Sutton Tunnel railway accident
Southern portal of Sutton Tunnel
|
|
| Date | 30 April 1851 |
|---|---|
| Time | 20:03 |
| Location | Frodsham, Cheshire |
| Country | England |
| Rail line | Chester to Manchester Line |
| Cause | Unprotected train (no signals) |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 3 |
| Passengers | ~1600 |
| Deaths | 9 |
| Injuries | 30–40 |
| List of UK rail accidents by year | |
The Sutton Tunnel railway accident occurred in the Sutton tunnel between Frodsham and Moore in Cheshire, England on 30 April 1851. As a result of it nine people died and between 30 and 40 were injured.
On 18 December 1850 a new railway was opened between Chester and Warrington by the Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Junction Railway. This halved the distance by rail between Manchester and Chester as trains could travel via Warrington rather than via Crewe. An early attraction to be served by the new line was Chester Races, in particular the Chester Cup on 30 April 1851. The line was advertised as The Direct Route to Chester Races and it is estimated that 4,000 people gathered at Manchester Victoria station during the morning of that day. The trains struggled to get the passengers to Chester, with one train arriving 2½ hours late and passengers from another train of 50 carriages having to walk part of the way.
After the races, by 6 pm one train had already left Chester General station and soon after another train carrying about 430 passengers departed. A further train was standing in sidings with a notice "Manchester via Warrington" on its side. People crossed the line and completely filled the train. It was estimated that 900 passengers were crowded into 18 small carriages. The train left the siding at about 6.50 pm hauled by the locomotive Druid. It was assisted up the incline from Chester station by another locomotive, No. 16, pushing at the back. No. 16 returned to Chester to collect its own train and the train pulled by Druid made "good speed" to Frodsham where some passengers left it. By then it had begun to rain, this had turned to sleet, and the driving wheels had started to slip. From Frodsham station to the Sutton Weaver Viaduct there is an adverse gradient of 1:240 and the fireman and a local platelayer sanded the rails. Despite this the train made only slow progress, even on the level viaduct. Beyond the viaduct the tunnel also had an adverse gradient of 1:264 and it was a struggle to keep the train moving. By this time the train hauled by No. 16 had left Chester with only 430 passengers and was catching up with Druid's train. By the time it arrived near Sutton tunnel it was only 60 yards (55 m)–70 yards (64 m) behind it. Druid's guard signalled to the following train to come behind and push his train. This it did but then No. 16's wheels also began to slip. In the middle of the 1.25 miles (2 km) tunnel the two trains came to a virtual or complete halt.
...
Wikipedia