Railway accidents

[PJW]

Picking recent (living memory) accidents is not always a good technique. Picking something more obscure forces focus.

Alternatively, pick something that is very recent that you know about but perhaps the examiner's don't.  If I were doing the exam this year I'd have picked the collision at Waterloo between the passenger train and the engineering train whilst the area was being relaid and the signaling amended.....

It often isn't the accidents with a large number of casualties that are best for learning lessons; those that by luck have much more minor consequences or are "incidents" rather than "accidents" happen far more frequently, get less publicity but are just as important since in other circumstances could have ended far differently.

I had tried to find information on this, but as it is quite recent the details were still not sufficient enough to warrant any kind of attempt to answe the question. Can anyone guide me as to where the best source of information on such incidents/accidents is , whether small or large, for future reference.

Thanks TF

Almost any formal accident report that has been written for the UK since about 1840 is included on this fantastic website

http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/eventlisting.php

Even if you don't know what you are looking for, just go in and browse.  You ought to find plenty that would be of interest.

For the major historic accidents up to about 1960's there is nothing that gets close to L.T.C. Rolt's "Red for Danger".  Amazing book that it can be such a good read amongst all the death and destruction.  Just this book would qualify him as a bit of a hero in my eyes, let alone that he was one of the real pioneers for whom we have to thank for the preserved railway movement and also the fact that the canal network exists......

For the most recent and emerging investigations then look at the RAIB website (part of *.gov.uk I think now, but Google will soon find).  There isn't that much released re Waterloo yet; I wouldn't put too much faith in the editorial of a certain recent railway magazine- whereas some of the facts may be broadly right, a lot of the interpretation put upon them is flawed.