1951 Doncaster rail crash

Doncaster rail crash
Details
Date	16 March 1951 10:09
Location	South of Doncaster railway station
Country	England
Line	East Coast Main Line
Cause	Poor track maintenance
Statistics
Trains	1
Deaths	14
Injured	12
List of UK rail accidents by year

The Doncaster rail crash was a railway accident that took place near to Doncaster, England.

On 16 March 1951 the 10:04 Doncaster to London King's Cross consisting of 14 coaches (and a horse box at the rear) hauled by a LNER Thompson Class A2/2 No 60501 Cock o' the North locomotive left the station. Shortly afterwards the train was negotiating a tight crossover with a speed limit of 10 mph. The driver claimed he took the crossover at around 15 mph as he had done previously but the 3rd coach derailed. The leading end of the coach followed the front of the train and went to the right of a pier supporting Balby Bridge (which carries a road junction over the line), but the rear of the coach, propelled by the weight of the following train went to the left, wrapping the coach around the pier, killing 14 passengers and seriously injuring 12 others.

Cause

[edit]

Investigation of the accident concluded that poor maintenance of the crossover was the primary cause with bolts supporting the crossover assembly missing or cracked.

References

[edit]

British Railway Disasters. Ian Allan. 1996. ISBN 0-7110-2470-7.

External links

[edit]

Official Report

v t e Railway accidents in 1951 (1951)
Location and date	Woodbridge, New Jersey, US (6 February) Doncaster, United Kingdom (16 March) Yokohama, Japan (24 April) Nova Iguaçu, Brazil (7 June) Weedon, United Kingdom (21 September) Piquet Carneiro, Brazil (17 December)
1950 1952

