1895

LONDON BRIDGE

27th NOVEMBER 1895


Involving 

Driver H. Bridge & fireman Henry Rogers

depot unknown


extracted and adapted from the report by

G.W. Addison, Lieut. Col., R.E.

Lieut Col R.E





An collision which which occurred on the 27th ultimo at London
Bridge Station, on the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway.

In this case tho 9.47 a.m. train from East Duhvich overran the usual stopping
place and came jnto collision with the buffer-stops at the end of No. 1 road.
Seven passengers are reported to have been shaken.

The train consisted of a six wheel coupled tank-engine, 11 close-coupled carriages, with brake compartments in front and at the rear of those carriages, and two extra third-class carriages next to the engine. The train was fitted throughout with the Westinghouse automatic-brake, and band-brakes were also available on the engine and in each of the two brake compartments referred to above. 

No damage was done to the engine or buffer stops, but the two front carriages arc
reported to have been slightly damaged.

Description.

London Bridge· terminus has six platforms and 11 platform lines; No. 1 road, which is on the south side of the railway, being alongside No. 6 platform. The platform is 200 yards in length, and at the outer end of it there are signals, to regulate the admission of trains to the platform and to indicate to drivers whether there is a clear road up to the buffer-stops or not, as empty carriages sometimes stand at the end of the platform.

The station home-signals are 567 yards from the buffer-stops of No. 1 road; and the south cabin, from which the signals are worked, is 400 yards from the buffer-stops.

The line is practically level.

The weight of the passenger vehicles, empty, is estimated at 91 tons, and the mean weight of the engine in working order at 24 tons 7 cwt.

The following extracts from the Company's rules for stopping passenger trains at terminal stations should be noted, viz. :- 

"In approaching terminal stations ...... the Westinghouse automatic-brake, .. . . . must not be used, except in cases of emergency, but the speed of the train must be so reduced, that it may be brought to a stand with certainty and  at the proper place by means of the hand-brakes alone. Guards must not be seated away from their hand-brakes, but must always be standing In such a position as to be able, together with the enginemen, to promptly apply their hand-brakes when trains are entering stations at which the trains call, as well as at terminal stations.''

Evidence.

W. T. Hutley states: I have been about 19 years in the company's service, all the time as ticket collector at London Bridge Terminus. On the 27th November I came on duty at 7.30 a.m. to work until 7.45 p.m., and the same on the previous day. About 10.7 or 10.8 a.m. on the 27th ultimo I was standing at the gate, to collect tickets from the passengers of the East Dulwich train, due at 10.2. I saw that train running alongside No. 6 platform; and it appeared to be coming in very steadily. About half-way along the platform  the speed was decreased and it then came along quite slowly, so that I expected the driver to stop at any moment. The engine is stopped some- times one, carriage-length and sometimes two or three lengths short of the buffer-stop. To my surprise the driver did not stop and the engine run up against the buffer-stop. None of the passengers complained to me of any injury. I do not think there was any steam on after the train entered the platform. I cannot say whether the brake were on as the train was running, but I heard them put on immediately after striking the buffer-stop.

H. Bridge states: I have been 16 years in the company's service, and about six years as a driver. On the 27th November I came on duty at 6 a.m. to work until 3.30 p.m. My engine, No. 70, is a six wheel coupled tank-engine fitted with Westinghouse and hand-brakes. On the 27th ultimo I left East Dulwich at 9.47 a.m. to run to London Bridge. We stopped at four intermediate stations, and I used the Westinghouse brake on each occasion. When I arrived at the home signal, about 150 yards on the Bermondsey side of the south signal cabin, I found it
''on" against me, and I was stopped there about six minutes. Afterwards I had a clear ran into the station, during which I am sure we had the usual pressure available for the brakes, viz. 50 lbs. on the train and 70 lbs. on the engine. Opposite to the north signal-box I shut off steam and my mate applied the hand-brake immediately afterwards; the company's rules lay down that we are to stop the train with the hand-brake, entering terminal stations. I estimate the  speed on entering the platform at four miles an hour, which had been reduced to one mile by the time we struck the buffer stop. I was riding on the left or platform side of the engine, which which was running chimney in front. When we were about a carriage length or a little more away from the buffer-stop, and whilst my mate was at his brake, the carriages behind seemed to give us a push forward as if the guards had taken off their brakes. We were practically stopped at the time, und some passengers passed the engine before the latter reached the buffers. None of tho wheels of the engine left the rails, and the engine was not damaged in any way. We rebounded about a yard. I was applying the Westinghouse brake when we struck and I had opened the sand-valves. I spoke to guard Bance after the accident as to what he felt in the hind part of the train, and he said that when he felt the rebounded he put his hand-brake on a turn or two.

