disaster occurred on 22 May 1915 in Scotland near
Gretna GreenGretna Green is a village in the south of Scotland famous for runaway weddings. It is in Dumfries and Galloway, near the mouth of the River Esk and was historically the first village in Scotland, following the old coaching route from London to Edinburgh. Gretna Green has a railway station serving...
at Quintinshill, an intermediate
signal boxOn a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timetable...
(on what is now the
West Coast Main LineThe West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...
) with sidings on each side on the
Caledonian Railway Main LineThe Caledonian Main Line represents most of the original route of the Caledonian Railway: a major Scottish railway company. The company was formed in 1830 and was absorbed almost a century later into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, in the 1923 railway grouping, by means of the Railways...
(mainly linking
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and London). The crash involved five trains and killed 226 people. It is the worst rail crash in the United Kingdom in terms of loss of life.
The majority of victims were Territorial soldiers from the 7th Battalion, the Royal Scots, known as the "
Leith-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
Battalion" due to the large number of soldiers from that town. It was travelling from
LarbertLarbert railway station is a railway station serving Larbert near Falkirk, Scotland.- History :The station was built by the Scottish Central Railway, opening on 1 March 1848....
to
LiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, with the purpose of dispatching the troops to
GallipoliThe Gallipoli peninsula is located in Turkish Thrace , the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east. Gallipoli derives its name from the Greek "Καλλίπολις" , meaning "Beautiful City"...
on troopships.
Sequence of events
A
signalmanA 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 :...
shuntedShunting, in railway operations, involves the process of sorting items of rolling stock into complete train sets or consists. The United States terminology is "switching"....
a local train on to the opposite direction railway line (the "up" line) to let two
express trainExpress trains are a form of rail service. Express trains make only a small number of stops, instead of stopping at every single station...
s through on the "down" line. At the time, the two
passing loopA passing loop is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at a station, where trains or trams in opposing directions can pass each other. Trains/trams in the same direction can also overtake, providing that the signalling arrangement allows it...
s were occupied already. The signalman forgot about the local train, resulting in a
collisionA collision is an isolated event which two or more moving bodies exert forces on each other for a relatively short time.Although the most common colloquial use of the word "collision" refers to accidents in which two or more objects collide, the scientific use of the word "collision" implies...
between a special troop train (hauled by
Caledonian McIntosh 4-4-0Caledonian Railway 72 Class was a class of 4-4-0 steam locomotives introduced by William Pickersgill in 1920. Thirty-two locomotives were built and all survived to be taken over by the LMS in 1923 and by British Railways in 1948....
No 121) and the local train on the up line. Immediately afterwards, the second of the express trains ran into the wreckage. A goods train in the down loop and a train of empty coal trucks in the up loop also became involved with the wreckage. In total, 226 people died and 246 were injured. Of the 500
TerritorialThe Territorial Force was the volunteer reserve component of the British Army from 1908 to 1920, when it became the Territorial Army.-Origins:...
soldiers of the 7th
BattalionA battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
of the Royal Scots, who were based at Dalmeny Street in Edinburgh – part of the
52nd Lowland DivisionThe British 52nd Division was a Territorial Army division that was originally formed as part of the Territorial Force in 1908.- World War I :...
– on the troop train, only 57 men were present for
roll callRoll call is the calling of the names of people from a list to determine the presence or absence of the listed people . The term applies to the calling itself, to the time moment of this procedure, and to a military signal that announces it Roll call is the calling of the names of people from a...
at 4pm that afternoon, along with seven officers. The disaster was made much worse by
fireFire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....
caused by obsolete wooden-framed and wooden-panelled carriages with
gas lightingGas lighting is production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, including hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, or natural gas. Before electricity became sufficiently widespread and economical to allow for general public use, gas was the most...
and the coal from the bunkers of the steam engines. The precise number of fatalities is not known because the roll list of the regiment was destroyed by the fire.
The accident occurred at a change of
shiftShift work is an employment practice designed to make use of the 24 hours of the clock. The term "shift work" includes both long-term night shifts and work schedules in which employees change or rotate shifts....
