Recent rail accidents have been blamed on inadequate track maintenance, poor communication and human error. But what were the causes of accidents in the early years of the railways when speeds were a fraction of those today, manual signals were operated by station staff and the network was served by numerous privately owned companies each with its own regulations?
The events that led up to the first major rail disaster at Abergele in 1868 show us how little some things have changed today.
At 7.30am on Thursday August 20 1868 the Irish Mail left Euston station in London on its daily journey to Holyhead. The train had the reputation of being the fastest in the kingdom and transported some of the wealthiest men and women in the country to their estates in Ireland via the Holyhead ferry. It comprised four carriages for first and second class passengers, a post office van and a travelling post office where the mail was sorted on the journey.
At 11.30am the Mail reached Chester, a busy junction where four extra carriages were attached to the front of the train. Many passengers joining here had stayed overnight at the Queen Railway Hotel and had arrived at the station after walking through a special connecting tunnel. As they emerged from the tunnel, most passengers turned left and boarded the newly attached carriages; but some turned right, perhaps to join their friends who had travelled from London. Their decision to turn either right or left was to be hugely significant that day.
About an hour later, as the train was approaching Abergele and ready to climb towards Colwyn Bay, goods trucks were still being shunted on the main line three miles ahead at Llanddulas. They formed part of a daily goods train scheduled to run about 20 minutes ahead of the Irish Mail but with enough time to shunt trucks into the sidings. However, on this particular day there were already wagons on both tracks in the sidings and the goods train's 43 trucks would not fit in without splitting them up.
During the shunting, it was necessary to leave six trucks and a brake van on the main line. Provided the line was protected with signals and the brake firmly applied in the brake van, it should have presented no difficulty. But at one point during the operation some trucks were shunted from the sidings against those left on the main line. In an instant all of them began rolling down the incline towards the oncoming Irish Mail. The fact that two of the trucks carried 50 barrels of paraffin was to turn a collision into a catastrophe.
Arthur Thompson, driver of the Irish Mail, had 20 years of experience as an engine driver and had been on the footplate when the Irish Mail made its maiden journey in 1860. But on August 20 1868 circumstances were entirely beyond his control. The track ahead of him curved away from the sea wall, obscuring the trucks with their deadly paraffin as they rushed towards him. In any case, the shunting crew could not have warned him because there was no telegraph connection between the stations at Abergele and Llanddulas. When he did see the trucks they were almost upon him. He turned off the steam immediately and threw the engine into reverse. But by then it was too late - the trains had collided.
The paraffin exploded, and in an instant the front carriages were enveloped in flames. A column of black smoke spiralled upwards into the hills. Labourers from a nearby quarry ran to the scene and began to form a human chain, passing buckets of water from the sea to the fire. But before long the scene was one of complete confusion - a tangled mass of iron bars and bolts jutting out at peculiar angles and horribly charred bodies.
The victims' possessions scattered along the track evoked a poignant reminder of a divided society. On one side, the possessions of a privileged class - a diamond ring worth 60 guineas, a pair of opera glasses, the gold tops from smelling bottles, dozens of gold watches, one stopped at 12.52 and 23 seconds. On the other side, the possessions of those who served them - a simple blue hairpin, a crochet needle, an ink bottle.
There were no injured passengers. It was either a complete escape or a horrible death. So disfigured were the remains of the 33 bodies brought from the wreckage that identification was impossible in all but three cases and the coffins were simply given numbers. The London & North Western Railway Company paid the funeral expenses of all the victims and arranged for the bodies to be interred in a huge trench. Death proved indeed to be a great leveller: rich and poor were buried side by side.
What caused the disaster?
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your comments
Yolanda Wright from Brussels (Belgium)
My grand mother, Pauline Edwards, was Joseph Priestley Edwards' grand daughter. He died in the crash with his eldest son. I have been told that his body could be identified by a bunch of keys.It is very moving to learn that a far away cousin from Colorado, USA, still remembers this horrible accident and has recently visited the site of the tragedy.
Thu Aug 6 09:30:36 2009
Dr. Frank Roeb, Germany
Why does the website of Gwrych Castle, Abergele, give Aug 21st as the date of the disaster?
Fri May 22 09:27:47 2009
David Roberts from Brookfield
Can anyone comment about any rewards given to the rescuers who took part in helping the survivors of this disaster? Rumour has it in our family that workers from the local quarry received a reward for their help.
Thu May 1 10:14:04 2008
Anne Bradford from Redditch
Among those killed were the wife and daughter of the the principal of the boys school at Townsend House, Franche, and the two daughters of Mr Simocox Lea of Astley Hall both places in/near Kidderminster.
Tue Mar 25 10:14:48 2008
Alan G. Clark Peterborough
In her journal dated 21st August 1868, Louisa Hamilton, the future wife of John Tyndall, president of the Royal Institute, and niece of the Duke of Abercorn, wrote the following: "At Oundle station we heard of a horrible accident yesterday in the Irish train, caused by an explosion of paraffin oil. 23 people killed. Aunt Louisa (Lady Abercorn), &c. in the train, but unhurt. Oh Lord, I am so pleased, but I don't know how to be sufficiently thankful. Comfort the poor suffers and survivors from that terrible catastrophe!" After receiving a letter from her father, Lord Claud Hamilton, who was travelling to Barons Court, Louisa tells her sister Emma: "He says none of the Hamiltons were the least hurt - Aunt Louisa got a little lump from Ernest (later Lord Ernest Hamilton) falling on the top of her, and actually, none of them knew that anybody in the train was hurt until 2 hours afterwards! They thought nothing but the tender had caught fire." The accident is mentioned in Lord Frederic Hamilton's book The Days before Yesterday (1920), p.76-77. Lord Frederic Spencer Hamilton (1856-1928) was the second youngest of the Duke and Duchess of Hamilton's 13 children.
