I was talking to a normally reliable source today, and he asked me if I had heard anything about a fatal accident at Roseden Crossing, between Wooperton and Ilderton, on the Cornhill Branch. He said that it occured in the early years of WW2 and because it involved a troop train, all details were hushed up. It was possible that an army officer was killed, and a number of WAAFs were injured.
I immediately contacted a lady I know who is the daughter of Bob Selby, who was a linesman at Whittingham at the time, and she said that she vaguely remembered something happening, but also said that it would have been kept secret. She remembered that there were a lot of troop trains running on the branch at the time and said that they always ran at night under conditions of secrecy. They mostly ran in the up (southbound) direction, and stopped at Whittingham to take water before the long climb to the summit. While they were stopped, Mrs Selby and the other railway wives would pass cups of tea through the windows to the passengers.
I have lived in the area all my life, and have attempted to find out as much information on this line as possible, but this is the first I have heard about this incident, it has certainly never been mentioned in any of the published articles or books on the line.
It is strange, if the tale is true, that details have not slipped out before; but it is a plausible enough story. I do know of other (non railway) military accidents in the area that were successfully kept quiet for many years.
Has anyone here heard about this, and does anybody have any suggestions as to where information might be found?
Wartime accident on the Cornhill Branch?
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