: George Meakin had worked the night shift and was relieved by James Tinsley. These two men had an informal agreement whereby if the local train was stopping at Quintinshill, Tinsley would travel on it to work and save himself a long walk, but this meant he started work half an hour late. This malpractice would have been revealed in the train register that listed the train movements and had to be completed by the signalman on duty. Meakin recorded all the details of that half hour on a piece of paper and then Tinsley, to disguise his late arrival, would copy this into the train register in his own hand. This arrangement and chatter about war news distracted Tinsley so that he forgot about the local train on which he had arrived. Both signalmen had developed sloppy practices and neglected several standard safety procedures required by the rules.
The accident was exacerbated because one of the trains involved was a troop train. The great wartime traffic and a shortage of carriages meant that the railway company had to press into service obsolete
Great Central RailwayThe Great Central Railway was a railway company in England which came into being when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension . On 1 January 1923, it was grouped into the London and North Eastern...
stock. These carriages had wooden bodies and frames, so had very little crash resistance compared with steel framed carriages, and were gas-lit. The gas (oil-gas) was stored in reservoirs slung under the underframe. These reservoirs had just been charged and this, plus the lack of available water, kept the resulting fire burning for two days. It was reported at the time that not one lump of coal from the northbound coal train or the locomotives was found after the fire was extinguished, but this may be more exaggerated reporting than fact. The southbound coal train was returning empty wagons to
South WalesSouth Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
: it was a Jellicoe Special serving the
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. The fire probably killed more people than the crash did.
A further contributory factor was the remote location of the junction. Fire appliances required four hours to arrive from Carlisle and had to travel the last mile over fields.
It was the first major British disaster in which a great number of the dead were not recovered as bodies, being wholly consumed by the flames. This resulted in an early decision to deal with the tragedy by means of a mass grave.
The dead troops are buried in
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
's
Rosebank CemeteryRosebank Cemetery is a 19th-century burial ground in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the junction of Pilrig Street and Broughton Road in the Pilrig area, close to the historical boundary of Leith...
on Pilrig Street in a plot in the southwest corner marked by a large granite
Celtic crossA Celtic cross is a symbol that combines a cross with a ring surrounding the intersection. In the Celtic Christian world it was combined with the Christian cross and this design was often used for high crosses – a free-standing cross made of stone and often richly decorated...
. The names of the dead are listed on bronze plaques to either side. Civilian deaths (both drivers and firemen, guards etc.) are elsewhere. The charred and unidentifiable bodies of three young children were found on the troop train. It is believed they had stowed away onto the train at some point. Through various deductions it was established that they were from
MaryhillMaryhill is an area of the City of Glasgow in Scotland. Maryhill is a former burgh. The population of Maryhill is about 52,000. Maryhill stretches over along Maryhill Road...
in
GlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and are therefore buried in Maryhill Cemetery.
The surviving troops were transported south to army barracks at Carlisle. The next morning they were redispatched on a new train to Liverpool to continue to
GallipoliThe Gallipoli peninsula is located in Turkish Thrace , the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east. Gallipoli derives its name from the Greek "Καλλίπολις" , meaning "Beautiful City"...
, indicating the rather callous attitude of the authorities at this time. They were put on board their ship, but then the message arrived to say that the surviving men and
NCOA non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...
s were not to sail. On their march from the port to the railway station the troop survivors, obviously dishevelled and demoralised, were mistaken for prisoners of war and pelted by some children (from an article by Alexander Thomson in the "Edinburgh Weekly" and related in "Britain's Greatest Rail Disaster" by J. A. B. Hamilton).
Today the disaster is commemorated by a plaque at
Larbert railway stationLarbert railway station is a railway station serving Larbert near Falkirk, Scotland.- History :The station was built by the Scottish Central Railway, opening on 1 March 1848....
, from where the soldiers originally departed.
The two signalmen, James Tinsley and George Meakin, were sentenced to three years and eighteen months in prison respectively for
culpable homicideCulpable homicide is a specific offence in various jurisdictions within the Commonwealth of Nations which involves the illegal killing of a person either with or without an intention to kill depending upon how a particular jurisdiction has defined the offence...
due to gross neglect of duties.
