The 12:00 1A26
express train from
King's Cross to
Edinburgh and
Aberdeen collided at speed with the wreckage of a derailed freight train around 15:17 on that day. Seven people were killed and 45 injured, 15 seriously. Following the accident, three of the four lines (the Up [Southbound] and Down [Northbound] Fast lines and the Down Slow line) were blocked by the wreckage of the collision. The Up Slow line was not damaged and was used by special trains to take the dead and injured to
Newcastle upon Tyne. The line was also used later that day for both Up and Down trains to clear other trains stranded in the area by the blockage but was later used only for Up trains, Down trains being diverted via Harrogate over the
Harrogate-Northallerton line which, though it had been closed, was re-opened for the purpose. Special bus services were introduced between Leeds and Northallerton and between York and Thirsk to replace local train services disrupted by the accident. Breakdown cranes were ordered from York, Leeds and Gateshead (Newcastle), and the derailed vehicles were cleared from the track by 23:30 on 1 August. Repairs to the track were speedy and the three damaged lines were all open by 16:20 on 2 August, all with an initial speed limit of . An extract from The Ministry of Transport report into the accident states: The 45mph limit for the 26
Cemflo wagons in the freight train was lower than the designed limit of 60mph following derailments with this type of wagon, and this was the speed at the time of derailment. After the derailment and separation of his train, the freight train driver ran back to use a telephone on a signal post about 100 yards (90 m) behind his locomotive. He had no time to speak to the signalman before, to his horror, he first heard and then saw 1A26 loom into view and despite heavy braking, strike the fouling wagon. The
buffer beam, draw-gear and coupling shackle of this wagon were ripped clean off by the force of the impact and thrown into an adjacent field. As 1A26 had approached signal D19, the driver was not accelerating as hard as he normally would have been because he was uneasy about the view ahead—he should have been able to see the next signal but it was obscured by a cloud of smoke or dust and he had instinctively backed off the throttle. As he passed D19 he became aware of the cement wagon across his path about 400 yards (365 m) ahead. He made an emergency application of the train vacuum brake and the locomotive air brake. He operated the sanding gear to increase the grip on the rails and shut down the engine of his locomotive to reduce the risk of fire in case the derailed tank wagon contained flammable liquid as he realised he now had no chance to avoid the collision. As he approached the obstruction he became aware of the freight train guard running back towards him waving a red flag. On impact the locomotive of 1A26 DP2 lurched to the right and the left hand side of the cab was severely damaged along with the left hand side of the first three coaches, all side-corridor
BR Mark 1s. On coaches 2 and 3 this was fortunately on the corridor side, but on the leading coach this was the compartment side and this is where most of the casualties were. The Thirsk signalman averted further disaster by throwing all his signals to danger and sending an "obstruction danger" bell code to the Northallerton and Pilmoor boxes either side, stopping a London-bound express at Thirsk station less than to the north. 1A26 had come to rest fouling the Up Fast line and this express would have struck the wreckage only a few minutes later. Also at the time an RAF aircraft flying over saw the crash scene and immediately called for help to be sent. ==Aftermath==