1906 was a
bad year for railway accidents in Great Britain ,
with derailments at Salisbury and Grantham
followed by a serious collision at Elliot Junction, in Scotland
Elliot Junction
Elliot Junction was a station that no longer exists, as the branch line that it served
was closed in 1929. The station lay about one mile south of Arbroath, on the
line from Dundee (to the south) to Aberdeen (to the north), which is very much
open and running at present. In the photo, the station platform was where the
car park is now, and the branch line went in the direction of the distant
woods.
The weather
at the time of the accident was appalling, with winter having set in hard on
the east coast of Scotland. Temperatures were well below freezing and ice hung
thick on the telegraph wires. Snow-laden winds blew in from the North Sea where the track ran close to the shore. Thick
snow lay on the ground.
The accident
On the
morning of the accident there had been another mishap south of Elliot Junction
when some goods wagons had become derailed, resulting in one of the two tracks
being blocked. Single-line working was therefore in operation for this stretch.
However, because of problems with the telegraph line this information was not
passed to the signal-box at Arbroath, the next main station to the north.
The 07:35 northbound
express service from Edinburgh to Aberdeen was driven by Driver Gourlay, who
was highly experienced. He was driving locomotive 324, a 4-4-0 of the 317
class. He was an hour late reaching Arbroath, which he did at 10:41, but that
was as far as he was able to go as the lines further north were blocked by
snow. The train waited for four hours, in the hope of things improving, but it
was eventually decided that it would have to return to Edinburgh
Normal
practice would be for the locomotive to be turned on a turntable so that it
could be coupled to the other end of the train and run funnel first, as it had
on its northward journey. However, this was not done, and 324 was coupled to
run tender first, thus giving the driver and fireman no protection from the
elements in their open cab.
Another train
needed to head south, this being a local train that was returning to Dundee
from Arbroath. This was given a sixteen minute start over the returning express,
with Driver Gourlay being warned to take special care.
At Elliot
Junction the local train was held at the station while waiting for clearance to
proceed through the temporary single-track section, about which the driver had
not been told before leaving Arbroath. With the telegraph lines being down the
only way to ensure that the track was clear was for a man to walk up and back
through the affected section, a total distance of three miles.
The
stationmaster at Elliot Junction had just decided to allow the passengers off
the train to wait in the comfort of a warm waiting room when the express
hurtled out of the snowstorm and hit the local train at about thirty miles an
hour.
Three coaches
of the local train were wrecked as was the leading coach of the express. Engine
324 fell on its side with the wheels still racing until the driver of the local
train could crawl into the cab and close the regulator. Driver Gourlay was
pulled out from underneath a pile of coal that had fallen on top of him but he
was otherwise uninjured. However, his fireman was dead, as were 21 passengers
from the two trains.
The cause of
the crash
The blame for
the crash lay firmly with Driver Gourlay, whose behaviour had clearly been
reckless. For one thing, he was travelling “all stations”, which meant that he
should have been preparing to stop at Elliot Junction and not proceeding at
speed as he approached the platform. Furthermore, he had been instructed to
drive under “caution” conditions which meant that the signalling system was not
to be relied upon (due to the snow conditions) and safety was ensured by
sending trains off at timed intervals and travelling at similar speeds, with
drivers keeping a sharp lookout for obstacles on the line.
In any case, the
driver’s visibility was severely curtailed by the conditions under which he was
driving, with snow and coal dust blowing straight into his face with the engine
running in reverse. This should have made him take extra care, not less.
Another
question is why, having passed the obstruction of the blocked line on his way
up the line earlier that day, he did not think to mention it to the station
staff at Arbroath or the driver of the local train. After all, he did have four
hours to kill before starting off back down the line.
Driver
Gourlay defended himself at the subsequent enquiry by saying that he thought he
had an all-clear signal as he approached Elliot Junction. However, the reason
for the signal being slightly depressed (it should have been at a 45 degree
angle for the all-clear) was that snow on the controlling wire was weighing it
down. On the other hand, when driving under caution conditions, as mentioned
above, a signal purporting to show all-clear should itself have been an
indication that all was not well, given that all signals should have been in
the “stop” position.
He also
complained that there was no fog warning at the outer signal. In this he was
probably correct, because this was standard practice in poor weather conditions,
but it was pointed out that it was hardly reasonable to expect a fogman to
stand in a blizzard with a warning lamp when there had been no trains between
09:00 and 15:30.
However, what
pointed the finger of blame straight at Driver Gourlay was the fact that, while
waiting at Arbroath, he had been “entertained” by a friendly passenger at the
Victoria Bar on the station platform. He said that he had only had a single
“nip” of whisky and had refused other offers from passengers, but Inspector
Pringle, who conducted the enquiry, did not believe this. His conclusion
included the words:
“The lack of
intelligence, or of caution and alertness, displayed by Driver Gourlay were, in
part at all events, induced by drink, the effects of which may possibly have
been accentuated after he left Arbroath by exposure to the weather.”
Following the
inquiry, Driver Gourlay stood trial and was found guilty by a majority verdict.
He was sentenced to five years in prison but this was later remitted.
The inspector
also had criticisms to make of the practices employed on the railway at the
time, which had become slack under the joint ownership of the Caledonian and
North British railway companies, who did not get on well together. The accident
would have been avoided had the blockage on the line south of Elliot Junction
not occurred, and this was due to an avoidable act of folly by a railway
employee.
Under modern
signalling and communications conditions, as well as Automatic Train Control,
an accident such as that at Elliot Junction is extremely unlikely these days.
However, outbreaks of human error and stupidity are always possible, so drivers
still need to be aware of their responsibilities, one of which is staying well clear
of the station bar!
© John Welford
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