Recent recognition
A plaque was also erected at the site of the crash c.1995 by a
Leith-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
Women's Group, being inspired to raise funds for this soon after a lecture on the topic by a local historian (Stephen C. Dickson). The railway company had originally refused a plaque on the site as they felt it inappropriate to mark railway disaster sites (being bad publicity).
On 22 May 2010 a remembrance service was held in Rosebank Cemetery at the memorial to mark the 95th anniversary of the event.
WreathA wreath is an assortment of flowers, leaves, fruits, twigs and/or various materials that is constructed to resemble a ring. They are used typically as Christmas decorations to symbolize the coming of Christ, also known as the Advent season in Christianity. They are also used as festive headdresses...
s were laid by the
Lord ProvostA Lord Provost is the figurative and ceremonial head of one of the principal cities of Scotland. Four cities, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, have the right to appoint a Lord Provost instead of a provost...
, local troops, the British Legion and local branch of
Rotary InternationalRotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...
.
The funeral
Bodies were returned to Edinburgh on 23 May, and taken to the battalion's home, the Drill Hall on Dalmeny Street,
Leith-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
, where they were laid out on the floor in makeshift coffins.
On 24 May a huge funeral cortege assembled and proceeded slowly to Rosebank Cemetery on Pilrig Street. The bodies were escorted by the 15th and 16th battalions Royal Scots, the Edinburgh
Pals battalionThe Pals battalions of World War I were specially constituted units of the British Army comprising men who had enlisted together in local recruiting drives, with the promise that they would be able to serve alongside their friends, neighbours and work colleagues , rather than being arbitrarily...
recently assembled and still undergoing training. The cortege took four hours to complete its task.
EdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, which was still separate from Leith at that date, refused to fly flags at half-mast, angering many of the local inhabitants, in their lack of sympathy to their neighbouring community.
Aftermath
The Quintinshill disaster would have been avoided if the railway line had been equipped with track circuits, which detect the presence of trains and prevent the signals being changed to "clear". As Quintinshill had good visibility from the signal box it would have had low priority for the fitting of track circuits.
Quintinshill signal box was also supplied with "lever collars" – devices that should have been slipped over the signal levers to remind the signalmen not to move them until the obstruction had been cleared – but, despite written instructions, the signalmen had lost the habit of using them. These lever collars are not automatic like track circuits, and hence are not foolproof, but remain in common use to this day.
Hutchinson, the fireman of the waiting local train, had reported to the signal box to remind the signalman that they were at a stand but he failed to ensure that the reminder collars were placed over the signal levers (in accordance with
rule 55(g)Rule 55 was an operating rule which applied on the former British Railways in the 19th century, and was made defunct when the was introduced following privatisation of the railway.- Overview :...
when there are no track circuits), an omission which resulted in him being tried with the two signalmen, but he was later acquitted as the prosecution offered no evidence.
At the
Board of TradeThe Board of Trade is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, originating as a committee of inquiry in the 17th century and evolving gradually into a government department with a diverse range of functions...
inquiry the most controversial evidence was that of Hugh Urquhart, the out-door engineering chief of the Glasgow and South Western Railway, which exercised powers over the last eight miles of shared track from Gretna Junction to Carlisle. Urquhart reminded the inquiry that at certain times of the day this was one of the busiest stretches of double-line railway in Britain. While not condoning the short-cuts and fatal mistakes made by the signalmen Meakin and Tinsley, he said he was concerned that they should not be made scapegoats for errors made by higher-ranking officials. He claimed that the real cause of the bad practices was the fact that the last two express trains from
EustonEuston railway station, also known as London Euston, is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden. It is the sixth busiest rail terminal in London . It is one of 18 railway stations managed by Network Rail, and is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line...
– the 11.45 to
AberdeenAberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
and the 12 midnight to Glasgow – were chronically bad time-keepers. This resulted in very unorthodox shunting procedures around Quintinshill.