Mon Mar 10 11:26:22 2008
J Brennan Dublin
I recall a song I used hear an uncle sing when I was growing up in Ireland called " The Irish Mail" - it included the verse
To Holyhead it came too late
Too late to shunt away,
And down the track came clickety clack
The ill fated Irish Mail.
Would any reader have the full words of this song please?
Wed Feb 13 09:16:35 2008
Rev Shirley Griffiths, Vicar of Abergele
In response to the query by Anne Brady from Oregon - many on the train were returning to Ireland after their summer holiday. Her Chinnery ancestors were on their way to their estates in County Dublin. While most of the dead were unrecognisable, a skeleton matching Lady Chinner's tall, gaunt physique was found. Anne may be interested to know that there is a window in St Michael's Parish Church, Abergele, dedicated in their memory.
Thu Jan 10 09:11:57 2008
Rev Shirley T Griffiths, Vicar of Abergele
A further comment about the stone marker. This was actually made of slate and is in the shape of a celtic cross. Over the years rainwater has separated the layers of slate and so it is now in Abergele Town Hall for safe keeping.
Thu Jan 10 09:10:37 2008
Anne Brady from Oregon, USA
I have been tracking my Chinnery ancestors for years. My g-g-grandfather, john Chinnery, b. Cork, Ireland, went to Wales after his marriage in 1849 to Julia Lehan. He died there and his widow emigrated to the US with her four young children. I have wondered what the Chinnery connection was with Wales. I see the Chinnerys died in this disaster. Why were they in Wales? Does anyone know?
Fri Apr 27 09:58:07 2007
Ivah Clarke, Leamington, Ontario Canada
My ggrandfather's was Eleazer Askin,his older brother Francis Askin lost his wife & daughter in the Royal Irish Mail Train disaster.
Thu Dec 28 11:17:55 2006
Brian Todd, Llanddulas
I recall watching the programme on this disaster. I was, between 1980 and 1985, the village Police Officer in Llanddulas and on my wanderings, on the Beach Caravan & Chalet Park, which backs on to the main Chester-Holyhead, railway line, i was shown a simple metal cross over the other side of the wooden fence, placed there as a memorial to those who had lost their lives. A caravan owner regularly cuts the grass and keeps it tidy.
Thu Nov 30 09:35:12 2006
Gwyn, Abergele
Here is the list of names on the grave:
The Rt Hon Henry Lord Farnham,
The Lady Farnham,
The Rev Sir Nicolis Chinnery,
Lady Chinnery,
The Hon Judge Berwick,
Elizabeth Mary Berwick,
John Harrison Aylmer,
Rosanna Louisa Aylmer,
Arthur Fitzgerald H Aylmer,
Rosalie Franks,
Kate Sophia Askin,
Fanny Sophia Thornburgh Askin,
Charles Cripps,
Capt. J Preistly Edwards,
Priestly Augustus Edwards,
E Lovell Farrell,
Joseph Holmes,
Jane Ingram,
Mary Ann Kellett,
Caroline Simcox Lea,
Augusta Simcox Lea,
William Townend Lund,
W Henry Owen,
Edward Outen,
W Bradley Parkinson,
Christopher Slater Parkinson,
Mary Anne Roe,
Whitmore Scovell,
Kathleen Scovell,
William Smith,
Caroline Stearn,
Elizabeth Strafford,
Louisa Symes.
Thu Oct 26 10:35:43 2006
Ian Mathews, Piddington, Northamptonshire
According to booklet published in the late 1940s on the Chester and Holyhead railway, there used to be a stone marker with a cross carved on it at the side of the track where the accident happened. I don't know if it is still there but if it isn't, maybe Network Rail would consider a memorial stone?
Thu Oct 5 09:26:57 2006
Chris Palmer, Dyffryn Ardudwy
Laura, I'm sure that the local and London newspapers of the day would have had lists of the dead. It might be worth seeking out the information at a local library (admittedly not easy if you are not in the UK, but there are links to Conwy library service on this site) or with the publishers of the Times, Telegraph, etc.
Look for local history groups in North Wales, perhaps they will have somebody who will know, or do the research for you?
Tue Aug 22 17:07:35 2006
Laura Anderson Way from California
My Great Grandmother's surname was Gwun (by one account); her origins have eluded my sister and I. She was born in London in Oct 1867 and emigrated to the United States in 1869. An elderly relative told me of a link with a train accident. We have searched for years and only recently came up with the names Richard, George and Agnes Gwun of Britain. Today I finally thought about searching train wrecks, and lo and behold, I was fascinated by the possibility that our search might come to an end. Is there a list of the 33 people who died in the Abergele train wreck? Was there a Gwun, a Macgowan or a Guain among the dead? Thank you so much for reading this. Your towns and castles and countryside are so beautiful!
Mon Jan 23 19:54:04 2006
Andy Jones-Hilton from North Wales
There is a photo of the memorial on the Rhyl Photographic Society website.
Sun Jan 16 21:27:13 2005
James Savage from Aylesbury
I believe one or more of my ancestors or their family were killed. It would be a fitting tribute to make a photograph of the memorial available online. If anyone who lives nearby sees this an has a digital camera perhaps they could do this?
James
Tue Jan 11 10:29:57 2005
Sir Christopher Edwards, Colorado, USA
Two of my ancestors, father and son, died in the disaster. I recently visited the scene of the tragedy and the memorial in Abergele. I was very touched and grateful to the church and residents of Abergele for remembering those who lost their lives, and for maintaining the memorial so well through all those years.
Fri Jul 16 15:11:12 2004
