eltham well hall train crash

[1] Although Wilsdon paid the fine, British Rail were not notified of this occurrence until a colleague of Wilsdon's was similarly charged five days later. The fourth coach had ended up roughly 90 degrees to the track, leaning over on its left side. Although it was agreed that the signalling played no part in the collision, it was later agreed that the signals around Eltham Well Hall would be redesigned to slow a train to round the curve rather than remain at green, which would mean it would be less likely a driver would be caught by surprise with the curve. News Stories Links When Arundell went to examine the cab, he found it empty but after returning shortly afterwards, saw a pair of beer bottles in the cab. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. 2 ELTHAM WELL HALL RAIL CRASH Premium High Res Photos - Getty Images "Well Hall", as the station was first known, was the subject of two closure attempts during its lifetime - the second of which succeeded - and came into use with the 8-mile Bexleyheath Line on 1st May 1895. Note how the staircase of the footbridge passed through the roof of the canopy. I much regret to report that five passengers in the train and its driver lost their lives and that 126 people, including the secondman on the locomotive, were injured and were either taken to hospitals in the area or received medical attention at the site of the accident: 40 of those taken to hospital were detained, some of them being very seriously injured. Exactly where the pair went in this period is unknown owing to Wilsdon's death and Stokes having little recollection of the events after leaving Ramsgate and although another pub was close to the station, it was considered that neither had time to reach it.[2]. The curve had a maximum permitted speed to be taken at 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) but the . There was an imbalance with the urine alcohol level which made it very likely that the driver had also been drinking alcohol within an hour of his death, meaning it was possible he had been drinking at the controls. He had been working on the railways since 1958 and was experienced to drive the British Rail Class 47 locomotive, which would occasionally come down from trains in other regions. Closure of Eltham Well Hall and Eltham Park stations was scheduled for Saturday 2nd March 1985, when the new platforms east of the former would be brought into use with a huge interchange with bus services. Nevertheless, at Wilsdon'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. Upon completing his phone conversation, Wilsdon returned to his cab and departed having been stopped at Rainham for about four minutes. Further Research ", -- More Tools -- An excursion train from Margate to Kentish Town derailed on a sharp curve at Eltham Well Hall station, Eltham, London. In the Electric Railway Society Journal in 1981, the following was reported: Eltham Well Hall station is to be replaced by a massive bus/rail interchange at Glenlea Road. Notable survivors of the 1931 rebuilding at all three stations mentioned were the SER timber waiting shelters. This issue was however was brought up again in 1991 after the Cannon Street station rail crash in which the driver in that instance was believed to have been high on cannabis and caused a buffer-stop collision. After arrival at Margate, the train was stabled at Ramsgate. All three of these coaches were leaning over on their left sides to various degrees, with the leading end of the fifth coach having been badly damaged by the impact with the fourth coach. As well as Wilsdon, two passengers died at the scene; a woman later died of her injuries in August and a male likewise in November, bringing the number of fatalities to five. The "up" platform still had vintage style benches, and it is evident that a window had been bricked up in that wall of the main building nearest the camera. Robertson . This was agreed as there was no evidence to the contrary and it was believed that Wilsdon was travelling to Ramsgate at this time. Emergency treatment for the driver's injured mate after the crash of an excursion train from Margate outside Well Hall Station, Eltham, London, last night Press Association Photos Well Hall, Eltham, train crash, 1972: an injured train driver being carried to an ambulance. By the time the train approached Eltham Well Hall station it was running at around 65 miles per hour (105km/h). Today. Shortly after leaving Rainham, Atterbury noted that the speed seemed "a little bit excessive" and that Wilsdon had been braking intensely between Gillingham and Chatham railway station. A member of staff on the platform at this time noted that he had seen both Stokes and Wilsdon depart the locomotive and leave the station via Platform No.1 three minutes after having arrived at Margate and this was later compared with the timings made by Guard Atterbury, who recorded a 20:13 departure from Margate (eight minutes late) noting that both Stokes and Wilsdon were absent. This item is linked to the Accident at Eltham Well Hall on 11th June 1972. Whilst the original main building of 1908 and sections of platform remain in evidence today at the former site of Eltham Park, at Well Hall not a brick remains. The locomotive and first four coaches left the rails and came to rest at an angle to the track, the second and third coaches on their sides. Website & Copyright information - Links - Contact the Webmaster, All content is copyright David Glasspool unless otherwise stated. 1973 . A third smashed bottle found was later proven to have been a medicine bottle and was unlikely to have carried any alcohol at the time of the accident. The train was an excursion for Kentish Town-based railway employees of the London Midland Region and their families. Poor weather hampered construction and pushed back the commissioning of the new station, both the existing sites lingering on until Saturday 16th March 1985. Trying to gain Wilsdon's attention, he made two light applications ("splashes") of the guard's brake. On Sunday 11 June 1972, a day-trip to Margate had been arranged for the employees (and their families) of British Rail's Midland Region based at the North London depot at Kentish Town. Both men were subsequently suspended shortly afterwards, against which Wilsdon immediately appealed, claiming that the event was an isolated incident. In the earliest years, a trailing crossover between the running lines was evident within the limits of the platforms. This document was kindly sourced from Harry Knox and is in our Accident reports collection. Apr 2, 2017 - Eltham Well Hall Rail Crash. The last station the train passed on its journey that Atterbury had to time was at Bexleyheath railway station 4.3 miles (6.9km) east of the accident site. Eltham Well Hall rail crash - Wikidata The first occurred on 7 November 1961, when Wilsdon had been charged 150 for being Drunk and disorderly, causing damage to a shop window and assaulting a Police constable whilst off-duty. Two of them