eltham well hall train crash
Further Reading The second excursion train, scheduled to leave Margate at 20:05 was to be crewed by Driver Wilsdon, Secondman P.E. Latest Documents located in the administrative territorial entity. Explore. Rail; . Cookie policy. The Eltham Well Hall rail crash was an accident on the British railway system that occurred on 11 June 1972 at approximately 21:35. The 1969 incident also showed Wilsdon's disregard of what had occurred in 1961 but it was agreed that the manager at the time had been unwise in waiting two months to question Wilsdon, but had acted appropriately when he did. The guard told the inquiry that after leaving Rainham he had noticed that the train's speed has been "a little bit excessive" and that the driver braked intensely between Gillingham and Chatham. Two bottles of beer given to the crew by the excursion's organisers were found in the cab, but they were unopened. At about 15:20 he booked on duty by telephone with Hither Green depot and travelled by train to Ramsgate. 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 20mph but when he saw the excursion train approaching, he was quite certain it was traveling far beyond that speed. . He stated that he was thoroughly ashamed and that he had been celebrating a promotion to the position of Passed Fireman with his colleague who greatly assisted him. British Rail staff who came in contact with Wilsdon on 11 June (his supervisor at Hither Green, depot staff at Ramsgate, Secondman Stokes, Railway Club staff at Ramsgate, Guard Atterbury, Stationmaster Arundell and his staff at Margate, Railman Fleming and Signalman Obee at Rainham) were all intensively questioned and gave evidence at the inquiry regarding the state of Wilsdon, to which all agreed that Wilsdon appeared perfectly fit and sober even as late as his unscheduled stop in Rainham, with the only person aware of Wilsdon already having drunk alcohol prior to reaching Ramsgate being Secondman Stokes, who considered him still fit and sober enough to drive the train. Press Association. The second incident occurred on 28 March 1969, when Wilsdon was fined 1 for being drunk in Lewisham. When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. 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. According to them, the three returned home and spent the afternoon indoors with the children until Robert was driven by one of his brothers to Rainham station at around 17:15. Well Hall station will be partially covered by the new Rochester Way relief road. 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. [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 recommendation that booking-on by telephone be carefully controlled was reiterated in the Inspectorate report of the Cannon Street Station rail crash in 1991. http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/eventsummary.php?eventID=134, Images of the accident (approximately halfway down the page), https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Eltham_Well_Hall_rail_crash&oldid=202875, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. According to his notes, the train passed through Bexleyheath at 21:31, seven minutes behind schedule (estimates showed that Wilsdon had made up at least a minute and a half between Gillingham and Strood) and was running on clear signals.[2]. East London Train Station Vintage Photos City Photo Autos A major rail crash happened at Well Hall on Sunday evening 11 June 1972. Eltham Well Hall. The rear of the coach had been somewhat damaged by the fifth, sixth and seventh coaches passing by it, derailed but still on the track. An excursion train from Margate to Kentish Town derailed on a sharp curve at Eltham Well Hall station, Eltham, London. June 11, 1972. Compliments. It came to a stand laying parallel with the locomotive, having jack-knifed and pushed slightly around so the leading cab was facing back towards the line and the rear cab was pointing away from the track.