Accidents involving the train Flying Scotsman

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52D
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Accidents involving the train Flying Scotsman

Post by 52D »

Hi i can think of 3 incidents at least in my own area of interest so there must be more.The first was a derailment in 1880 at Marshall Meadows (I am working on this one at the moment) of the up train, the second was around the time of the grouping when it hit a herd of cows at Goswick and the third during World War 2 when the Luftwaffe machine gunned her near Scremerston.
Any more offers.
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Re: Accidents involving the train Flying Scotsman

Post by richard »

There was also a derailment during the General Strike (1929), when some of the more militant strikers sabotaged the track. From what I remember, their action did more harm than good for sympathies towards their cause.


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Re: Accidents involving the train Flying Scotsman

Post by S.A.C. Martin »

I've a funny feeling the locomotive Merry Hampton was involved in that particular incident Richard has described - and another one pulling the same train later on as 60066. There was also an incident involving a Peppercorn A1 too, although I can't remember the name/number/details, I do remember I read it in Steam World Magazine.
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Re: Accidents involving the train Flying Scotsman

Post by 52D »

Fancy me forgetting Merry Hampton, she had already slowed down for Cramlington after a warning of trouble otherwise the accident could have been a lot worse. Thats four in Northumberland alone.
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Re: Accidents involving the train Flying Scotsman

Post by 60041 »

If you include the Special Scotch Express, the forerunner of the Flying Scotsman, then there was the accident at Abbots Rippon in Jan 1876 where 13 people died and 59 were injured. Also there was a derailment at Morpeth in March 1877, involving the up Scotch Express, which was blamed on bad track.
Interestingly I have also found reference to an accident at Heeley (Midland Railway)near Sheffield that involved a train called the Flying Scotchman in 1876, a dealer is selling a print showing the accident on Amazon:-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Accident-Flying ... B001RGSZLM

There is some discussion about the latter on the Sheffield History website about the accuracy of the information on the picture as some people think that the picture does not depict Heeley Station and, of course, the name was not applied to the train until 1924 but, according to the December 2, 1876 issue of the "Illustrated London News, on November 22, 1876, the "Flying Scotsman" was traveling between 30 and 40 mph when "the hind portion dashed into the station" at Heeley, a mile out of Sheffield."
I wonder if there was some confusion then, as there is now, about the name "Flying Scotsman" as many people confuse the train with the locomotive and also some people think that all Edinburgh expresses are the Flying Scotsman.
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Re: Accidents involving the train Flying Scotsman

Post by 52A »

2565 Cramlington 10th May 1926.

2005 Goswick 28th August 1907.

66 Goswick 26th October 1947.

60509 Goswick 28th October 1953.

Also on the 21st November 1941, Goswick railway station was destroyed by bombing and a local train in the platform was damaged, 6 people were hurt. The train and station were also machine gunned.

Not a lucky place!
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Re: Accidents involving the train Flying Scotsman

Post by 52D »

Did the Morpeth 1877 derailment involve a 901 class 2-4-0?
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Re: Accidents involving the train Flying Scotsman

Post by 52A »

Yes, 901 itself.
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Re: Accidents involving the train Flying Scotsman

Post by Graham Bird »

The big secondhand bookshop in Llangollen currently has a different print for sale, showing the rerailing of the Pullman car in what appears to be the same accident. It's perhaps a little simplistic but as the price is only £10 this may not matter too much!
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Re: Accidents involving the train Flying Scotsman

Post by 60800 »

One of the Flying Scotsman incidents was a head on collision involving thick fog and a frozen signal. Can't remember which one though.
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Re: Accidents involving the train Flying Scotsman

Post by StevieG »

blackout60800 wrote:One of the Flying Scotsman incidents was a head on collision involving thick fog and a frozen signal. Can't remember which one though.
'Abbots (at the time I think it would have been Abbotts) Ripton involved frozen signals*, in the dark, and in laying snow; - I've a feeling it was also during a blizzard.

* - I had initially posted a bit of background info here on signalling and this accident, but got rather carried away with it: So much so, I decided it wasn't appropriate for this forum; so it can now be found as a new thread, "Signalling and the 1876 Abbotts Ripton Accident", in 'LNER Discussion >> "General LNER Discussion".
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Re: Accidents involving the train Flying Scotsman

Post by railwaydoc »

Hi everyone, I am busy putting together a book - Exploring over 200 Years of british Railways with 12+ Locomotives that made history

of course I am doing the Flying Scotsman AND the Mallard...
so, as part of the chapter on FS and doing both locomotive and train... and have been researching about the accident on FS Train..
any details you can give me would be reeeeally helpfull..
things you think are a MUST to be in the book... any little known background stories...
I've only been given 4 months to get this book together before Christmas and 2 months have gone already.... so need HELP. Please.
you can always email me at dr.rmm@uwclub.net
and if you have any photo I could use in the book..you could write the caption and get accreditation..
thanks
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Re: Accidents involving the train Flying Scotsman

Post by Mickey »

StevieG wrote: Fri Dec 30, 2011 11:32 pm
blackout60800 wrote:One of the Flying Scotsman incidents was a head on collision involving thick fog and a frozen signal. Can't remember which one though.
'Abbots (at the time I think it would have been Abbotts) Ripton involved frozen signals*, in the dark, and in laying snow; - I've a feeling it was also during a blizzard.

* - I had initially posted a bit of background info here on signalling and this accident, but got rather carried away with it: So much so, I decided it wasn't appropriate for this forum; so it can now be found as a new thread, "Signalling and the 1876 Abbotts Ripton Accident", in 'LNER Discussion >> "General LNER Discussion".
I can vaguely recall one Sunday lunch time back in 1970 a bloke called Bob Symes (1924-2015) being on the telly in a half-hour programme demonstrating in the television studio how the 1876 Abbots Ripton accident came about by using a tabletop track layout with locos, coaches & wagons and also on the same programme Bob demonstrated how a 'railway track circuit' worked when either a train was occupying the track circuit or when a train wasn't occupying the track circuit which was also in the television studio as well.

From a 13 year old (me) railway enthusiasts point of view back then it was 'good telly' to watch even though I knew all the stuff that Bob was talking about and demonstrating cos I had been into British railway signalling since a 10 year old in 1967 and owning a hardback copy of British Railway Signalling 2nd edition reprinted in 1968. :wink:

According to Wikipedia Bob was a railway modeller amongst other hobbies that he had.
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