100 years ago today, the worst rail disaster in British history occurred at Quintinshill near Gretna Green in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. On May 22nd 1915, a devastating crash involving a total of five trains, killed 226 people and injured a further 246. The vast majority of those killed were territorial soldiers of the 1/7th (Leith) Battalion, Royal Scots, on their way to participate in the Gallipoli campaign. Disaster stuck when a troop train headed for Liverpool struck a passenger train that …
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‘The locomotive was drawing a streamlined train to which was attached to a dynamometer car, in which were charts and instruments which confirmed the records.’ On 3 July 1938, ‘The Mallard’ locomotive (engine number 6648) achieved a new UK record for steam trains, travelling at 125.88 MPH on the UK’s East Coast Main Line. To celebrate the 75th anniversary of that historic day, here is a newspaper story from 1938 reporting on the setting of this famous world record, which remains …
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The Armagh railway disaster took place on 12 June 1889 with the loss of 80 lives. The accident happened after the engine stalled on a steep hill, and the crew decided to split the train in two in order to negotiate the steep incline. Tragically, the second half of the train was not properly braked, and it ran back down the hill and collided with an oncoming train. At the time, this was the worst rail disaster that had occurred …