Penistone Rail Accidents - 20th Century Accidents

20th Century Accidents

2 February 1916. Probably the only accident to take place on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway line, at the Penistone end of the viaduct which takes the tracks northward from the station. A Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway 2-4-2T locomotive, No. 661, was standing when the end of the viaduct and the embankment subsided below it. The collapse was slow and the crew jumped to safety before the arch fell down. The cause of the collapse was stated to be scouring of the foundations after prolonged heavy rain; the parapet of the viaduct had been observed to be cracked some days earlier.

27 February 1927. An avoidable accident blamed mainly on signalman's error, in which an LMS locomotive, Aspinall radial tank No. 10760, from the Huddersfield line, having arrived and discharged its passengers, needed to clear the line to allow an empty coaching stock train from Bradford to enter the station. It shunted its stock into the other LMS platform to prepare for the return working. The locomotive then needed to be turned (unnecessarily but following usual practice on the line) and worked to the opposite end of the train, a move needing quite a few backwards and forwards shunts. The final move to reach the front of his train was via the LMS "up" line, a wrong line movement which started on the LNER line as this was the only route available to reach his train. The driver made this last movement on his own, the fireman being sent to "mash" (brew) the tea in the porter's room. The last move was controlled by a hand signal but having given the signal, the Huddersfield Junction signalman, new on shift at 6 pm, forgot to set the points for the LMS line and the locomotive went along the main line into the station platform. The driver realised that something was wrong and stopped. On seeing the signal at the east end of the platform go "off", he thought that the signalman had realised his error and the signal was meant for him. He moved off to regain his right line, but the signal was in fact intended for the Manchester - Marylebone express, loaded to five coaches and hauled by class D10 "Director" No.5437 "Prince George", which was approaching. Because of the speed restriction in force at Penistone, the train was easing up and the impact speed was around 20 miles per hour (32 km/h). The LMS driver was the most seriously hurt in the accident. His fireman jumped clear and the LNER crew were shaken.

The Huddersfield Junction signalman was held to be responsible for the accident, although the LMS driver did receive a mention in the report for his breach of rules. The Inspector also referred to Rule 55(b) which provided that the fireman should go to the signalbox and remain there to remind the signalman of the presence of his train, standing on a running line.