The Board of Trade accident report concluded that if the signalmen had obeyed basic operating rules and used the safety devices provided, the accident would not have happened, and recommendations for additional equipment or rule changes were not necessary.
The trial
Meakin and Tinsley were the only signalmen in the UK to be given
prisonA prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
sentences for causing a crash until 1968 when a signalman was jailed for deliberately causing a
derailment at Connington SouthThe Connington South rail crash occurred on 5 March 1967 on the East Coast Main Line near the village of Conington, Huntingdonshire, England. Five passengers were killed and 18 were injured....
on the
East Coast Main LineThe East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
in 1967. The signalman involved with 1892's Thirsk rail crash was convicted of
manslaughterManslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
but discharged absolutely from punishment due to extenuating circumstances. The
culpabilityCulpability descends from the Latin concept of fault . The concept of culpability is intimately tied up with notions of agency, freedom and free will...
at Quintinshill was much greater, as the report of the Lord Justice General (
Alexander Ure, 1st Baron StrathclydeAlexander Ure, 1st Baron Strathclyde GBE was a Scottish politician and judge.Educated at the University of Glasgow he was admitted to membership of the Faculty of Advocates in 1878....
) stated:
"...They gave the signal that the line was clear and the troop train might safely come on. At that moment there was before their very eyes a local train obstructing that line. One man in the signal box had actually left that train a few minutes before when it was being shunted. The other had, a few minutes before, directed the local train to go on to the up main line. If you can explain that staggering fact consistently with the two men having faithfully and honestly discharged their duties you should acquit them. If you cannot ... you must convict them."
The jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict in just eight minutes. Thomas (1969) lists eight separate ways in which the signalmen violated operating rules, mostly regularly, not just that morning.
The judge sentenced Tinsley to three years' penal servitude and Meakin to 18 months. Meakin was released after 12 months when he had completed his sentence with remission. After strong representations from Urquhart and other railwaymen, Tinsley was released at the same time, so both men served the same time in jail.
After release, Tinsley resumed working for the railway, for the same company, as a lampman and porter at Carlisle, only a few miles from the scene of the disaster. He had that job for more than 30 years until retiring in the ordinary manner. Meakin also resumed working for the railway, as a goods train guard. Some years later he was made redundant from that job and established himself as a coal merchant, trading from Quintinshill siding, right next to the scene of the crash. During the Second World War, he worked in the Gretna munitions factory until he retired due to ill health.George Meakin died in 1953 and James Tinsley in 1961. Although both men were released in time to serve in the Great War, ex-convicts were not conscripted.
As the incident occurred in Scotland and many of the fatalities occurred at the Carlisle main
hospitalA hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
over the border in England, differences between Scottish and
English lawEnglish law is the legal system of England and Wales, and is the basis of common law legal systems used in most Commonwealth countries and the United States except Louisiana...
rendered the guilty pair indictable in England for
manslaughterManslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
, as well as in Scotland for
culpable homicideCulpable homicide is a specific offence in various jurisdictions within the Commonwealth of Nations which involves the illegal killing of a person either with or without an intention to kill depending upon how a particular jurisdiction has defined the offence...
. By Scottish law, it is the act that results in loss of life (regardless of where the actual death occurs) that is prosecutable and has to occur in Scotland. By English law, it is the loss of life (regardless of where the fatal act occurs) that is prosecutable and has to occur in England.
Similar accidents
The
Hawes Junction rail crashThe Hawes Junction rail crash occurred on 24 December 1910, on the Midland Railway's Settle and Carlisle mainline at the junction with the Wensleydale Railway in Westmorland , England. It was caused when a busy signalman forgot about a pair of light engines waiting at his down starting signal to...
of 1910 also involved a busy signalman forgetting about a train on the main railway line. Likewise, at the
Winwick rail crashThe Winwick rail crash took place at Winwick Junction, near Warrington on the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, on 28 September 1934.-Background:...
of 1934, an overworked signalman forgot about a train in his section, and was misled by a junior. In neither case had track circuits been installed.
See also
External links