Henry Rogers states : I have been about nine years in the Company's service, 3 1/2 years as fireman. On the 27th November I was acting as fireman to driver Bridge, and my hours of duty were the same as his. As we were running into London Bridge station the driver shut off steam just outside the station, when we were not running faster than four or five miles an hour. Just as we started into the platform I applied my hand-brake, and it seemed to have effect all the way up the station. When about a carriage length from the buffer-stop, and the people were getting out of the train, I felt the weight of the train on the engine, and applied the hand-brake fully. The driver commenced to put on his brake at once, and he also opened the sand-valves. I was not knocked about at all when the engine struck the buffer-stop.

Harry Frank Brooker states: I had been 12 1/2 years in the Company's service and 10 1/2 years as passenger guard. On the 27th November I came on duty at 6.35 a.m. to work until 4 p.m. On that date I left East Dulwich at 9.47 a.m. for London Bridge. The train consisted of 11 close-coupled carriages and two extra third-class carriages in front. I was in charge of the train, and I was riding in the van of the leading close-coupled vehicle, which is a four-wheeled carriage. We were stopped six minutes at the south signal-cabin. Running into the station the speed would be about four miles an hour, and half way between the south cabin and the station I put on my hand-brake hard, but short of skidding the wheels. It had just come on to rain. As we ran along the platform we seemed to be stopping to a nicety. I could not see how near we were getting to the stops, as the carriage doors were open and the passengers, were getting out. I did not alter my brake at all. I was standing up and really did not realise we had struck the buffer stops. I thought perhaps we had just touched a coach standing at the end of the platform. Only one passenger complained to me of any injury.

Frederick Bance states : I have been 14 years in the Company's service, 18 months as passenger guard. On the 27th November I came on duty at 6.30 a.m. to work until about 4.10 p.m. On that date I was the rear-guard with the 9.47 a.m. train from East Dulwich to London Bridge. After being stopped at the home-signal (about six minutes) I put, on my hand-brake as we passed the south signal-cabin. I gave it about three or four  turns, and I remained standing at the brake. We were only going about four or five miles an hour when we entered the platform. About half way along the platform I gave an extra turn or two to the brake handle, and before we struck the buffer-stop I had it hard on. My hand was still on the wheel when we struck. l felt the collision, and the rebound of the train threw me half way across the brake. I was tiding in the brake compartment (the rear one) of the last vehicle on the train. One passenger complained to me of being injured. l had some conversation with driver Bridge later in the day, when I think he asked me if I had taken my brake off, as they seemed to have been released about a carriage length away from the buffers. I said I had got hold of the brake to try to give it an extra tum.

Conclusion.

This slight collision with buffer-stops was due, as is now usually the· case, to an error of judgment on the part of the driver of the train (H. Bridge).

On the arrival of the East Dulwich train outside London Bridge station, about 10.1 a.m., it was pulled up at the home-signals and it remained there about six minutes; from the home signals to the buffer-stops. of No. 1 road, a distance of 567 yards, the train had a clear run in. The driver and fireman state that steam was shut off before entering the station, when the speed of the train did not exceed four or five miles an hour, and the fireman says he had the engine hand-brake on all the way along the platform. Two guards on the train. and ticket collector Hutley, who watched the train coming in, speak equally positively as to the train being apparently well in hand, and therefore capable of being stopped· at the proper place by the hand-brakes in accordance with the rules. Very much to Hutley's surprise the train did not stop until the engine had run up against the buffer-stop, the driver's explanation of the matter being, that when about a carriage length from the buffer-stop the engine seemed to get a push from the vehicles behind it, and that there was then not sufficient time for the air brake, which he applied at once, to take effect.

Driver Bridge's statement is confirmed by his fireman, and I see no reason to doubt the accuracy of what they say, but the simple fact is that they had no margin of safety and so long as drivers work in that way accidents must occasionally occur. The Company's rules quoted above are very explicit, and the men in charge of the train seem to have complied with them, but the frequency of these buffer-stop collisions, in spite of the powerful means for stopping a train at the disposal of drivers, point to the necessity for much more care. If drivers would make it a rule to stop, at least, one carriage length away from the ends of terminal platforms or any obstruction on a platform line, and thus give themselves more margin than they do under present circumstances, a slight miscalculation would not necessarily involve a collision. Injuries to several persons are the almost invariable result of even the slightest
buffer-stop collision, owing to the fact that passengers are usually standing up in the act of getting out of the carriages or collecting their things.

The acceleration of speed referred to by the driver and fireman as having occurred just when the train should have stopped may have been due to either of two causes, viz. : (1) The rails are said to have been rather wet, and the fireman in applying his hand-brake with full force to stop the train may have caused the wheels to "skid," and thus give the impression of the engine receiving fresh impetus; or (2) the guards' brakes may, as the driver suggests, have been released at that moment. The conversation which passed later in the day between the driver and guard Bance certainly goes to show that the brakes on the rear van had not been applied with anything like full force previous to the collision; that guard's evidence as to the rebound of the train also tends in the same direction. However this may be, the train appears to have been well in hand as it ran alongside the platform; and, as I have said above, the driver must take the responsibility for not seeing that it was brought to a stand before it reached the buffer stops.

Make a free website with Yola