Ditton Junction rail crash

Ditton Junction is near Widnes on the Liverpool spur of the former London and North Western Railway. This complex junction had eight running lines and associated signal gantries. On 17 September 1912 the 17:30 Chester to Liverpool express was signalled to cross from the fast to the slow line, but the driver, Robert Hughes, age 41, from Llangwstenin, Conwy, who had little experience of the junction and had never been switched here before, misread the signals and thought he had a clear run through. The crossover had a speed limit of 15 mph but the train hit it at 60 mph.  The locomotive, a  of the Precedent class turned on its side and travelled some distance, striking the pier of an overbridge (partially demolishing it) and breaking in two. The six carriages following ploughed over the engine and were all destroyed - forming a heap of wreckage between the station platforms. Punctured gaslighting cylinders ignited, turning the scene into an inferno. The driver, fireman and 13 passengers were killed.

Blame was attributed to the driver for not applying for a pilot at Chester. The confusing signalling at the junction was also criticised.

Sources

External links
The Railways Archive :: Report by Lieutenant-Colonel Yorke, R.E., C.B., on the Accident that occurred on 17 September 1912, to a Passenger Train at Ditton Junction, on the London and North Western Railway
Photograph showing the site of the Ditton Junction Disaster

Category:Railway accidents and incidents in Cheshire
Category:Railway accidents in 1912
Category:1912 in England
Category:Rail transport in Cheshire
Category:History of Cheshire
Category:Accidents and incidents involving London and North Western Railway
Category:Disasters in Cheshire
Category:20th century in Cheshire
Category:1912 disasters in the United Kingdom
Category:September 1912 events
Category:Rail accidents caused by a driver's error