Shieldmuir Junction crash - 1964? Black Five 44676

[702]

Hello,
I have just finished reading Calling Carlisle Control - Tales of the Footplate, by Peter Brock. In it, at the end of Chapter 4, he describes a turn he took which ended in a crash. He was the fireman on Black Five 44676 on the 9.40pm Kingmoor to Clydebridge oil tanker train. He describes how, having left the loop at Beattock, the engine thundered toward Glasgow, with the driver, Jack Graham, seemingly doing nothing to brake. He puts the tender brake full on, to no avail. As they pass Wishaw South signals at danger, he sees the tail lights of a brake van ahead, and makes a final appeal to Jack to bail out. Jack replies he would rather stay with his ship. Peter jumps out, tumbles down an embankment, but survives and makes his way to the crash site at Shieldmuir Junction. Jack Graham survived, but lost his left arm. The guard at the rear of the train had been fast asleep and so failed to take notice of the speed and brake.

I can't find a record of this crash online, does anyone know anything about it? Where would the report be? The author never explains why the driver failed to brake at all. Wikipedia has 44676 being withdrawn in 1964, so that is possibly the year the crash happened. Can anyone provide any more information?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

The "Motherwell Times" (newspaper) has a very brief report of a collision between two goods trains at Shieldmuir at 1.45 a.m. on Tuesday 23rd February 1960 which took some sixteen hours to shift. Might that have been it? (Possibly wasn't, but you never know!)

 

[John Webb]

......I can't find a record of this crash online, does anyone know anything about it? Where would the report be? The author never explains why the driver failed to brake at all. Wikipedia has 44676 being withdrawn in 1964, so that is possibly the year the crash happened. Can anyone provide any more information?

The Railway Inspectorate, precursors of RAIB, were not necessarily involved with crashes between goods trains, so if there is no report listed at https://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/eventlisting.php then there was probably just an internal BR report. Might be found in the National Archive or NRM at York?

 

[RT4038]

Hello,
I have just finished reading Calling Carlisle Control - Tales of the Footplate, by Peter Brock. In it, at the end of Chapter 4, he describes a turn he took which ended in a crash. He was the fireman on Black Five 44676 on the 9.40pm Kingmoor to Clydebridge oil tanker train. He describes how, having left the loop at Beattock, the engine thundered toward Glasgow, with the driver, Jack Graham, seemingly doing nothing to brake. He puts the tender brake full on, to no avail. As they pass Wishaw South signals at danger, he sees the tail lights of a brake van ahead, and makes a final appeal to Jack to bail out. Jack replies he would rather stay with his ship. Peter jumps out, tumbles down an embankment, but survives and makes his way to the crash site at Shieldmuir Junction. Jack Graham survived, but lost his left arm. The guard at the rear of the train had been fast asleep and so failed to take notice of the speed and brake.

I can't find a record of this crash online, does anyone know anything about it? Where would the report be? The author never explains why the driver failed to brake at all. Wikipedia has 44676 being withdrawn in 1964, so that is possibly the year the crash happened. Can anyone provide any more information?

I have seen a magazine article authored by Peter Brock that gave full details of that journey, including an account of the brake issues. Can't remember where it was now.

 

[Harvester]

The RO reported that 44676 was recorded on the scrap line at Crewe works on 14th June 1964, a month before it was officially withdrawn. The crash may have been just a few months prior to that!

 

[70014IronDuke]

Hello,
I have just finished reading Calling Carlisle Control - Tales of the Footplate, by Peter Brock. In it, at the end of Chapter 4, he describes a turn he took which ended in a crash. He was the fireman on Black Five 44676 on the 9.40pm Kingmoor to Clydebridge oil tanker train. He describes how, having left the loop at Beattock, the engine thundered toward Glasgow, with the driver, Jack Graham, seemingly doing nothing to brake. He puts the tender brake full on, to no avail. As they pass Wishaw South signals at danger, he sees the tail lights of a brake van ahead, and makes a final appeal to Jack to bail out. Jack replies he would rather stay with his ship. Peter jumps out, tumbles down an embankment, but survives and makes his way to the crash site at Shieldmuir Junction. Jack Graham survived, but lost his left arm. The guard at the rear of the train had been fast asleep and so failed to take notice of the speed and brake.
...

I'm totally bemused by this account.

First and foremost, oil? tanks were very heary when loaded, and were fitted with vaccum brakes in those days. Surely a "tanker train" would be at the very least a fitted head, but more likely fully fitted? And therefore the driver would have had full control, or as a minimum, partial control of the train brakes?
Second, from the description, it would appear the loco driver had a death wish.

As summarised by the OP, to me this doesn't make sense.

 

[702]

Thanks everyone!
I've had no luck in finding it (alas not on the excellent site @John Webb provided either), so it turns out that even a crash as seemingly significant as this can be very hard to find information on!
I'd be willing to post some pictures from the book, but I'm wary of copyright issues...