v t e Railway accidents and incidents in the United Kingdom, 1900–1999
1900s	Slough (Jun 1900) Glasgow St Enoch (Jul 1903) Gomshall (Feb 1904) Hall Road (Jul 1905) ‡ Witham (Sep 1905) Charing Cross (Dec 1905) Salisbury (Jul 1906) ‡ Grantham (Sep 1906) Elliot Junction (Dec 1906) ‡ Newport (Sep 1907) Birmingham (Oct 1907) Dore (Oct 1907) Shrewsbury (Oct 1907) Bournemouth (May 1908) Tonbridge (Mar 1909)
1910s	Braunton Road (Jan 1910) Coulsdon North (Jan 1910) Hawes Junction (Dec 1910) Pontypridd (Jan 1911) Ditton Junction (Sep 1912) Chumhill (Feb 1913) Ais Gill (Sep 1913) Burntisland (Apr 1914) Carrbridge (Jun 1914) Ilford (Jan 1915) Quintinshill (May 1915) ‡ § Weedon (Aug 1915) St Bedes Junction (Dec 1915) Penistone (Feb 1916) Ratho (Jan 1917) Bere Ferrers (Sep 1917) Little Salkeld (Jan 1918) Paddock Wood (May 1919)
1920s	Littlehampton (Aug 1920) Abermule (Jan 1921) Birmingham New Street (Nov 1921) Birkenhead Park (Dec 1922) Retford (Feb 1923) Lytham (Nov 1924) Parkgate & Rawmarsh (Nov 1926) Hull Paragon (Feb 1927) Penistone (Feb 1927) Sevenoaks (Aug 1927) Darlington (Jun 1928) ‡ London Bridge (Jul 1928) Glasgow Queen Street (Oct 1928) Charfield (Oct 1928) Combe Down Tunnel (Nov 1929)
1930s	Lawrence Hill (Jan 1930) Leighton Buzzard (Mar 1931) Raynes Park (May 1933) Winwick (Sep 1934) Welwyn Garden City (Jun 1935) Battersea Park (Apr 1937) Castlecary (Dec 1937) ‡ Charing Cross (Mar 1938) Charing Cross (May 1938)
1940s	Bounds Green (Oct 1940) Balham (Oct 1940) ‡ Norton Fitzwarren (Nov 1940) ‡ Bank (Jan 1941) ‡ Eccles (Dec 1941) ‡ Bethnal Green (Mar 1943) ‡ Catterick Bridge (Feb 1944) Ilford (Jan 1944) Soham (Jun 1944) Ballymacarrett (Jan 1945) ‡ King's Cross (Feb 1945) Bourne End (Sep 1945) ‡ Lichfield (Jan 1946) ‡ Potters Bar (Feb 1946) Grayrigg (May 1947) Polesworth (July 1947) Doncaster (Aug 1947) South Croydon (Oct 1947) ‡ Goswick (Oct 1947) ‡ Manchester Victoria (Dec 1947) Winsford (Apr 1948) ‡ Stockport Viaduct (Nov 1948) Penmanshiel Tunnel (Jun 1949)
1950s	Penmaenmawr (Aug 1950) Doncaster (Mar 1951) Huntingdon (Jul 1951) Newcastle (Aug 1951) Weedon (Sep 1951) Harrow & Wealdstone (Oct 1952) ‡ Stratford (Apr 1953) Irk Valley Junction (Aug 1953) Watford Junction (Feb 1954) Sutton Coldfield (Jan 1955) Milton (Nov 1955) Barnes (Dec 1955) Luton (Dec 1955) Welwyn Garden City (Jan 1957) Chapel-en-le-Frith (Feb 1957) Lewisham (Dec 1957) ‡ Dagenham East (Jan 1958) Eastbourne (Aug 1958)
1960s	Settle (Jan 1960) Severn Railway Bridge (Oct 1960) Royton (Feb 1961) Baschurch (Feb 1961) Singleton Bank (Jul 1961) Lincoln (Jun 1962) Coppenhall Junction (Dec 1962) Knowle & Dorridge (Aug 1963) Cheadle Hulme (May 1964) Coton Hill (Jan 1965) Winsford (Jun 1965) Stechford (Feb 1967) Connington South (Mar 1967) Thirsk (Jul 1967) Hither Green (Nov 1967) ‡ Hixon (Jan 1968) Castlecary (Sep 1968) Marden (Jan 1969) Morpeth (May 1969)
1970s	Audenshaw Junction (May 1970) Sheerness-on-Sea (Feb 1971) Chester General (May 1972) Eltham Well Hall (Jun 1972) King's Cross & Euston (Sep 1973) Ealing (Dec 1973) Watford Junction (Jan 1975) Moorgate (Feb 1975) ‡ Nuneaton (Jun 1975) Green Park (Oct 1975) West Ham (Mar 1976) Taunton (Jul 1978) Paisley Gilmour Street (Apr 1979) Invergowrie (Oct 1979)
1980s	Dunmurry (Jan 1980) Bushey (Feb 1980) Bushey (Apr 1980) Holborn (Jul 1980) Ulleskelf (Dec 1981) Seer Green (Dec 1981) Wrawby Junction (Dec 1983) Morpeth (Jun 1984) Polmont (Jul 1984) Wembley Central (Oct 1984) Oxford Circus (Nov 1984) Eccles (Dec 1984) Summit Tunnel (Dec 1984) Lockington (Jul 1986) Colwich (Sep 1986) Glanrhyd Bridge (Oct 1987) King's Cross (Nov 1987) ‡ Clapham Junction (Dec 1988) ‡ Purley (Mar 1989) Glasgow Bellgrove (Mar 1989) West Ealing (Aug 1989)
1990s	Stafford (Aug 1990) Cannon Street (Jan 1991) Victoria & Paddington (Feb 1991) Newton (Jul 1991) Severn Tunnel (Dec 1991) London Bridge (Feb 1992) Morpeth (Nov 1992) Maidstone East (Sep 1993) Greenock (Jun 1994) Morpeth (Jun 1994) Cowden (Oct 1994) Ais Gill (Jan 1995) Largs (Jul 1995) Stafford (Mar 1996) Watford (Aug 1996) Channel Tunnel (Nov 1996) Bexley (Feb 1997) Southall (Sep 1997) Spa Road Junction (Jan 1999) Winsford (Jun 1999) Ladbroke Grove (Oct 1999) ‡
‡ indicates railway accidents and incidents resulting in at least 20 fatalities § indicates the deadliest railway accident in British history 1815–1899 2000–present

53°30′53″N 1°08′24″W / 53.51476°N 1.13992°W / 53.51476; -1.13992