were the beer bottles that Stationmaster Arundell had seen at Margate and both were confirmed to have been unopened. This caused both coaches to overturn onto their right side, with the leading end of the second coach coming to a stand in front of the locomotive and the rear of the first coach, which in combination with the fourth coach, formed an "N" shape with the first four coaches. An excursion train returning from Margate came off the track on the sharp curve outside the station. Eltham,Well,Hall,rail,crashThe,Eltham,Well,Hall,rail,crash,was,an,accident,on,the,British,railway,system,that,occurred,on,11,June,1972,at,approximately,21:35. Both Wilsdon and his colleague were reinstated on 18 December 1961, with Wilsdon being promoted to driver less than a week later on 25 December with his transfer to Hither Green. SYND 12-6-72 AFTERMATH OF ELTHAM TRAIN CRASH AP Archive 4.73M subscribers Subscribe 6 Share Save 2.5K views 7 years ago (11 Jun 1972) The aftermath scenes of a derailment of a excursion. Lettering on paper caption-sheet stuck on verso of print catalogued. 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. The Eltham Well Hall rail crash was an accident on the British railway system that occurred on 11 June 1972 at approximately 21:35. Secondman Stokes, who agreed with Wilsdon to get some extra drinks at Ramsgate was severely criticised for his "disgraceful" behaviour in drinking three pints prior to taking the train back to Margate, but it was agreed that Stokes' young age and weak character meant that he seemed unwilling to stop Wilsdon from going to get some drink. The name "Well Hall" derived from that of a former Tudor mansion, which resided on a site surrounded by a moat, located 160-yards north of the station. Latest Documents Well Hall is a place to the north of Eltham in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in southeast London, England, with no present formal boundaries and located 13.5 km (8.4 mi) east-southeast of Charing Cross. Guard Atterbury was 57 and had been a guard since 1948 and was based at London Bridge and although he had worked the Bexleyheath line before, he had never done so on a fast train. The same design came into use at all three stations: a single-storey red brick structure with a hipped tiled roof, complemented with an upward-sloping canopy with plain valance. The scheme required the demolition of Well Hall station, for it partially resided on the site required for the trunk road, but also gave rise to the closure of Eltham Park station and the provision of a brand new set of platforms in-between the two. Investigating this theory, the morning after the accident, the cab was searched and three smashed glasses were found in the cab's wreckage. He immediately tried to signal to the driver to stop but was unable to gain Wilsdon's attention. This took the platforms beyond the bridge which carried the running lines over Well Hall Road, and a new entrance was opened between the latter and the stations down platform, by means of a staircase upon the embankment. 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. He had worked with Wilsdon occasionally before and had driven with him a few times prior. The final uncertainty was the fact that when his body was Autopsied, Wilsdon's blood alcohol content was 0.278% (the legal limit for driving a road vehicle in England at that time was 0.08%). He later commented to Stokes a joking complaint about the driver of the first excursion train, calling him a "slow bastard". 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. Guard Atterbury, who arrived at Ramsgate some hours earlier and had been relaxing in the staff break room of the station, had gone to prepare the train for its departure at around 19:30 and initially noted that the engine crew were absent. As he did not need to be on duty until the afternoon, Wilsdon joined his two brothers for lunch at around 12:55, the three travelling to a local pub where they stayed until closing time just after 14:00. When Stokes boarded the engine, he waited alone in the cab until around 18:25 when Wilsdon arrived and spoke about the preparations for the journey back to London. Two bottles of beer given to the crew by the excursion's organisers were found in the cab, but they were unopened. His colleague was similarly promoted but resigned in early 1963 after a series of reprimands and suspensions. Transport Libraries Secondman Stokes, who agreed with Wilsdon to get some extra drinks at Ramsgate was severely criticised for his "disgraceful" behaviour in drinking three pints prior to taking the train back to Margate, but it was agreed that Stokes' young age and weak character meant that he seemed unwilling to stop Wilsdon from going to get some drink. Ultimately, the later station was intended as a replacement for Well Hall, allowing the SE&CR to close the original site, but legal problems prevented this, as noted in 1973 by Alan A. Jackson in Semi-detached London: Suburban Development, Life and Transport, 1900-39: "The railway company, ever anxious to turn the odd penny, had planned to close [Well Hall] until they discovered they were under a statutory obligation to keep it open and so did not rate their chances of overcoming the opposition very highly.". At this time, Well Hall gained concrete lampposts with the SRs trademark hexagonal lampshades. The empty train left Ramsgate and made an uneventful journey to Margate, arriving at around 19:59. Stokes had arrived first, having spoken with the supervisor at Ramsgate to ascertain the details of the train. Railman Akehurst, who was on duty on the Well Hall platforms, had seen several earlier trains pass through the station and thence the curve, all of them slowing to the safe speed of 20 miles per hour (32km/h) but when he saw the excursion train approaching, he was quite certain it was traveling far beyond that speed. Two of them were the beer bottles that Stationmaster Arundell had seen at Margate and both were confirmed to have been unopened. News Stories These trains would be driven by Southern Region drivers for some of the journey (particularly to ensure that experienced drivers took the trains through the complex arrangements around Clapham Junction) and would, on reaching Margate and being cleared of passengers, take them onward to Ramsgate Depot where they would be stored until the return trip. Eltham station - Tickets & Information | Grand Central The first occurred on 7 November 1961, when Wilsdon had been charged 150 for being Drunk and disorderly, causing damage to a shop window and assaulting a Police constable whilst off-duty. Pictures by my father, Reg Godsave. Further modernisation was the order of the day in 1931, when stations at Bexleyheath, Welling, and Eltham (Well Hall) were rebuilt. This was a very unusual action, particularly as he had made up almost seven minutes of the lost time. This caused nine out of 10 carriages to derail, injuring many occupants and killing 6 including the driver.
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